What Does 1 Chronicles 20:1 Mean?
And it came to pass at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that Joab led forth the strength of the army and ruined the land of the children of Ammon. And he came and pressed in against Rabbah. But David settled in Jerusalem. And Joab struck Rabbah and tore it down.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it.THE KEY
Rabbah (רַבָּה, Rabbāh, “the Great”) is besieged and demolished while David (דָּוִד, Dāvid, “beloved”) sits in Yerushalayim (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, Yerushalayim, “wholeness”).
THE MEANING
Joab leads the force through Ammon, surrounds Rabbah, strikes it, and destroys it. David remains seated in Jerusalem while another city bears the campaign’s violence. The verse holds the king’s stillness beside the city’s ruin without softening either.
THE ROOT
וַיָּצַר
wayyāṣar
GROWS FROM
צור
tsur
Bind, confine, close in; besiege.
“pressed in against” in this verse is wayyāṣar. The verb describing Rabbah’s enclosure comes from a word family that also names a rock: the same image of hard boundary can hold or confine. Here that boundary closes around the city, and the verse names the blow and demolition that follow.
ALSO GROWS
māṣōr: Siege, siegeworks
מָצוֹר
This noun for siege makes explicit the surrounding pressure held inside the verb used for Rabbah.
tsur: Rock, cliff
צוּר
The rock branch gives the root a sense of hard boundary; here the city is enclosed by that boundary of force.
יֹשֵׁב
yōshēv
GROWS FROM
ישב
yashav
Sit, dwell, remain.
“settled” in this verse is yōshēv. “Tarried” can sound like a brief delay, but the Hebrew form means sitting or dwelling. Against the kings who go out, the verse places David seated in Jerusalem.
ALSO GROWS
mōshāv: Dwelling, seat, settlement
מוֹשָׁב
The same root names a settled place, making David’s position more concrete than a passing delay.
tōshāv: Resident, sojourner
תּוֹשָׁב
This branch names someone by where they reside, echoing David’s remaining in Jerusalem.
רַבָּה
Rabbāh
GROWS FROM
רבה
ravah
Grow, increase, become great.
Rabbah’s name carries greatness and increase. The verse sets that name against the city’s military ruin, leaving its name intact as its defenses are broken.
ALSO GROWS
rābāh: Grow, increase, become great
רָבָה
This verb carries the idea compressed into Rabbah’s name.
hirbāh: Multiply, make many
הִרְבָּה
This form shows the same root’s movement toward abundance, sharpening the contrast with the city’s destruction.
THE PATTERN
A siege turns a city’s perimeter into a trap by surrounding it with force.
So he sent horses there, and chariots, and a great host, and they came by night and circled the city.And I will camp against you all around, and press a siege against you, and raise bulwarks against you.For days will come upon you, when your enemies will drive stakes around you, and surround you, and press you in on every side.THE THREAD
And it came to pass at the turning of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they laid waste to the children of Ammon, and pressed in against Rabbah. But David settled in Jerusalem.Both passages use יֹשֵׁב (yōshēv, “sitting/dwelling”) for David’s place in Jerusalem. The shared verb makes “tarried” a settled posture beside the army’s going out.
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