1 Chronicles 20:3
New International Version
and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

New Living Translation
He also made slaves of the people of Rabbah and forced them to labor with saws, iron picks, and iron axes. That is how David dealt with the people of all the Ammonite towns. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

English Standard Version
And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Berean Standard Bible
David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. And he did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

King James Bible
And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

New King James Version
And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work with saws, with iron picks, and with axes. So David did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

New American Standard Bible
He brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work at saws, iron picks, and axes. And David did the same to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

NASB 1995
He brought out the people who were in it, and cut them with saws and with sharp instruments and with axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

NASB 1977
And he brought out the people who were in it, and cut them with saws and with sharp instruments and with axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Legacy Standard Bible
He also brought out the people who were in it and made them work with saws and with sharp iron instruments and with axes. And thus David used to do to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Amplified Bible
He brought out the people who were in it, and put them [to work] with saws, iron picks, and axes. David dealt in this way with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Christian Standard Bible
He brought out the people who were in it and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. David did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He brought out the people who were in it and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. David did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

American Standard Version
And he brought forth the people that were therein, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. And thus did David unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the people that were in it he brought out and bound them in chains and in bands of iron and in locks and in restraints and he bound them all, and thus he did to all the children of men who were found in the villages of the children of Amon, and he did not kill a man of them, and he went on and settled them in the villages of the land of Israel, and David and all of his people returned to Jerusalem. t.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he brought out the people that were in it, and sawed them asunder with saws, and cut them with iron axes, and with harrows: and thus David did to all the children of Ammon. And David and all his people returned to Jerusalem.

Contemporary English Version
He forced the people of Rabbah to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. He also did the same thing with the people in all the other Ammonite towns. David then led Israel's army back to Jerusalem.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the people that were therein he brought out: and made harrows, and sleds, and chariots of iron to go over them, so that they were cut and bruised to pieces: in this manner David dealt with all the cities of the children of Ammon : and he returned with alibis people to Jerusalem.

English Revised Version
And he brought forth the people that were therein, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. And thus did David unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He brought out the troops who were there and put them to work with saws, hoes, and axes. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.

Good News Translation
He took the people of the city and put them to work with saws, iron hoes, and axes. He did the same to the people of all the other towns of Ammon. Then he and his men returned to Jerusalem.

International Standard Version
brought back the people who had lived in it, and put them to conscripted labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. David did this to every Ammonite city, and then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And he brought forth the people that were therein, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. And thus did David unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Literal Standard Version
and he has brought out the people who [are] in it, and sets [them] to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes; and thus David does to all cities of the sons of Ammon, and David turns back—and all the people—to Jerusalem.

Majority Standard Bible
David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. And he did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

New American Bible
He deported the people of the city and set them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. David dealt thus with all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and his whole army returned to Jerusalem.

NET Bible
He removed the city's residents and made them do hard labor with saws, iron picks, and axes. This was his policy with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.

New Revised Standard Version
He brought out the people who were in it, and set them to work with saws and iron picks and axes. Thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

New Heart English Bible
He brought forth the people who were in it, and set them to work with saws, and with iron picks, and with axes. David did so to all the cities of the people of Ammon. David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so David dealt with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

World English Bible
He brought out the people who were in it, and had them cut with saws, with iron picks, and with axes. David did so to all the cities of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Young's Literal Translation
and the people who are in it he hath brought out, and setteth to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes; and thus doth David to all cities of the sons of Ammon, and David turneth back, and all the people, to Jerusalem.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Capture of Rabbah
2Then David took the crown from the head of their king. It was found to weigh a talent of gold and was set with precious stones, and it was placed on David’s head. And David took a great amount of plunder from the city. 3 David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. And he did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

Cross References
Hebrews 11:37
They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated.

2 Samuel 12:31
David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.


Treasury of Scripture

And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

And he

1 Chronicles 19:2-5
And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him…

Psalm 21:8,9
Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee…

with saws

Exodus 1:14
And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

Joshua 9:23
Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God.

Judges 8:6,7,16,17
And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thine hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? …

Jump to Previous
Ammon Ammonite Ammonites Axes Children Cities Cut David Dealt Forth Harrows Instruments Iron Jerusalem Labor Picks Saws Sharp Therein Towns Work
Jump to Next
Ammon Ammonite Ammonites Axes Children Cities Cut David Dealt Forth Harrows Instruments Iron Jerusalem Labor Picks Saws Sharp Therein Towns Work
1 Chronicles 20
1. Rabbah is besieged by Joab, spoiled by David, and the people thereof tortured
4. Three giants are slain in overthrows of the Philistines.














(3) And he brought.--Better, "And the people that were in it he brought out, and sawed with the saw, and with the iron threshing-drags (Isaiah 41:15), and with the axes."

Sawed.--The Hebrew is an old word, only found here. Samuel reads, by change of one letter, "set them in," or "among," the saws, &c.

With the axes.--So Samuel. Our Hebrew text repeats the word "saw" in the plural, owing to a scribe's error. The two words differ by a single letter. Samuel adds, "and made them pass through the brick-kiln," or "Moloch's fire" (2Kings 23:10).

Even so dealt David.--Literally, And so David used to do. These cruelties were enacted again at the taking of every Ammonite city. There needs no attempt to palliate such revolting savagery; but according to the ideas of that age it was only a glorious revenge. As David treated Ammon, so would the Ammonites have treated Israel, had the victory been theirs. (Comp. their behaviour to the Gileadites, Amos 1:13; comp. also the atrocities of Assyrian conquerors, Hosea 10:14; and of the Babylonians Psalm 137:7-9.) . . .

Verse 3. - Cut them with saws (so Hebrews 11:37). We have here the very doubtful (so far as regards its real signification) Hebrew word וַיָּשַׂר (and he cut) instead of וַיָּשֶׂם (he put). Probably it is nowhere else used in the sense of "cutting," if it is here. Its ordinary sense is to rule or put into subjection. The parallel place (2 Samuel 12:31) corrects, in the word (Authorized Version) axes, our Hebrew text, which repeats the word for saw, though putting it in the plural, and which thereby shows וּבַמְּגֵרות, instead of וּבְמַגְזְרות. This last word means "Axes" or "scythes," and is from the root גָזַרַ, to cut (2 Kings 6:4). It is found only in 2 Samuel 12:31, though it should appear here also. There is a fourth severity of punishment mentioned in the parallel place, that the people were "made to pass through the brick-kilns," a form of torture possibly suggested by the own familiar cruelty of the Ammonites in "making their children to pass through the fire to Moloch." However, in harmony with what is above said respecting the doubtfulness of the just signification of the verb וַיָּשַׂר, much uncertainty hangs over the interpretation of this verse. Instead of severity and needless cruelty on the part of David, it may rather set forth that he subjected them to hard tasks in connection with the cultivation of the soil and with the making of bricks. The saws and harrows and axes (or scythes) were awkward and unlikely weapons to be employed for the purpose of inflicting torture, when the ordinary weapons of battle and warfare were close at hand. This view, however, is contrary to the verdict, so far as the above Hebrew verb is concerned, of Gesenius's 'Thesaurus,' p. 1326, and of Thenins, on this and the parallel passage. When such punishments were of the nature of torture, the cruelty was in some cases extreme. "The criminal was sometimes sawn asunder lengthwise; this was more especially the practice in Persia. Isaiah, according to the Talmud-isis, was put to death in this wise by King Manasseh, 'Sanhedrin,' p. 103, c. 2; comp. Justin's dialogue with Trypho" (Jahn's 'Sacred Antiquities,' p. 132, § 260, 7.). With saws. The word in the original is not in the plural. It occurs again only in the parallel place (2 Samuel 12:31) and in 1 Kings 7:9, both times in the singular. The teeth of Eastern saws then and now usually incline to the handle instead of from it. With harrows of iron. The only harrow known to have been used at this time consisted of a thick block of wood borne down by a weight, or on which a man sat, drawn over the ploughed land by oxen (Isaiah 28:24, 25; Job 39:10; Hosea 10:11), and the root of the Hebrew word expresses the idea of crushing or levelling the land. But our present word is very different, and is found only here and in the parallel place, with the word "iron" accompanying it, so as to be equivalent to a compound word, and appears to mean "sharp instruments of iron," or sharp threshing instruments. The use of the former part of this phrase (1 Samuel 17:18) for cheeses is the only other instance of its occurrence. Saws should be "axes," or "scythes," as stated above, though it is not any of the three more ordinary words for "axe" (see Smith's 'Bible Dictionary,' 1:142).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
[David] brought out
הוֹצִ֗יא (hō·w·ṣî)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proxim

the people
הָעָ֨ם (hā·‘ām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

who [were]
אֲשֶׁר־ (’ă·šer-)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

there
בָּ֜הּ (bāh)
Preposition | third person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew

and put [them to work]
וַיָּ֨שַׂר (way·yā·śar)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7787: To saw

with saws,
בַּמְּגֵרָ֜ה (bam·mə·ḡê·rāh)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 4050: A saw

iron
הַבַּרְזֶל֙ (hab·bar·zel)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1270: Iron, an iron implement

picks,
וּבַחֲרִיצֵ֤י (ū·ḇa·ḥă·rî·ṣê)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 2757: Incisure, incised, a threshing-sledge, a slice

and axes.
וּבַמְּגֵר֔וֹת (ū·ḇam·mə·ḡê·rō·wṯ)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 4050: A saw

And [he]
דָוִ֔יד (ḏā·wîḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

did
יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה (ya·‘ă·śeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

the same
וְכֵן֙ (wə·ḵên)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 3651: So -- thus

to all
לְכֹ֖ל (lə·ḵōl)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the Ammonite
בְנֵי־ (ḇə·nê-)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

cities.
עָרֵ֣י (‘ā·rê)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 5892: Excitement

Then [David]
דָּוִ֛יד (dā·wîḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

and all
וְכָל־ (wə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

his troops
הָעָ֖ם (hā·‘ām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

returned
וַיָּ֧שָׁב (way·yā·šāḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

to Jerusalem.
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ (yə·rū·šā·lim)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3389: Jerusalem -- probably 'foundation of peace', capital city of all Israel


Links
1 Chronicles 20:3 NIV
1 Chronicles 20:3 NLT
1 Chronicles 20:3 ESV
1 Chronicles 20:3 NASB
1 Chronicles 20:3 KJV

1 Chronicles 20:3 BibleApps.com
1 Chronicles 20:3 Biblia Paralela
1 Chronicles 20:3 Chinese Bible
1 Chronicles 20:3 French Bible
1 Chronicles 20:3 Catholic Bible

OT History: 1 Chronicles 20:3 He brought forth the people who were (1 Chron. 1Ch iCh i Ch 1 chr 1chr)
1 Chronicles 20:2
Top of Page
Top of Page