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Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy and not sacrifice;
and the knowledge of God more than your burnt offerings.

Bible Chapter Studies

I CHRONICLES CHAPTER 18

I Chronicles 17 brought us David sitting in his luxurious palace made out of cedar wood, looking out over his kingdom and seeing that fabric tent he had had made for Father’s Ark, and thinking he should build a more permanent solid structure for His Ark. So, he summons his prophet Nathan, and asks his opinion of his thought process. Nathan replies that, up to this point Father has Blessed all that David had accomplished so, he might a well go ahead with his thoughts and plans. One problem though brethren, neither David nor his prophet—more importantly, Nathan was Father’s prophet—had asked or sought the counsel of Father as to what Father wanted David to do.

After wrongly giving David the go ahead, Father appeared to Nathan that in a dream and chastised Nathan and David and told Nathan what he was to tell David. Father told Nathan that David was not to build him a house for Him and\or His Ark but, that, He would Build a House for David, meaning Father was going to establish two lineages from David’s loins: The king line — though his son Solomon, and the line through which He would become flesh — through his son Nathan. Though Solomon’s line would rule over the earthly kingdom, Nathan’s line, i.e., Jesus Christ, would rule forever over the Heavenly Kingdom.

The next morning Nathan went to David and relayed all that Father had revealed to him to tell David. When told of all this, David humbly accepted this knowledge, and gave Praise and Thanks to Father.

I had mentioned in my opening statement to I Chronicles 17 that, I believed that it was out of sequence, I said this because, the Chapter opened with David looking over his kingdom as if he had already had peace because he had already defeated all his enemies however, as we’re about to read, he is about to engage in his wars, and he’ll do so for the next few Chapters. Peacce ha not yet come to the kingdom of the Nation of the House of Israel.

With that introduction being said, let’s go to Father and ask Him for His Blessings on our Study of His Word: “Father, we come to you right now to thank you for inviting us to Your table in order that we might be able to partake of and receive Your Spiritual Meat, and Father, as we prepare to dine on the sustenance which sustains our inner man, we ask that You Oh LORD open our ears and eyes, that we might be able to hear and see your Truths, open our hearts and minds and prepare us in order that we may receive Your Truth. We Pray for Your Understanding of Your Word, we seek Your Knowledge in Your Word, and most importantly Father, we Pray for and desire Your Wisdom from Your Word, in Jesus’ Precious name we Pray, thank You Father, Amen.”

I Chronicles 10:1-
   II Chronicles 36:21
   HISTORY (UP TO THE
   CAPTIVITY.) (Division.)
11:1-II Chronicles 36:21
   THE HOUSE OF David
   ESTABLISHED. (Division.)
11:1-29:25 EVENTS IN
   DETAIL. (Introversion.)
11:1-29:30 DAVID. (Division.)
17:1-22:19 The Temple.
   David’s preparation for
   it.
17:1-22:19 THE TEMPLE.
   DAVID’S PREPARATION
   FOR IT. (Introversion.)
17:1-13 DAVIDS MIGHTY
   ACTS. (Extended Alternation.)
18:1-13 CONQUESTS
   (Extended Alternation.)
18:1-5 Conquests.
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I Chronicles 18:1 Now after this it came to pass, that David (loving; or, well-beloved) (Daw-veedי) smote the Philistines (rolling; that is, migratory; or, immigrants) (pel-eh י-sheth) , and subdued them, and took Gath (a wine press; and, a wine press) (Gath) and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines.   —>   This verse provides the answer to a stumbling block of it’s parallel Chapter: II Samuel 8:1 which reads: II Samuel 8:1 And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Metheg-ammah (bit of; that is, migratory; or, bridle of the metropolis) (mehי-theg haw-am-mawי) out of the hand of the Philistines.   —>
The stumbling block being the meaning of the name “Metheg-ammah,” and that is that the first part of the word “metheg” means reins or bit which is nothing more than a substitution for — the government, or the power of the government. Whereas, the second part of the word “ammah,” is another name for the city or town of Gath, which we know to be one of the Philistine’s capital cities. So, we see that David and our forefathers completely defeated the Philistines and took their capital city of Gath. If you’ll recall, we read in The Books of I Samuel that the Philistines had five major cities: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath and Gaza, with Gath being the capital amongst them. So, what this is saying is that, by David controlling Gath, he now had, and was exercising control over, all the Philistines.

Subdued them=In a non-humorous way, it’s funny that David is able to pretty much at will, subdue and be victorious over all his enemies outside the nation however, as we know, he had a lot harder time subduing and almost suffered defeat at the hands of his enemies from within the nation, meaning his own sons.

David=I could spend days discussing David and his life; literally, an entire Book—II Samuel—covered most of what David accomplished as king of Israel. David was a man after Father’s own heart, and though he made a few mistakes, David always tried to please Father in all that he did; therefore, Father loved David; so much so that, He chose David as the Line to bring forth the Branch, The Bright Morning Star, Immanuel\Emmanuel, God in the Flesh: Jesus. Even though Father chose David, it doesn’t mean that David never sinned as, David indeed did sin. He committed adultery with the wife of one of his soldiers; and, then had that soldier murdered by ordering his being put on the front lines of the hottest part of the battle. David was not perfect; however, he was obedient in the end; and, in the end, he left judgment in Father’s hand. All the other kings of Judah and some of the kings of Israel will be judged; or, compared to David; and, the one thing which can always be said of David, is that, not one time had David ever fallen away into idolatry. But, what else can we take away from David? If you sin: repent to Father and then leave the correction and judgment in Father’s hands. † While researching the etymology of the name David we find that most Bible translators and commentator will render the name David as Beloved; but, as always with important names, the etymology of the name David is disputed. However, we can’t help noticing the distinct similarity of this name with the Hebrew root דוד (dwd) that yields דוד (dod), generally meaning beloved. This word is also the Hebrew word for uncle — I Chronicles 27:32, for instance, speaks of דוד־דויד, or “David’s uncle”: The distinct difference between the name דוד (David) and the word דוד (dod) is that in the name David the letter waw counts for a consonant, while in the word dod it counts for a vowel. A consonant and a vowel are completely different entities and they’ll never mean the same, no matter how many times you write them with the same symbol (in this case the waw). If the name was meant to mean Beloved, then it was perhaps given to David after he became king and beloved. In his father’s household he wasn’t much of a hit, after all. But then, if this name was meant to mean Beloved, why hasn’t history given us the tales of King Dod? Harris Archer Waltke (HAW) Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament lists David under dod but admits that “the name is conjectured to come from dod, beloved, but the etymology is uncertain. It has been compared with the Mari term dawidum, Lsquo;leader,’ but this too is unsure.” Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary too lists the name David under the derivations of the root dod, but also makes mention of A.H. Sayce’s note of a sun-god named Dodo — דודה — which was worshipped in East-Jordan Israel. Zion, now known as the city of David, was then apparently known as the city of the god Dod. But where Dod went the way of the dodo, king David is eternally remembered as the beloved king. And this is curious for more than one reason. But whatever the reason, Israel’s identity of a Kingdom is associated with a king whose name is not a regular Hebrew word, but which is spelled identical to the word for Beloved, and pronounced completely different. Perhaps, and this is a wild guess, the name Dod was altered to David to charge it with the tone of the word דוה (dawa), meaning infirmity.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H1732, - דּוד, or דּויד, - dâvid, or dâvı̂yd, pronounced - daw-veed’, or daw-veed’ and means: From the same as H1730; loving; David, the youngest son of Jesse: - David. Total KJV occurrences: 1076.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we find that the description of David in the Smith’s Bible Dictionary is extensive and too long to post here; so, I’ll instead just post the link to it: David.

Philistines=The Philistines were adamic peoples as, we read in Genesis 10:14: Genesis 10:14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim. It was Noah who begat Ham, who begat Cush, on down to either Casluhim or Caphtorim who then begat Philistim, of whom became the Philistines. † The Philistines were the chief rival and primary enemy of our forefathers. They warred against them, more than any other nation or peoples. Most of those battles our forefathers won; but, there were some battles they also lost. On one such occasion that they lost, the Philistines were able to capture Father’s Ark. Why did He allow this to happen? Because our forefathers had not sought Him before taking His Ark into battle with them. The Philistines, thinking they finally had the upper-hand for capturing Father’s Ark, brought it back to Ashdod and set It in the “house of dagon.” The next morning when the Philistines went to check on their prized possession, they found that their god dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before Father’s Ark. So, they set the image of their idol back upon it’s feet, and the next day when they again came to check on things, this time they found that dagon was again fallen upon his face to the ground before Father’s Ark; and the head of dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of dagon was left to him. This time, the Philistines left things as they were in the “house of dagon” for, they were now afraid. Father wasn’t done with them yet for having His Ark in their possession, He now smote every Philistine in the city where His Ark was, with deep, painful hemorrhoids, and a plague of mice. These hemorrhoids were so bad that, that, everyone asked each other if they too were now afflicted with this ailment? When they discovered that, yes, everybody in the city was afflicted, they quickly removed Father’s Ark from among them, by taking it to another one of the Philistine cities. This city too suffered the affliction of the hemorrhoids and plague of mice, and they too quickly took Father’s Ark to another of the Philistine cities. This happened 3 more times, and finally the Philistines had had enough. So, they called for a meeting of all the Philistine lords to discuss what to do with Father’s Ark. They decided that it would be best to return It back to It’s rightful owner, our forefathers. But, before doing so, they decided that they would return it with a trespass offering. That trespass offering were images of 5 golden hemorrhoids and 5 golden mice, one hemorrhoid and mouse for each of the 5 Philistine cities which were afflicted. † The etymology of name\word Philistine seems to be related to the verb פלש (palash), denoting the expression of intense grief: It’s ultimately unclear whether the Philistines were named for the grief they caused or perhaps for their ability to express their own grief (like a kind of ancient blues). The Philistines were, after all, products of the great people’s movements, and they were driven off Caphtor (Jeremiah 47:4) and subsequently out of Egypt. In fact, their history is not all that different from Israel’s, and they may very well have been known as The Mourners, or Causing To Mourning. But then, the name of the Philistines might also reflect the more fundamental or broader Semitic meaning of the verb פלש, that of digging or breaking through. As a nation, the Philistines may have been known as the Steamrollers. For a meaning of the name Palestine, Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names goes with the verb mentioned above, focuses on its meaning of to roll around, and forgivingly translates Palestine with The Land Of Wanderers. New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List does not translate either name Palestine or Philistine. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H6430, - פּלשׁתּי, - pelishtı̂y, pronounced - pelishtı̂y, and means: Patrial from H6429; rolling; that is, migratory; a Pelishtite or inhabitant of Pelesheth: - Philistine. Total KJV occurrences: 288.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read:—before I get into Dr. Smith’s description of the Philistines, know this brethren: I emphatically disagree with Dr. Smith’s statement, which states: “The origin of the Philistines is nowhere expressly stated in the Bible.”. For, as I mentioned at the beginning of this description of the Philistines, we can read in Genesis 10:14, Father’s Word does indeed expressly state the origin of the Philistines, they are descended from Casluhim, who was descended from Mizraim[Genesis 10:13-14], who was descended from Ham[Genesis 10:6], who was descended from Noah)—“(immigrants), The origin of the Philistines is nowhere expressly stated in the Bible; but, as the prophets describe them as “the Philistines-from Caphtor” Amos 9:7, and “the remnant of the maritime district of Caphtor” Jeremiah 47:4 it is prima facie probable that they were the Caphtorim which came out of Caphtor” who expelled the Avim from their territory and occupied it; in their place, (Deuteronomy 2:23) and that these again were the Caphtorim mentioned in the Mosaic genealogical table among the descendants of Mizraim Genesis 10:14. It has been generally assumed that Caphtor represents Crete, and that the Philistines migrated from that island, either directly or through Egypt, into Palestine. But the name Caphtor is more probably identified with the Egyptian Coptos. [CAPHTOR] History. — The Philistines must have settled in the land of Canaan before the time of Abraham; for they are noticed in his day as a pastoral tribe in the neighborhood of Gerur Genesis 21:32,34; 26:1,8. Between the times of Abraham and Joshua the Philistines had changed their quarters, and had advanced northward into the plain of Philistia. The Philistines had at an early period attained proficiency in the arts of peace. Their wealth was abundant Judges 16:5,19, and they appear in all respects to have been a prosperous people. Possessed of such elements of power, they had attained in the time of the judges an important position among eastern nations. About B.C. 1200 we find them engaged in successful war with the Sidonians. Justin xviii. 3. The territory of the Philistines having been once occupied by the Canaanites, formed a portion of the promised land, and was assigned the tribe of Judah Joshua 15:2,12,45-47. No portion of it, however, was conquered in the lifetime of Joshua Joshua 13:2, and even after his death no permanent conquest was effected Judges 3:3, though we are informed that the three cities of Gaza, Ashkelon and Ekron were taken Judges 1:18. The Philistines soon recovered these, and commenced an aggressive policy against the Israelites, by which they gained a complete ascendancy over them. Individual heroes were raised up from time to time, such as Shamgar the son of Anath Judges 3:31, and still more Samson, Judges 13-16, but neither of these men succeeded in permanently throwing off the yoke. The Israelites attributed their past weakness to their want, of unity, and they desired a king, with the special object of leading them against the foe I Samuel 8:20. Saul threw off the yoke; and the Philistines were defeated with great slaughter at Geba I Samuel 13:3. They made no attempt to regain their supremacy for about twenty-five years, and the scene of the next contest shows the altered strength of the two parties. It was no longer in the central country, but in a ravine leading down to the Philistine plain, the valley of Elah, the position of which is about 14 miles southwest of Jerusalem. On this occasion the prowess of young David secured success to Israel, and the foe was pursued to the gates of Gath and Ekron I Samuel 17:1. ... The power of the Philistines was, however, still intact on their own territory. The border warfare was continued. The scene of the next conflict was far to the north, in the valley of Esdraelon. The battle on this occasion proved disastrous to the Israelites; Saul himself perished, and the Philistines penetrated across the Jordan and occupied the, forsaken cities I Samuel 31:1-7. On the appointment of David to be king, he twice attacked them, and on each occasion with signal success, in the first case capturing their images, in the second pursuing them “from Geba until thou come to Gazer” II Samuel 5:17-25; I Chronicles 14:8-16. Henceforth the Israelites appear as the aggressors. About seven years after the defeat at Rephaim, David, who had now consolidated his power, attacked them on their own soil end took Gath with its dependencies. The whole of Philistine was included in Solomon's empire. Later when the Philistines, joined by the Syrians and Assyrians, made war on the kingdom of Israel, Hezekiah formed an alliance with the Egyptians, as a counterpoise to the Assyrians, and the possession of Philistia became henceforth the turning-point of the struggle between the two great empires of the East. The Assyrians under Tartan, the general of Sargon, made an expedition against Egypt, and took Ashdod, as the key of that country Isaiah 20:1,4,5. Under Senacherib, Philistia was again the scene of important operations. The Assyrian supremacy was restored by Esarhaddon, and it seems probable that the Assyrians retained their hold on Ashdod until its capture, after a long siege, by Psammetichus. It was about this time that Philistia was traversed by vast Scythian horde on their way to Egypt. The Egyptian ascendancy was not as yet re-established, for we find the next king, Necho, compelled to besiege Gaza on his return from the battle of Megiddo. After the death of Necho the contest was renewed between the Egyptians and the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, and the result was specially disastrous to the Philistines. The “old hatred” that the Philistines bore to the Jews was exhibited in acts of hostility at the time of the Babylonish captivity Ezekiel 25:15-17, but on the return this was somewhat abated, for some of the Jews married Philistine women, to the great scandal of their rulers Nehemiah 13:23,24. From this time the history of Philistia is absorbed in the struggles of the neighboring kingdoms. The latest notices of the Philistines as a nation occur in 1 Maccabees 3-5. Institutions, religion, etc. — With regard to the institutions of the Philistines our information is very scanty, The five chief cities had, as early as the days of Joshua, constituted themselves into a confederacy, restricted however, in all probability, to matters of offence and defense. Each was under the government of a prince Joshua 13:3; Judges 3:3, etc.; I Samuel 18:30; 29:6 and each possessed its own territory. The Philistines appear to have been deeply imbued with superstition: they carried their idols with them on their campaigns II Samuel 5:21, and proclaimed their victories in their presence I Samuel 31:9. The gods whom they chiefly worshipped were Dagon Judges 16:23; I samuel 5:3-5; I Chronicles 10:10, 1 Maccabees 10:83, Ashtaroth I Samuel 31:10, Herod. 1:105, and Baalzebub II Kings 1:2-6.”.
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Gath=Gath was one of the five royal cities—along with Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron and Avva—of our forefathers’ enemies: the Philistines. This also made it one of the five cities which received Father’s judgment whereby all the people of the city came down with a bad case of emerods and the plague of mice for their participation of holding onto Father’s Ark when the Philistines had captured It from our forefathers when they took It into battle with them without first seeking Father and asking Him IF they could do so. † Gath was not taken by Joshua when our forefathers moved into the Promised Land, and, although many conflicts took place between our forefathers and the people of Gath, it does not seem to have been captured until the time of David II Samuel 8:1 and it’s parallel Book, Chapter and Verse I Chronicles 18:1. It was considered famous because it was the home of the giant Goliath whom David slew in I Samuel 17:4, and other giants of the same race II Samuel 21:18-22. † The etymology of the name Gath comes from an assumed root יגן and is identical to the noun גת (gat), meaning winepress: For a meaning of the name Gath, all consulted sources read Wine-Press.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H1661, - גַּת, - gath, pronounced - Gath, and means: The same as H1660; Gath, a Philistine city: - Gath. Total KJV occurrences: 33.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “One of the five royal cities of the Philistines Joshua 13:3; I Samuel 6:17; and the native place of the giant Goliath I Samuel 17:4,23. It probably stood upon the conspicuous hill now called Tell-es-Safieh, upon the side of the plain of Philistia, at the foot of the mountains of Judah; 10 miles east of Ashdod, and about the same distance south by east of Ekron. It is irregular in form, and about 200 feet high. Gath occupied a strong position II Chronicles 11:8, on the border of Judah and Philistia I Samuel 21:10; I Chronicles 18:1, and from its strength and resources forming the key of both countries, it was the scene of frequent struggles, and was often captured and recaptured II Kings 12:17; II Chronicles 11:8; 26:6; and Amos 6:2. The ravages of war to which Gath was exposed appear to have destroyed it at a comparatively early period, as it is not mentioned among the other royal cities by the later prophets Zephaniah 2:4; Zechariah 9:5,6. It is familiar to the Bible student as the scene of one of the most romantic incidents in the life of King David I Samuel 21:10-15.”.

I Chronicles 18:2 And he smote Moab (from (her (the mother’s)) father; or, of his father) (mo-awb); and the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts.   —>   I like the parallel reading of this verse better as, it gives us a whole lot more information, so let’s turn to II Samuel 8:2 to read it: II Samuel 8:2 And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts.   —>   In the first part of this verse, we see David—of course, not he alone, but with the Israelite Army—slaughtering the Cities of the Moabites, and then in the second part, he divided the people into separate companies — those who would be spared alive, and those who would be put to death. In this, we see the partial fulfillment of Numbers 24:17 which reads: Numbers 24:17 ‘I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh: There shall come a Star out of Jacob, And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite the corners of Moab, And destroy all the children of Sheth.   —>
I say partial because, yes, at present David is the sceptre of Israel and he is smiting Moab however, there shall come One — our Lord Jesus Who will fulfill the entire prophesy of Numbers 24:17 and all of Father’s Word. He will smite Moab because of their seducing Israel into whoring after their false gods and idols. Further on in this chapter of I Chronicles 18 we will read more of Numbers 24.

Casting them down=Meaning the territories and not the people.

Line=The word “line” is used as substitution for what is meant, and what is meant in this verse is that, David divided both the cities, or territories, and then he also divided the people. We can compare this with Father’s dividing of His children their inheritance in the future as told by Moses in that great “Song of Moses” found in Deuteronomy 32:8-9 which reads: Deuteronomy 32:8 When the MOST HIGH divided to the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the People According to the number of the children of Israel. [32:9] For the LORD’S portion is His People; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance..

Put to death=David separated the soldiers from the inhabitants. The inhabitants who were of valuable or useful service were spared, the soldiers were not, it was they who were put to death.

Moab (Moabites)=Moab was the son of Abraham’s nephew, Lot, by his eldest daughter—her name is never mentioned in Father’s Word—Genesis 19:37. It is best to draw a veil over such an incestuous union, testifying as it does to the corrupt influence of Sodom over Lot and his daughters. The descendants of the Moabites and Ammonites—Moab’s half brother by lot’s younger daughter, and his descendants—were closely related, and covered many chief places in Judah, the Salt Sea and Reuben Genesis 36:35; Exodus 15:15; Judges 3:28. The Israelites were commanded to have no dealings with the Moabites Ruth 1:22; 2:2,6; I Kings 11:1; II Chronicles 24:26. With that being said, Ruth was a Moabitess and she was the grandmother to king David, thus we can assume that Father applies that stipulation to the males only for the most part, or better put, only to those who served other false gods as, Ruth told Naomi—Ruth’s mother-in-law—that she would not leave Naomi to return to her homeland, she would stay with her and serve her God—Father YHVH. † The etymology and original meaning of the name Moab is unknown. The word moab is foreign to Hebrew and, reports Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary, Moab is known in other ancient languages as Maיaba, Maיbu, Muיaba, etc. However, to a creative Hebrew audience, the name may have sounded like a compilation of two elements: the interrogative particle מה (me), what or מי (mi), who: The second part of the name Moab may remind of the very common word אב (ab), meaning father: Thus the name Moab would carry the meaning of Who’s Your Daddy? or What’s Your Father? a rhetorical question to which the story may easily give rise. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names takes a different approach and goes with the word מי (may), meaning water: Thus Jones reads Water Of A Father, and explains this to mean seed or progeny. The problem here is that semen is never referred to as a father’s waters.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H4124, - מוֹאָב, - mô'âb, pronounced - mo-awb, and means: From a prolonged form of the prepositional prefix “m-” and H1; from (her (the mother’s)) father; Moab, an incestuous son of Lot; also his territory and descendants: - Moab. Total KJV occurrences: 181.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “Mo'abites. Moab was the son of the Lot’s eldest daughter, the progenitor of the Moabites. Zoar was the cradle of the race of Lot. From this centre the brother tribes spread themselves. The Moabites first inhabited the rich highlands which crown the eastern side of the chasm of the Dead Sea, extending as far north as the mountain of Gilead, from which country they expelled the Emims, the original inhabitants Deuteronomy 2:11, but they themselves were afterward driven southward by the warlike Amorites, who had crossed the Jordan, and were confined to the country south of the river Arnon, which formed their northern boundary Numbers 21:13; Judges 11:18. The territory occupied by Moab at the period of its greatest extent, before the invasion of the Amorites, divided itself naturally into three distinct and independent portions: — (1) The enclosed corner or canton south of the Arnon was the “field of Moab”. Ruth 1:1,2,6 etc. (2) The more open rolling country north of the Arnon, opposite Jericho, and up to the hills of Gilead, was the “land of Moab” Deuteronomy 1:5; 32:49 etc. (3) The sunk district in the tropical depths of the Jordan valley Numbers 22:1 etc. The Israelites, in entering the promised land, did not pass through the Moabites Judges 11:18, but conquered the Amorites, who occupied the country from which the Moabites had been so lately expelled. After the conquest of Canaan the relations of Moab with Israel were of a mixed character, sometimes warlike and sometimes peaceable. With the tribe of Benjamin they had at least one severe struggle, in union with their kindred the Ammonites Judges 3:12-30. The story of Ruth, on the other hand, testifies to the existence of a friendly intercourse between Moab and Bethlehem, one of the towns of Judah. By his descent from Ruth, David may be said to have had Moabite blood in his veins. He committed his parents to the protection of the king of Moab, when hard pressed by Saul I Samuel 22:3,4. But here all friendly relations stop forever. The next time the name is mentioned is in the account of David’s war, who made the Moabites tributary II Samuel 8:2; I Chronicles 18:2. At the disruption of the kingdom Moab seems to have fallen to the northern realm. At the death of Ahab the Moabites refused to pay tribute and asserted their independence, making war upon the kingdom of Judah II Chronicles 22:1. As a natural consequence of the late events, Israel, Judah and Edom united in an attack on Moab, resulting in the complete overthrow of the Moabites. Falling back into their own country, they were followed and their cities and farms destroyed. Finally, shut up within the walls of his own capital, the king, Mesha, in the sight of the thousands who covered the sides of that vast amphitheater, killed and burnt his child as a propitiatory sacrifice to the cruel gods of his country. Isaiah, Isaiah 15; 16; 25:10-12 predicts the utter annihilation of the Moabites; and they are frequently denounced by the subsequent prophets. For the religion of the Moabites see CHEMOSH; MOLECH; PEOR. See also Tristram’s “Land of Moab.” Present condition. — (Noldeke says that the extinction of the Moabites was about A.D. 200, at the time when the Yemen tribes Galib and Gassara entered the eastern districts of the Jordan. Since A.D. 536 the last trace of the name Moab, which lingered in the town of Kir-moab, has given place to Kerak, its modern name. Over the whole region are scattered many ruins of ancient cities; and while the country is almost bare of larger vegetation, it is still a rich pasture-ground, with occasional fields of grain. The land thus gives evidence of its former wealth and power. — ED.)”.

I Chronicles 18:3 And David smote Hadarezer (Hadar (is his) help; or, Hadad’s help) (had-ar-ehי-zer) king of Zobah (to station; or, station) (tso-bawי) unto Hamath (walled; or, fortress) (kham-awthי), as he went to stablish his dominion by the river Euphrates (to break forth; rushing; Perath (that is, Euphrates); or, the good and abounding river (per-awthי).   —>   Here in I Chronicles 18 it is Hadarezer; however, in II Samuel 8 we find this one’s name is Hadadezer. We also find that there are some scholars who like to divide his name into two separate words: “Hadad” and “ezer,” or, just by hyphening it, thereby making it read “Hadad-ezer.”

Zobah=Zobah is in the neighborhood of Damascus which of course is Syria which will become more clear when we get to verse v8:5 below — gee Syria the same place where conflict is taking place today. These battles are battles which have been fought by Saul and Israel in the past, and we can read about them in I Samuel 14 which reads: I Samuel 14:47 So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them. [14:48] And he gathered an host, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them.   —>   And as we see, the Israelites are having to fight these battles all over again.

He went to stablish his dominion=David killed Hadarezer and his army as he was in the process of possessing all the territory around Zobah, including to the Euphrates River.

All this is given to us so that, we might see that under David’s hand—really Father’s through David—Israel is having dominion over all their enemies which surround them on every border — The Philistines to the south, the Syrian to the north, and as we’ll see as we read further in this chapter, other enemies on their east and west side also.

Hadarezer=Also known as Hadadezer in II Samuel 8:3,5,7,8,9,10,12; I Kings 11:23. † Hadarezer was the son of Rehob and king of Zobah. † He was hired by Hanun, the king of the Ammonites, in order to bring his army to assist him in his war against David and our forefathers. David with his nephew Joab, Commanding General of David’s Army, found Hanun and his army in double battle array — the Ammonities toward their capital of Rabbah, and the Syrian mercenaries near Medeba. When the battle ensued, the Syrians were scattered, and the Ammonites fled in horror to their capital. Shortly thereafter another battle followed with the Syrian army again recruited, this resulted in their being completely anniliated at Helam II Samuel 10:17. Shobach, Commanding General of the Syrian army, died on the field of battle. The Syrians of Damascus, who had come to help Hadarezer, were also thoroughly routed, and Damascus was made tributary to David. All the spoils taken in this war, i.e., the shields of gold, and very much brass, were taken back to Jerusalem and later Solomon had Hiram use them in the crafting of the brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass for Father’ Temple I Chronicles 18:8, were brought to Jerusalem and dedicated to Father YHVH. Thus the power of the Ammonites and the Syrians was finally broken, and David’s empire extended to the Euphrates II Samuel 10:15-19; I Chronicles 19:15-19. † The etymology of the name Hadarezer consists of two elements. The first part comes from the verb הדר (hadar), meaning to honor or adorn: The second part of our name Hadarezer comes from the verb עזר (azar), meaning to help or support: Of the sources we routinely consult only Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) recognizes Hadarezer as a unique name (and not a text error for Hadadezer). Jones translates our name with Majesty Of Help. Here at Abarim Publications, we like to propose that the name Hadarezer is a deliberate alteration of the name Hadadezer in the same way that the name Eshbaal was turned into Ish-bosheth. The name Eshbaal means Man / Fire Of Baal, and in order to hide the reference to Baal, it was turned into Ish-bosheth, meaning Man Of Shame. Via the same mechanism, the name Hadadezer (Hadad Is Help) was turned into Hadarezer, meaning The Majesty Is Help, with the Majesty-part referring to the God of Israel. That made the name Hadarezer of the same vein as the names Eleazar and Eliezer.. Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H1928, - הֲדַרְעֶזֶר, - hădar‛ezer, pronounced - had-ar-ehי-zer, and means: From H1924 and H5828; hadar (that is, Hadad, H1908) is his help; Hadarezer (that is, Hadadezer, H1909) a Syrian king: - Hadarezer. Total KJV occurrences: 12.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(Hadad’s help), son of Rehob, II Samuel 8:3, the king of the Aramite state of Zobah, who was pursued by David and defeated with great loss I Chronicles 18:3,4. After the first repulse of the Ammonites and their Syrian allies by Joab, Hadarezer sent his army to the assistance of his kindred the people of Maachah, Rehob and Ishtob I Chronicles 19:16; II Samuel 10:15, compare II Samuel 10:8. Under the command of Shophach or Shobach, the captain of the host, they crossed the Euphrates, joined the other Syrians, and encamped at a place called Helam. David himself came from Jerusalem to take the command of the Israelite army. As on the former occasion, the route was complete.”.

Zobah=A Syrian province or kingdom to the south of Coele-Syria, and extending from the eastern slopes of Lebanon north and east toward the Euphrates. We can also read that it was an early Aramean state which extended from the Beqaa Valley along the eastern side of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains reaching Hamath to the north and Damascus to the south, and at one time it was of considerable importance. Both Saul and David had war with the kings of Zobah I Samuel 14:47; II Samuel 8:3; II Samuel 10:6. † The etymology of the name Zobah probably comes from a language other than Hebrew, possibly Arabic. Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) sees relations with an Arabic verb that means to incline or depress, and (in his article on Aram-zobah) presumes that the area known as Zobah was somewhat shaped like an amphitheatre. A Hebrew audience, on the other hand, would probably have linked the name Zobah to the word צבא (sabaי), meaning division or army, or to צבי (sabi), meaning beauty or honor: For a meaning of the name Zobah, Alfred Jones’ Dictionary reads Depression, which is rather peculiar because for Aram-zobah Jones reads Syria Of The Theatre. A Hebrew audience would possibly have heard a meaning of War or Beauty.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H6678, - צוֹבָא, צוֹבָה, or צֹבָה, - tsôbâ', tsôbâh, or tsôbâh, pronounced - tso-bawי, tso-bawי, or tso-bawי, and means: From an unused root meaning: to station; a station; Zoba or Zobah, a region of Syria: - Zoba, Zobah. Total KJV occurrences: 12.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(station), the name of a portion of Syria which formed a separate kingdom in the time of the Jewish monarchs Saul, David and Solomon. It probably was eastward of Coele-Syria, and extended thence northeast and east toward, if not even to, the Euphrates. We first hear of Zobah in the time of Saul, when we find it mentioned as a separate country, governed apparently by a number of kings who owned no common head or chief I Samuel 14:47. Some forty years later than this we find Zobah under a single ruler Hadadezer son of Rehob. He had wars with Toi king of Hamath, II Samuel 8:10, and held various petty Syrian princes as vassals under his yoke II Samuel 10:19. David in Samuel 8:3, attacked Hadadezer in the early part of his reign, defeated his army, and took from him a thousand chariots, seven hundred (seven thousand) I Chronicles 18:4, horsemen and 20,000 footmen. Hadadezer’s allies, the Syrians of Damascus, were defeated in a great battle. The wealth of Zobah is very apparent in the narrative of this campaign. A man of Zobah, Rezon son of Eliadah, made himself master of Damascus where he proved a fierce adversary to Israel all through the reign of Solomon I Kings 11:23-25. Solomon also was, it would seem engaged in a war with Zobah itself II Chronicles 8:3. This is the last that we hear of Zobah in Scripture. The name however, is found at a later date in the inscriptions of Assyria, where the kingdom of Zobah seems to intervene between Hamath and Damascus.”.

Hamath (Hamathite)=Nothing good comes from Hamath or the man for who the town was named: Hemath. Hemath and his descendants the Hamathites were originally of the Adamic seedline having been born to Canaan— Genesis 10:18—the son of Noah’s wife and her own son, Ham. † The first we hear of Hamath—the land, not the people—is when Father brought our forefathers up, out of the land of Egypt and tried to have then enter into the Promised Land. Instead of doing as Father commanded, i.e., entering into the land, they instead sent spies in order to see who was in the land, ten of those spies came back and lied on Father, only Caleb and Joshua said it was safe to enter into. Hamath, as we learn in Numbers 13:21 and Numbers 34:8, bordered on the Promised Land. † Both David and Solomon had skirmishes with the inhabitants of Hamath during their reigns over Israel. † Sadly, when Father sent the king of Assyria to take our forefathers of the House of Israel into captivity, the king populated Samaria with peoples from several different lands including some from Hamath. † The etymology of the name Hamath: Scholars appear to agree that the name Hamath derives from an unused root חמה, which probably meant something like to surround or protect: A Hebrew audience, on the other hand, would surely have noticed the obvious similarity between our name Hamath and the noun חמת (hemet), meaning waterskin: For a meaning of the name Hamath, new Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads Fortification. Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary derives our name via חומה (homa), meaning wall, to Fortress. Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) derives the name Hamath from the same root, and renders it the meaning Defence, Citadel.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find it is Hebrew word number: H2574, - חמת, - chămâth, pronounced - kham-awthי, and means: From the same as H2346; walled; Chamath, a place in Syria: - Hamath, Hemath. Total KJV occurrences: 36.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “The principal city of upper Syria, was situated in the valley of the Orontes, which it commanded from the low screen of hills which forms the water-shed between the source of the Orontes and Antioch. The Hamathites were a Hamitic race, and are included among the descendants of Canaan Genesis 10:18. Nothing appears of the power of Hamath until the time of David II Chronicles 8:9. Hamath seems clearly to have been included in the dominions of Solomon I Kings 14:21-24. The “store-cities” which Solomon “built in Hamath” II Chronicles 8:4, were perhaps staples for trade. In the Assyrian inscriptions of the time of Ahab Hamath appears as a separate power, in alliance with the Syrians of Damascus, the Hittites and the Phoenicians. About three-quarters of a century later Jeroboam the Second “recovered Hamath” II Kings 14:28. Soon afterwards the Assyrians took it II Kings 18:34; 19:13, etc., and from this time it ceased to be a place of much importance. Antiochus Epiphanes changed its name to Epiphaneia. The natives, however, called it Hamath even in St. Jerome’s time, and its present name, Hamah, is but slightly altered from the ancient form.”.

Euphrates=At 1,780 miles long, it is by far the largest and most important of all the rivers of Western Asia, it is generally called and spoken of in the Old Testment of Father’s Word as “the river.” † The Euphrates is first mentioned in Genesis 2:14 as one of the rivers of Paradise. It is next mentioned in connection with the Covenant which Father entered into with Abraham in Genesis 15:18, when he promised to his descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates — Compare this Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 1:4, a Covenant Promise afterwards fulfilled in the extended conquests of David of II Samuel 8:2-14; I Chronicles 18:3; and I Kings 4:24. It was then the boundary of the kingdom to the north-east. In the ancient history of Assyria, and Babylon, and Egypt many events are recorded in which mention is made of the “great river.” Just as the Nile represented in prophecy the power of Egypt, so the Euphrates represented the Assyrian power Isaiah 8:7; and Jeremiah 2:18. † “Its description naturally falls into 3 divisions-the upper, middle and lower: The upper division traverses the mountainous plateau of Armenia, and is formed by the junction of 2 branches, the Frat and the Murad. The Frat rises 25 miles Northeast of Erzerum, and only 60 miles from the Black Sea. The Murad, which, though the shorter, is the larger of the two, rises in the vicinity of Mt. Ararat. After running respectively 400 and 270 miles in a westerly direction, they unite near Keban Maaden, whence in a tortuous channel of about 300 miles, bearing still in a southwesterly direction, the current descends in a succession of rapids and cataracts to the Syrian plain, some distance above the ancient city of Carchemish, where it is only about 200 miles from the Northeast corner of the Mediterranean. In its course through the Armenian plateau, the stream has gathered the sediment which gives fertility to the soil in the lower part of the valley. It is the melting snows from this region which produce the annual floods from April to June; The middle division, extending for about 700 miles to the bitumen wells of Hit, runs Southeast “through a valley of a few miles in width, which it has eroded in the rocky surface, and which, being more or less covered with alluvial soil, is pretty generally cultivated by artificial irrigation. Beyond the rocky banks on both sides is the open desert, covered in spring with a luxuriant verdure, and dotted here and there with the black tent of the Bedouin.” — Sir Henry Rawlinson. Throughout this portion the river formed the ancient boundary between the Assyrians and Hittites whose capital was at Carchemish, where there are the remains of an old bridge. The ruins of another ancient bridge occur 200 miles lower down at the ancient Thapsacus, where the Greeks forded it under Cyrus the younger. Throughout the middle section the stream is too rapid to permit of successful navigation except by small boats going downstream, and has few and insignificant tributaries. It here has, however, its greatest width, 400 yds, and depth. Lower down the water is drawn off by irrigating canals and into lagoons; — The fertile plain of Babylonia begins at Hit, about 100 miles above Babylon, 50 miles below Hit the Tigris and Euphrates approach to within 25 miles of each other, and together have in a late geological period deposited the plain of Shinar or of Chaldea, more definitely referred to as Babylonia. This plain is about 250 miles long, and in its broadest place 100 miles wide. From Hit an artificial canal conducts water along the western edge of the alluvial plain to the Persian Gulf, a distance of about 500 miles. But the main irrigating canals put off from the East side of the Euphrates, and can be traced all over the plain past the ruins of Accad, Babylon, Nippur, Bismya, Telloh, Erech, Ur and numerous other ancient cities. Originally the Euphrates and Tigris entered into the Persian Gulf by separate channels. At that time the Gulf extended up as far as Ur, the home of Abraham, and it was a seaport. The sediment from these rivers has filled up the head of the Persian Gulf for nearly 100 miles since the earliest monumental records. Loftus estimates that since the Christian era the encroachment has proceeded at the rate of 1 mile in 70 years. In early times Babylonia was rendered fertile by immense irrigating schemes which diverted the water from the Euphrates, which at Babylon is running at a higher level than the Tigris. A large canal left the Euphrates just above Babylon and ran due East to the Tigris, irrigating all the intervening region and sending a branch down as far South as Nippur. Lower down a canal crosses the plain in an opposite direction. This ancient system of irrigation can be traced along the lines of the principal canals “by the winding curves of layers of alluvium in the bed,” while the lateral channels "are hedged in by high banks of mud, heaped up during centuries of dredging. Not a hundredth part of the old irrigation system is now in working order. A few of the mouths of the smaller canals are kept open so as to receive a limited supply of water at the rise of the river in May, which then distributes itself over the lower lying lands in the interior, almost without labor on the part of the cultivators, giving birth in such localities to the most abundant crops; but by far the larger portion of the region between the rivers is at present an arid, howling wildernessv strewed in the most part with broken pottery, the evidence of former human habitation, and bearing nothing but the camel thorn, the wild caper, the colocynth-apple, wormwood and the other weeds of the desert” — Rawlinson. According to Sir W. Willcocks, the eminent English engineer, the whole region is capable of being restored to its original productiveness by simply reproducing the ancient system of irrigation. There are, however, in the lower part of the region, vast marshes overgrown with reeds, which have continued since the time of Alexander who came near losing his army in passing through them. These areas are probably too much depressed to be capable of drainage. Below the junction of the Euphrates and the Tigris, the stream is called Shat el Arab, and is deep enough to float war vessels.” † The etymology of the name Euphrates: The Greek name Euphrates consists of two elements. The first part is the adverb ευ, meaning good, well, noble: The second part of the name Euphrates is a transliteration of the Hebrew name for this river: פרת, Parat. The latter name derives from the Hebrew verb פרה (para), meaning to be fruitful: The name Euphrates means Good Parat or Good Bountiful One. For a meaning of the name Euphrates, New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads That Which Makes Fruitful, and Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Fruitfulness.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H6578, - פְּרָת, - perâth, pronounced - per-awthי, and means: From an unused root meaning to break forth; rushing; Perath (that is, Euphrates), a river of the East: - Euphrates. Total KJV occurrences: 19.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “Is probably a word of Aryan origin, signifying “the good and abounding river.” It is most frequently denoted in the Bible by the term “the river.” The Euphrates is the largest, the longest and by far the most important of the rivers of western Asia. It rises from two chief sources in the Armenian mountains, and flows into the Persian Gulf. The entire course Isaiah 1,780 miles, and of this distance more than two-thirds (1,200 miles) is navigable for boats. The width of the river is greatest at the distance of 700 or 800 miles from its mouth --that is to say, from it junction with the Khabour to the village of Werai. It there averages 400 yards. The annual inundation of the Euphrates is caused by the melting of the snows in the Armenian highlands. It occurs in the month of May. The great hydraulic works ascribed to Nebuchadnezzar had for their chief object to control the inundation. The Euphrates is first mentioned in Scripture as one of the four rivers of Eden Genesis 2:14. We next hear of it in the covenant made with Abraham Genesis 15:18. During the reigns of David and Solomon it formed the boundary of the promised land to the northeast Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 1:4. Prophetical reference to the Euphrates is found in Jeremiah 13:4-7; 46:2-10; 51:63; Revelation 9:14; 16:12. “The Euphrates is linked with the most important events in ancient history. On its banks stood the city of Babylon; the army of Necho was defeated on its banks by Nebuchadnezzar; Cyrus the Younger and Crassus perished after crossing it; Alexander crossed it, and Trajan and Severus descended it.” --Appleton’s Cyc.”.

I Chronicles 18:4 And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them an hundred chariots.   —>
Houghed=We find that the word “houghed” is in the Strong’s Concordance, Hebrew word number: H6131, - עָקַר, - ‛âqar, pronounced - aw-karי, and means: A primitive root; to pluck up (especially by the roots); specifically to hamstring; figuratively to exterminate: - dig down, hough, pluck up, root up. Total KJV occurrences: 7.. So, as we see, “houghed” means to “pluck-up,” “hamstring” or “exterminate” something or someone. In other words, it’s to take it for your own use, or to destroy. With all that being said, what really happened here, is most likely David destroyed all the horses that he didn’t need in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of his enemies and then being used against him and his army. What they did back in the days of chariot use was, they would fasten or affix a long knife or sword approximately 18“-36“ in length to each side of the axel of the chariot, and then run the chariot through the foot soldiers in order to slice their legs off or do other major damage. So, rightfully so, many of foot soldiers feared seeing a chariot coming towards them.

A thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen=There is a conflict between this verse and it’s parallel: II Samuel 8:4. Here, our verse reads that David captured “thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen...,” whereas, we read in II Samuel 8:4 that the number was: “a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen....” Sadly, the KJV translators erred when they tried translating this verse. The mistranslation most likely happened because, at the time that this was originally written, the symbol and characters were Phoenician, and may be seen on the “Moabite Stone.” The Phoenician characters were in current use until approximately 140 B.C., and were gradually replaced with the more modern Hebrew “square” characters. Mistakes in copying occurred in the similarity of certain letters, i.e., זss=7, and ןss=700 which are easily mistaken one for the other.

I Chronicles 18:5 And when the Syrians (the highland) (arawmי) of Damascus (dam-mehי-sek) came to help Hadarezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.   —>   The Syrians were allies of Hadadezer, and what this is saying is that, when Hadarezer’s friends came to his rescue against our forefathers—or tried to anyway—David and the Israelite overcame them as well and killed of them 22,000, I guess they weren’t as strong as they thought they were. But, of course, they also didn’t have Father on their side, and they were trying to come against His anointed, not a smart move.

Syria=While researching the name Syria, I found that the name does not occur in the Massoretic Text nor the Peshitta of the Old Testament—The Syriac version of the Bible. The Peshitta is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the Syriac tradition. The consensus within biblical scholarship, though not universal, is that the Old Testament of the Peshitta was translated into Syriac from Hebrew, probably in the 2nd century AD—but is found in the Septuagint, in the Peshitta of the New Testament—for those of you who are not familiar with Peshitta Primacy, it is the belief that the Syriac Peshitta (the Syriac Bible) is the original text of the New Testament—and in the Mishna—the Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions known as the “Oral Torah”—In the Septuagint it represents “Aram” in all its combinations, as Aram-zobah, etc. The name itself first appears in Herodotus vii.63, where he says that “Syrians” and “Assyrians” were the Greek and barbarian designations of the same people. Otherwise he is quite vague in his use of the term. I’ll defer to the Smith’s Bible Dictionary below for a further description of Syria. † The etymology of the name Syria probably comes from the common Hebrew verb רום (rum), meaning to be high, rise up: Note the assumed Hebrew root ארם ss(יrm) that, according to Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary, may indeed have something to do with the Hebrew word רום (rum) and which is identical to our name Aram. The name Aram is possibly derived from the root that also gave us the word for citadel. It probably also means Elevated. For a meaning of the name Aram, Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads High, Elevated. New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads Elevated.. †Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H758, - אֲרָם, - 'ărâm, pronounced - arawmי, and means: From the same as H759; the highland; Aram or Syria, and its inhabitants; also the name of a son of Shem; a grandson of Nahor, and of an Israelite: - Aram, Mesopotamia, Syria, Syrians. Total KJV occurrences: 132.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “Is the term used throughout our version for the Hebrew Aram, as well as for the Greek Zupia. Most probably Syria is for Tsyria, the country about Tsur or Tyre which was the first of the Syrian towns known to the Greeks. It is difficult to fix the limits of Syria. The limits of the Hebrew Aram and its subdivisions are spoken of under ARAM. Syria proper was bounded by Amanus and Taurus on the north by the Euphrates and the Arabian desert on the east, by Palestine on the south, by the Mediterranean near the mouth of the Orontes, and then by Phoenicia on the west. This tract is about 300 miles long from north to south, and from 50 to 150 miles broad. It contains an area of about 30,000 square miles. General physical features. — The general character of the tract is mountainous, as the Hebrew name Aram (from a roof signifying “height”) sufficiently implies. The most fertile and valuable tract of Syria is the long valley intervening between Libanus and Anti-Libanus. Of the various mountain ranges of Syria, Lebanon possesses the greatest interest. It extends from the mouth of the Litany to Arka, a distance of nearly 100 miles. Anti-Libanus, as the name implies, stands lover against Lebanon, running in the same direction, i.e. nearly north and south, and extending the same length. [LEBANON] The principal rivers of Syria are the Litany and the Orontes. The Litany springs from a small lake situated in the middle of the Coele-Syrian valley, about six miles to the southwest of Baalbek. It enters the sea about five miles north of Tyre. The source of the Orontes is but about 15 miles from that of the Litany. Its modern name is the Nahr-el-Asi, or “rebel stream,” an appellation given to it on account of its violence and impetuosity in many parts of its course. The chief towns of Syria may be thus arranged, as nearly as possible in the order of their importance: 1, Antioch; 2, Damascus; 3, Apamea; 4, Seleucia; 5, Tadmor or Palmyra; 6, Laodicea; 7, Epiphania (Hamath); 8, Samosata; 9, Hierapolis (Mabug); 10, Chalybon; 11, Emesa; 12, Heliopolis; 13, Laodicea ad Libanum; 14, Cyrrhus; 15, Chalcis; 16, Poseideum; 17, Heraclea; 18, Gindarus; 19, Zeugma; 20, Thapsacus. Of these, Samosata, Zeugma and Thapsacus are on the Euphrates; Seleucia, Laodicea, Poseideum and Heraclea, on the seashore, Antioch, Apamea, Epiphania and Emesa (Hems), on the Orontes; Heliopolis and Laodicea ad Libanum, in Coele-Syria; Hierapolis, Chalybon, Cyrrhus, Chalcis and Gindarns, in the northern highlands; Damascus on the skirts, and Palmyra in the centre, of the eastern desert. History. — The first occupants of Syria appear to have been of Hamitic descent — Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, etc. After a while the first comers, who were still to a great extent nomads, received a Semitic infusion, while most Probably came to them from the southeast. The only Syrian town whose existence we find distinctly marked at this time is Damascus Genesis 14:15; 15:2, which appears to have been already a place of some importance. Next to Damascus must be placed Hamath Numbers 13:21; 34:8. Syria at this time, and for many centuries afterward, seems to have been broken up among a number of petty kingdoms. The Jews first come into hostile contact with the Syrians, under that name, in the time of David Genesis 15:18; II Samuel 8:3,4,13. When, a few years later, the Ammonites determined on engaging in a war with David, and applied to the Syrians for aid, Zolah, together with Beth-rehob sent them 20,000 footmen, and two other Syrian kingdoms furnished 13,000 II Samuel 10:6. This army being completely defeated by Joab, Hadadezer obtained aid from Mesopotamia, Ibid. ver. 16, and tried the chance of a third battle, which likewise went against him, and produced the general submission of Syria to the Jewish monarch. The submission thus begun continued under the reign of Solomon I Kings 4:21. The only part of Syria which Solomon lost seems to have been Damascus, where an independent kingdom was set up by Rezon, a native of Zobah I Kings 11:23-25. On the separation of the two kingdoms, soon after the accession of Rehoboam, the remainder of Syria no doubt shook off the yoke. Damascus now became decidedly the leading state, Hamath being second to it, and the northern Hittites, whose capital was Carchemish, near Bambuk, third. [DAMASCUS] Syria became attached to the great Assyrian empire, from which it passed to the Babylonians, and from them to the Persians, In B.C. 333 it submitted to Alexander without a struggle. Upon the death of Alexander, Syria became, for the first time the head of a great kingdom. On the division of the provinces among his generals, B.C. 321, Seleucus Nicator received Mesopotamia and Syria. The city of Antioch was begun in B.C. 300, and, being finished in a few years, was made the capital of Seleucus’ kingdom. The country grew rich with the wealth which now flowed into it on all sides. Syria was added to the Roman empire by Pompey, B.C. 64, and as it holds an important place, not only in the Old Testament but in the New, some account of its condition under the Romans must be given. While the country generally was formed into a Roman province, under governors who were at first proprietors or quaestors, then procounsuls, and finally legates, there were exempted from the direct rule of the governor in the first place, a number of “free cities” which retained the administration of their own affairs, subject to a tribute levied according to the Roman principles of taxation; secondly, a number of tracts, which were assigned to petty princes, commonly natives, to be ruled at their pleasure, subject to the same obligations with the free cities as to taxation. After the formal division of the provinces between Augustus and the senate, Syria, being from its exposed situation among the province principis, were ruled by legates, who were of consular rank (consulares) and bore severally the full title of “Legatus Augusti pro praetore.” Judea occupied a peculiar position; a special procurator was therefore appointed to rule it, who was subordinate to the governor of Syria, but within his own province had the power of a legatus. Syria continued without serious disturbance from the expulsion of the Parthians, B.C. 38, to the breaking out of the Jewish war, A.D. 66. in A.D. 44-47 it was the scene of a severe famine. A little earlier, Christianity had begun to spread into it, partly by means of those who “were scattered” at the time of Stephen’s persecution Acts 11:19, partly by the exertions of St. Paul Galatians 1:21. The Syrian Church soon grew to be one of the most flourishing Acts 13:1; 15:23, 35, 41 etc. (Syria remained under Roman and Byzantine rule till A.D. 634, when it was overrun by the Mohammedans; after which it was for many years the scene of fierce contests, and was finally subjugated by the Turks, A.D. 1517, under whose rule it still remains. — ED.)”.

Damascus=The first two mentions of Damascus are both connected with Abram, and when I say connected, I mean that; in the first instance, he pursued those who had taken his nephew Lot captive to the town of Hobah which bordered Damascus; and in the second instance he had a servant—steward of his house—who was from Damascus. † According to the Strong’s Concordance, there are 45 occurrences in Father’s Word of the name Damascus however, when searching on E-Sword, we find that there are 55 verses, with 60 matches of the name Damascus in Father’s Word. As for a further description of Damascus, I’ll defer to the Smith’s Bible Dictionary below. † Researching the etymology of the name Damascus, I only found the following: “Controversial explanations have been made to guess etymological origin of the name Damascus, the Syrian capital city. Some hold that “damashaq” means the fast-moving camel, and the name was given because the building of the city was completed swiftly. Others believe it was named after Damashaq the great grandson of Sam son of Noah, who built the city. Still others presume that the Romans called it “Dumuskus” which means the double musk. Or perhaps the name was taken from Hermes son in Greek mythology who came over to Syria. In Aramean the name might have been derived from Dermask or dersauk as (E deim) means land and (mask) means red in Syriac. Whatever the etymological origion of the word, Damascus remains, as ever (the eye of the whole east) as the Roman Julianus described the greatness of the city.”. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H1834, - דַּמֶּשֶׂק, דּוּמֶשֶׂק, or דַּרְמֶשֶׂק, - dammeśeq, dûmeśeq , or darmeśeq, pronounced – dam-mehי-sek, doo-mehי-sek, or dar-mehי-sek, and means: Of foreign origin; Damascus, a city of Syria: - Damascus. total KJV occurrences: 45.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “One of the most ancient and most important of the cities of Syria. It is situated 130 miles northeast of Jerusalem, in a plain of vast size and of extreme fertility, which lies east of the great chain of Anti-Libanus, on the edge of the desert. This fertile plain, which is nearly circular and about 30 miles in diameter, is due to the river Barada, which is probably the “Abana” of Scripture. Two other streams the Wady Helbon upon the north and the Awaj, which flows direct from Hermon upon the south, increase the fertility of the Damascene plain, and contend for the honor of representing the “Pharpar” of Scripture. According to Josephus, Damascus was founded by Uz, grandson of Shem. It is first mentioned in Scripture in connection with Abraham Genesis 14:15, whose steward was a native of the place Genesis 15:2. At one time David became complete master of the whole territory, which he garrisoned with Israelites II Samuel 8:5-6. It was in league with Baasha, king of Israel against Asa I Kings 15:19; II Chronicles 16:3, and afterwards in league with Asa against Baasha I Kings 15:20. Under Ahaz it was taken by Tiglath-pileser II Kings 16:7-9, the kingdom of Damascus brought to an end, and the city itself destroyed, the inhabitants being carried captive into Assyria II Kings 16:9, with which we can compare with Isaiah 7:8 and Amos 1:5. Afterwards it passed successively under the dominion of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans and Saracens, and was at last captured by the Turks in 1516 A.D. Here the apostle Paul was converted and preached the gospel Acts 9:1-25. Damascus has always been a great centre for trade. Its present population is from 100,000 to 150,000. It has a delightful climate. Certain localities are shown as the site of those scriptural events which specially interest us in its history. Queen’s Street, which runs straight through the city from east to west, may be the street called Straight Acts 9:11. The house of Judas and that of Ananias are shown, but little confidence can be placed in any of these traditions.”.

18:6 Garrisons in Syria.
18:6 Subjection of Syrians.
18:6 Preservation of David.

I Chronicles 18:6 Then David put garrisons in Syria-damascus; and the Syrians became David’s servants, and brought gifts. Thus the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.   —>   As we see, the word garrisons is italicized, meaning that it has been added by the KJV 1611 translators in order to make the verse read correctly. With that being said, these garrisons were actually military outposts which were built to preserve Israel by keeping control of the people in these communities, but also, so that a forward deployed unit could keep eye out for any who sought to try and sneak up on Israel.

And the LORD preserved David=Here is why these verses are so important for you and I today, Father is either with you, or, He is against you. When Father is with you, it means that you are being pleasing to Him in all those things that you do and say. It means that you are doing the things which Father has commanded through His Word for you to do. Father is pleased with and Blesses all His children who make the effort in trying to do those things which are pleasing to Him please him.

18:7-12 Conquests.

I Chronicles 18:7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem (founded peaceful; or, the habitation of peace) (Yer-oo-shaw-lah’-im).   —>   In this and the next verse we’ll see David start to collect a tribute, or taxes from those peoples he saved alive in the surrounding communities. He’ll start by taking immediate possession of the military belongings such as shields, helmets, and other items which were made of precious metals, and he’ll at present put them in the treasury and later, they’ll be turned over to his metal smiths in order to make accessories for the temple. After his taking immediate possession of the items he wants, then he’ll also start a yearly tribute of money, metals, lumber or whatever else they might have that Israel has need of, that they’ll be required to pay for his saving them alive.

Jerusalem=Jerusalem, like several other of the cities of our forefathers, is rich in history. When our forefathers moved into the Promised Land, Jerusalem—Jebus as it was known as at the time; though, we can also go back as far as the Book of Joshua; Joshua 10:1, and the Book of Judges; Judges 1:8 and read that it had already been called Jerusalem—was in the hands of the Canaanites, and more specifically, the Jebusites. It stayed that way for hundreds of years before David, as king, mustered the troops to fight against the Jebusites and capture Father’s most favorite place in all His Created Universe. † We find in the entomology of the name Jerusalem that, that without a doubt, the second and dominant part of the name reminded—then and now—of the word שלום (shalom), meaning: peace. The root of this word, שלם (shalem), denotes completeness, wholeness and soundness: In this sense, the name Jerusalem is related to some other famous names from the David saga: Solomon and Absalom. The first part of the name Jerusalem may likely have reminded a Hebrew audience of the verb ירה (yara), throw, cast or shoot; Perhaps the name Jerusalem was never changed, but only Hebraized, because it seems to mean Rain Of Peace. Jerusalem was to be the radiating heart of a world of completeness and wholeness. It seems that history supplied her with a most suiting name. As I said in the opening of the description here; Jerusalem is rich with history, far too much to list here; but, of particular note, or importance is this tidbit: it was the land that our Father took to be His Wife;—Ezekiel 16:3—but, as can be read in Jeremiah 3:8, because of our forefathers being sottish, He issued her a bill of divorcement. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, we find it is Hebrew word number: H3389, - ירוּשׁלם, or ירוּשׁלים, - Yerûshâlaim, or Yerûshâlayim, pronounced - Yer-oo-shaw-lah'-im, or Yer-oo-shaw-lah'-yim , and means: A dual (in allusion to its two main hills (the true pointing, at least of the former reading, seems to be that of H3390)); probably from (the passive participle of) H3384 and H7999, founded peaceful; Jerushalaim or Jerushalem, the capital city of Palestine: - Jerusalem.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: The description of Jerusalem in the Smith’s Bible Dictionary is extensive and too long to post here; so, I’ll instead just post the link to it: Jerusalem.

I Chronicles 18:8 Likewise from Tibhath (slaughter; or, extension) (tib-khathי), and from Chun (established) (koon), cities of Hadarezer, brought David very much brass, wherewith Solomon (peaceful; or, peaceful) (shel-o-moי) made the brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.   —>
Remember in the last chapter I Chronicles 17, that David had wanted to build a house for Father and His Ark, but Father told him he would not build an house for Him? Well, David knows that sooner or later, after Father has given them peace all about them, then they’ll build a permanant structure to worship in. So, he is collecting all this treasure now and dedicating it to the future, for when that structure is built. What did they do with all this brass? Let’s turn to I Kings 7 and read it for ourselves: I Kings 7:15 For he cast two pillars of brass, of eighteen cubits high apiece: and a line of twelve cubits did compass either of them about.   —>   Obviously Solomon didn’t build these pillars nor the molten sea, Father instilled the knowledge of how to build things into Hiram of Tyre, a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, whose father was a man of Tyre, Hiram was a worker in brass: and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning to work all works in brass — much as He did with those He had make His original tabernacle and the items within it, when He was giving the instructions to Moses, when He brought the children of Israel up out of Egypt. These pillars were eighteen cubits high a piece, if a cubit was between 18”—24” long, that means these pillars stood between 27 and 36 feet tall, and each one was also 12 in diameter. [7:16] And he made two chapiters of molten brass, to set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of the one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:   —>   These chapiters were the decorative crowns which sat atop the pillars. Each one was between 7 1/2 to 10 feet tall. [7:17] And nets of checker work, and wreaths of chain work, for the chapiters which were upon the top of the pillars; seven for the one chapiter, and seven for the other chapiter.   —>   These nets were decorative lattice work. [7:18] And he made the pillars, and two rows round about upon the one network, to cover the chapiters that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and so did he for the other chapiter. [7:19] And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars were of lily work in the porch, four cubits.   —>   In other words, Hiram made decorative works of lily flowers for the crowns. [7:20] And the chapiters upon the two pillars had pomegranates also above, over against the belly which was by the network: and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows round about upon the other chapiter.   —>   Decorative pomegranate trees decorated the crowns. [7:21] And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin (He [YHVH] shall establish; or, He [YHVH] will establish) (yaw-keenי): and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz (in Him [YHVH] is strength) (boי-az).   —>   After finishing the pillars, Hiram set them in their place and then named them. Both these names represent His—Father’s—People: Israel. [7:22] And upon the top of the pillars was lily work: so was the work of the pillars finished. [7:23] And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.   —>   Listen to the size of this brass sea: 10 cubits from brim to brim. Brethren, if a cubit was 18–24 inches long, then this makes this sea between 15 and 20 Feet round — think of an 15-20 foot round back-yard swimming pool. It was also 5 cubits tall — thus making it between 7 1/2–10 feet high, that’s a deep sea. What would this sea be used for? It was used for the priests to wash themselves in prior to ministering to Father. [7:24] And under the brim of it round about there were knops compassing it, ten in a cubit, compassing the sea round about: the knops were cast in two rows, when it was cast.   —>   These knops were semi-globe decorative ornaments. [7:25] It stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east: and the sea was set above upon them, and all their hinder parts were inward.   —>   One oxen representing each of the twelve tribes of Israel, notice also that three were to a side, much as the House of Israel camped when they wandered the wilderness for those 38 years. [7:26] And it was an hand breadth thick, and the brim thereof was wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers of lilies: it contained two thousand baths.   —>   A bath was equivalent to what we know today as approximately 6 English Gallons, that would make this bath approximately 12,000 plus gallons — and yes, having owned a 24 foot round X 52 inch high Swimming pool which held 13,000 gallons, I can attest that is correct considering the size of the bath. [7:27] And he made ten bases of brass; four cubits was the length of one base, and four cubits the breadth thereof, and three cubits the height of it.   —>   Each base was between 6-8 feet long and between 3 1/2-4 feet tall. [7:28] And the work of the bases was on this manner: they had borders, and the borders were between the ledges:   —>   These borders were decorative panels. [7:29] And on the borders that were between the ledges were lions, oxen, and cherubims: and upon the ledges there was a base above: and beneath the lions and oxen were certain additions made of thin work.   —>   These lions, oxen and cherubims were ornamental appendages which Hiram fashioned and then affixed to the panels. [7:30] And every base had four brasen wheels, and plates of brass: and the four corners thereof had undersetters: under the laver were undersetters molten, at the side of every addition.   —>   Wheels=
Showing that these lavers were movable, and indicating that when “that which is perfect should come—i.e. the washing or baptizing with the Holy Spirit—see Acts 1:5—then, the “type”—water—should be wheeled away.” The plates mentioned here, were the wheel axletrees or casters—we’ll read of them in verse v7:32 below—enabling the wheels to turn in all directions. Undersetters in the Strong’s Concordance, is Hebrew word number: H3802, - כּתף, - kâthêph, pronounced - kaw-thafeי, and means: From an unused root meaning to clothe; the shoulder (proper, that is, upper end of the arm; as being the spot where the garments hang); figuratively side piece or lateral projection or anything: - arm, corner, shoulder (-piece), side, undersetter.. So in other words the undersetters were coverings for the four corners of these bases to give the appearance of covering the base or possible even covering the supports for the bath. [7:31] And the mouth of it within the chapiter and above was a cubit: but the mouth thereof was round after the work of the base, a cubit and an half: and also upon the mouth of it were gravings with their borders, foursquare, not round.   —>   We will saw in II Kings 16:17 that these borders or panels were removed by Ahaz, and later replaced by Hezekiah in II Chronicles 29:19. These panels existed to the time of the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, and the dismantling of the Temple of Jeremiah’s day Jeremiah 52:17,20. [7:32] And under the borders were four wheels; and the axletrees of the wheels were joined to the base: and the height of a wheel was a cubit and half a cubit.   —>   Each of these wheels was between 18 35 inches tall. [7:33] And the work of the wheels was like the work of a chariot wheel: their axletrees, and their naves, and their felloes, and their spokes, were all molten.   —>
The “their naves” and “their felloes” were the hub and spokes within each wheel. [7:34] And there were four undersetters to the four corners of one base: and the undersetters were of the very base itself. [7:35] And in the top of the base was there a round compass of half a cubit high: and on the top of the base the ledges thereof and the borders thereof were of the same. [7:36] For on the plates of the ledges thereof, and on the borders thereof, he graved cherubims, lions, and palm trees, according to the proportion of every one, and additions round about.   —>   Each of these carved statutes were reduced in size to the proportion of the ledges that they were to be resting on. So if the ledges of the base were “half a cubit,” or about 12 inches, of course you can’t set a full scale lion or palm tree on the ledge, but it would be reduced to a size to where it would stand comfortably. [7:37] After this manner he made the ten bases: all of them had one casting, one measure, and one size.   —>   Every one identical. But, now you can understand why they needed all that brass and other precious metals.

Tibhath=There is only one mention of the city\town of Tibhath in all of Father’s Word and that is in I Chronicles 18:8. There is strong contention that it is the same as Betah of II Samuel 8:8 and most likely a copyist error or an error on the part of the KJV 1611 Translators as, the names טבחת (Tibhath) and בטח (Betah) have three letters in common; and both are mentioned in the same context, i.e., it was a city\town that king David conquered from the Arameans of Syria-Damascus who had tried to come to the aid of the king Hadadezer of Zobah who was also defeated at the same time. From this city and of that of a neighboring city called Chun, David brought out a huge amount of brass or bronze, which his son king Solomon would later smelt into the bronze laver, pillars, and utensils used in Father’s Temple. † The etymology of the name Tibhath: The names טבחת (Tibhath) and בטח (Betah) have three letters in common, and Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) insists that the name Tibhath is really Betah-plus-ת, with the first two letters transposed for some reason. Hence Jones takes the name Tibhath from the verb בטח (batah), meaning to trust or feel safe: But to those who feel that the commonality of the letters is really coincidence, or else a playful reference, the name Tibhath looks like it came from the root טבח (tabah), meaning to slaughter: For a meaning of the name Tibhath, New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads Slaughter, and Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has Security. Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary does not interpret our name.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H2880, - טִבְחַת, - ṭibchath, pronounced - tib-khathי, and means: From H2878; slaughter; Tibchath, a place in Syria: - Tibhath. Total KJV occurrences: 1.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(extension), a city of Hadadezer, king of Zobah I Chronicles 18:8, which in II Samuel 8:8 Is called Betah. Its exact Position is unknown.”.

Chun=There is only one mention of the city\town of Chun—some translations have it “Cun”—in all of Father’s Word and that is in I Chronicles 18:8. There is strong contention that Chun is the same as Berothai of II Samuel 8:8 as, Chun along with Tibhath—Betah—was one of the cities of Hadarezer, king of Syria of which king David procured brass—i.e., bronze or copper—from it for Father’s Temple. As I mentioned above, it is called Berothai in II Samuel 8:8; and was probably the same as Berothah in Ezekiel 47:16. † The etymology of the name Chun is identical to the adjective כון (ken), meaning right or true, from the verb כון (kun), meaning to establish or fix: For a meaning of the name Cun, New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads Founding and Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes Firm, Choice. Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary does not translate our name but does confirm it is identical to the adjective כונ (ken).. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H3560, - כּוּן, - kûn, pronounced - koon, and means: Probably from H3559; established; Kun, a place in Syria: - Chun. Total KJV occurrences: 1.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “I Chronicles 18:8 called Berothai in II Samuel 8:8.”.

Solomon=Solomon was one of, if not the greatest king to rule Israel. Though his father David was and is the king by which all other kings were compared against, it was Solomon who Father came to in that dream where He asked Solomon “Ask what I shall give thee?” Solomon replied in I Kings 3: I Kings 3:6 And Solomon said “Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before Thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with Thee; and Thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that Thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. [3:7] And now, O LORD my God, Thou hast made Thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. [3:8] And Thy servant is in the midst of Thy People which Thou hast chosen, a great People, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. [3:9] Give therefore Thy servant an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this Thy so great a People?”. He took over the throne from his father when he was at the tender age of 19,—he wasn’t Israel’s youngest king, there were several others who had that distinction—and he reigned for forty years, from 920–880 B.C., he was 59 years old when he returned Home to Father in heaven. † Solomon accomplished a lot of things during his reign, and a lot of good things. For the first 20+ years he did very well: He built the Temple; the palatial complex; the House of the Cedar of Lebanon; the house for pharaoh's daughter: the queen; and he brought in much gold and other sundries. It wasn’t until he got the “big head” after he completed all his building and Father appeared to him, Blessing him with all the wisdom he had, and then wanting to show off that Father Given Wisdom. It was then he started succumbing to the lust of the flesh, and he started accumulating his wives and concubines, and then started worshipping and building altars for his foreign wives’ false gods, and causing Israel to worship them too. Remember, all of the things that Solomon and Israel did, bringing in the wealth of the world by ships, and it happened in a short span of only forty years. † The etymology name Solomon comes from the fertile and familiar root שלם (shalem), meaning to be unbroken or whole: The noun שלמה (shilluma) is identical to our name Sholomoh, and is used in Psalm 91:8 in the meaning of reward or recompense (of the wicked). This illustrates the perhaps anti-intuitive notion that a bad result of something that was bad to begin with, is still very good (or rather: just). Although Psalm 91 is anonymous and tradition demands that Solomon is the great peace-king, his name may have stemmed from David’s deep remorse and grief over losing Solomon’s older sibling. When Solomon is born, the prophet Nathan receives word from Father that this child is loved by Him. Hence He names him Jedidiah—The name Jedidiah is a combination of two elements: The second element of the name Jedidiah is יה, which is the commonly accepted abbreviated form of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, which is YHVH, or Yahveh, the sacred Name of Father. The first element of the name Jedidiah comes from the verb ידד (yadad) , meaning to love—as can be read in II Samuel 12:25, although this name is, sadly, never again used.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, we find that it is Hebrew word number: H8010, - שׁלמה, - shelômôh, pronounced - shel-o-moי, and means: From H7965; peaceful; Shelomoh, David’s successor: - Solomon. Total KJV occurrences: 293.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: The description of Solomon in the Smith’s Bible Dictionary is extensive and too long to post here; so, I’ll instead just post the link to it: Solomon.

I Chronicles 18:9 Now when Tou (error; or, erring) (toי-oo) king of Hamath heard how David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah;   —>   As we read in verse v18:3 above, Hamath was right next to Zobah, therefore, it shouldn’t surprise anybody that the kenites heard that David killed Hadarezer and his army. This killing of Hadarezer pleased Tou because those two nations had been at war against each other foe quite some time.

Hamath=Whether it’s spelled as it is here “Hamath,” or as found in some other places in Father’s Word “Hemath,” it is still one-and-the-same; the home of the offspring of Cain, otherwise known as “the kenites.” Therefore, David’s hackles—like yours and mine—should be starting to rise as a warning indicator that something is amiss. See, this is the way the kenites work, and we can see evidence of them at work in several places in Father’s Word: most notable in I Chronicles 2:55 which reads: I Chronicles 2:55 And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Suchathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab.;we can also read of them in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah where they had taken over the priesthood—though, there they were called the “nethinim(s)”—as our forefathers were coming out of captivity to the Babylonians to re-establish and rebuild Jerusalem. We can read in Jeremiah 35 where Father tells Jeremiah to bring them into His House — The Temple, then offer them wine — the symbolical blood of our Lord Jesus — to drink, of course they refused, saying: Jeremiah 35:6 But they said, “We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us saying, ‘Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:’   —>   Their father—and I know it says “Jonadab,” but think deep on this,—their father—lower case “f”—said drink no wine forever, in other words, never let wine pass your lips, again, in other words do not ever partake of Christ’s Life-giving Blood!!! Remember also, this is Our Father showing this to us for this very reason. [35:7] Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.”   —>
Is the picture starting to come into focus yet brethren? Remember what Father told Cain when He drove him out of the Garden of Eden in Genesis 4?! Genesis 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.   —>   So, we can see to the time of Jeremiah, they still don’t\couldn’t sow seed because the earth won’t yield her strength; or build houses, so that they can live hidden while living among other people. To this day, they still live as such, most who live in Jerusalem today are such, “non-Israelites—but claiming to be of Judah” and the world doesn’t even know it. Cain and his offspring—these kenites—are not part of Adam’s genealogy of Genesis 5, and that’s because, Cain, though born of Eve, was NOT of Adam. He was the “fruit of the labor” of the sexual union between satan—the tree of knowledge of good and evil—in his role(s) of deceiver—serpent—and Eve in the Garden. But our Father, ELOHIM, has a plan for these kenites and this is why He is allowing all this. Remember, there is a “test on Father’s Word” coming and sadly most will fail. How many people know and understand this basic but key portion of Father’s Word and\or that there is a test coming, yet here is Father showing us all this. But, if you don’t read Verse–by–Verse, Chapter–by–Chapter, and Book–by–Book you’ll never come to a full understanding of His Word. This is also part of the “Key of David” from Revelation 3:6-10 and 2:7-11 and why that is so very important. Let’s turn there for a second: Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. [2:8] And unto the angel of the church of Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; [2:9] I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. [2:10] Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you in prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. [2:11] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death., and Revelation 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. [3:7] And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; [3:8] I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My Word, and hast not denied My name. [3:9] Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee [3:10] Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth [3:11] Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. [3:12] Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God: and I will write upon him My new name.   —>   What was it that Smyrna and Philadelphia knew? That there are “those who claim to be Jews but are not.” In other words, those who claim to be Adam’s—Judah was descended from Adam—offspring but, in reality are satan’s offspring. Let’s keep reading to see what else Father says about these kenites here. [35:8] Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine in all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;   —>   Our Father knew that, wine in Jeremiah’s future would come to symbolize the — Blood of Christ, as did satan, and, his offspring Rechab told his offspring, to tell theirs to not drink it as a statute forever, as he wanted them to have nothing to do with salvation or the partaking of Jesus’ blood during communion. Are you a Christian and still refusing to partake of wine during communion? [35:9] Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed; [35:10] But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.   —>   Yes they have been very obedient to their father haven’t they?! WATCH Brethren, WATCH!!! [35:11] But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, “Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.   —>   They dwell where?! in Jerusalem. Remember “those that say they are Jews but do lie and are of the synagogue of satan” from the Book of Revelation? Again, this is our Father showing us this so we may learn. He also showed us more of this to this same Prophet of His, in this same Book, in Jeremiah 24, which is another superb read. Let’s read two or three verses: Jeremiah 24:1 The LORD shewed me, and behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.   —>   Every one of the verses in this chapter are for both the current time of Judah’s captivity in the year 600B.C. and also in the future sense, future even to our time but, some of the events will take place during the last—our—the final—generation. This portion of the parable unfolds with Father YHVH showing Jeremiah His Temple in Jerusalem however, Nebuchadrezzar had already carried the House of Judah away from Jerusalem to Babylon and into captivity. Noticethe House of Israel is split in two: “House of Israel” — the ten tribes that were taken into captivity over 200 hundred years prior by the Assyrians and the “House of Judah” — the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. All of Jeremiah’s prophesies deal with the the House of Judah — the two tribes. We know they are in captivity because of the name of Judah’s king Jeconiah, in the Hebrew it means “one who Yah will establish.” And it was Father YHVH Who sent the House of Judah into captivity and established Jeconiah as their king while in captivity. So, what is transpiring here? Father is showing our prophet — Jeremiah, the Temple of God, in Jerusalem and in front of it are two baskets of figs. Why is this significant? We’re about to find out. Jeremiah 24:2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.   —>   So, we have these two baskets of figs — one of which is “good,” which as used in this verse in the Hebrew means: H2896, - טוֹב, - ṭôb, pronounced - tobe, and means: From H2895; good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good, a good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women) Total KJV occurrecnes: 553.. So, as we see it being used in this verse, it is in reference to people, places or things; not fruit. In contrast we have “naughty figs” which, as used in this verse is in the Strong’s Concordance, Hebrew word number: H7451, - רַע or רָעָה, - ra' or râ‛âh, pronounced – rah or raw-awי, and means: From H7489; bad or (as noun) evil (naturally or morally). This includes the second (feminine) form; as adjective or noun: - adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, + displease (-ure), distress, evil ([-favouredness], man, thing), + exceedingly, X great, grief (-vous), harm, heavy, hurt (-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief, (-vous), misery, naught (-ty), noisome, + not please, sad (-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked (-ly, -ness, one), worse (-st) wretchedness, wrong. [Including feminine ra’ah, as adjective or noun.] Total KJV occurrences: 664.. Let’s continue reading so that we can see that the word “naughty” as used in this verse, in no wise means — fruit spoiling. These two baskets of fruit that are set in front of Father’s Temple represent people. Jeremiah 24:3 Then said the LORD unto me, “What seeth thou, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.”   —>   Father told Jeremiah to describe to Him what he was seeing, not because He didn’t know or understand but, because He wanted Jeremiah and more importantly, us to know and understand. So, what was it that Jeremiah was seeing? Two manner of peoples, one which loved our Father, YHVH — God, and one which did not and does not love our Father, but loves their father — satan. Jesus goes into great depth with this when He teaches His disciples and us, the “Parable of the Sower” and the “Parable of the Tares” in Matthew 13. Though Jeremiah—the Prophet—and the Book of Jeremiah is future to this time of David here in, I Chronicles 18, we see that David just defeated the Syrians, enemy of Tou and the offspring of Rechab but, they continue their struggle for many, many more years.

Toi=Also known as Tou in I Chronicles 18:9,10. Toi was the King of Hamath who had sent his son “Joram”—called “Hadoram” in I Chronicles 18:9,10—to King David to thank him when he “heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer” II Samuel 8:9,10. † As the name Toi is of foreign origin, I could not find an etymology of his name. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H8583, - תֹּעוּ or תֹּעִי, - tô‛û or tô‛ı̂y, pronounced – toי-oo or toי-ee, and means: From H8582; error; Tou or Toi, a Syran king: - Toi, Tou. Total KJV occurrences: 5.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “king of Hamath I Chronicles 18:9,10.”.

I Chronicles 18:10 He sent Hadoram (noble honor) (had-o-rawmי) his son to king David, to enquire of his welfare, and to congratulate him, because he had fought against Hadarezer, and smitten him; (for Hadarezer had war with Tou;) and with him all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass.
—>   Hadoram=We find that, in II Samuel 8, this Hadoram is also called or named “Hadoram.” Hadoram is not a Hebrew name but, of foreign derivation, so, my guess would be that somewhere along the line in the scribing of Father’s Word, a kenite scribe changed the spelling of Hadoram’s name to Joram in order to try and confuse David and the readers of Father’s Word to make it appear that this one is of Hebrew origin.

So, the king of the kenites sent his son to salute and thank David for defeating not only the Israelite’s enemy but, his enemy as well. How did he say “thanks?” By trying to pay David off with Silver, gold and brass. Maybe Hadadezer knew something concerning Toi and Hamath that David should have known. Notice also that Toi didn’t try and join in with the Israelites in their fight against Hadadezer no, they waited until the battle was over and then went to and, sided with the victor. Pretty much the way 1/3 of Father’s Children waited until the battle in the First Earth Age was fought, before joining sides, they too then sided with the victor.

We can also see in this, a similarity or resemblance to Joshua 9 when the forefathers of these same kenites watched Joshua and the Israelite army defeat all their enemy in the Promised Land, they had come to Joshua and the elders of Israel “claiming“ they came from far off and heard how Great Father YHVH was and what He was doing for the Israelites and they too wanted to worship Him so that they would be Blessed just like the Israelites. They might have fooled Joshua and the elders of Israel however, they didn’t fool Father for, He knew and knows exactly who they are. And, if you Study Father’s Word, He’ll open your eyes so that you too can know.

Hadoram=Also called or known as Joram in II Samuel 8. Hadoram was king Toi(u)’s son and is only mentioned in I Chronciles 18:10, where he was sent by his father to king David to thank and congratulate him for defeating Israel’s and king Tou’s enemy: Hadadezer king of Zobah. † The etymology of the name Hadoram is somewhat disputed, although it is clear that the name consists of two segments. New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List and Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names both suggest that the second part has to do with רום (rum) meaning to be high or lofty: NOBSE Study Bible Name List suggests that the first part is a name itself, namely Hadar, but does not treat that name. Their conclusion: Hadar Is Exalted. Other scholars believe that the name Hadoram comes from Hadad and is in fact a contraction of Hadadram, which would mean Hadad Is Exalted (the name Hadadram doesn’t occur in the Bible but a similar duality exists in the names Hadadezer and Hadarezer). But that would make our name related to the verb חדה, meaning to thunder or make noise: Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names sees more in דור (dor) meaning generation, from the verb דור (dur): Jones’ conclusion: A Noble Generation. All very well, think the scholars behind Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary, and list הדרם (Rehoboam’s officer) under the verb הדר (hadar), meaning to show respect: Two out of three Biblical Hadorams are related to a king, so it’s a good bet that the name Hadoram is based on the verb hadar, and means either Exalted Glory, or (seen as a plural) Honors/ Splendors/ Ornaments.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H1913, - הֲדוֹרָם or הֲדֹרָם, - hădôrâm or hădôrâm, pronounced – had-o-rawmי or had-o-rawmי, and means: Probably of foreign derivation; Hadoram, a son of Joktan (my note here, as we see, Strong omits the other two Hadorams mentioned in Father’s Word: i.e., king Tou’s son; and Rehoboam’s officer), and the tribe descended from him: - Hadoram. Total KJV occurrences: 4.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “Son of Tou or Toi king of Hamath; his father’s ambassador to congratulate David on his victory over Hadarezer king of Zobah I Chronicles 18:10.”.

I Chronicles 18:11 Them also king David dedicated unto the LORD, with the silver and the gold that he brought from all these nations; from Edom (red; and, red) (ed-omeי), and from Moab, and from the children of Ammon (tribal that is, inbred; or, sons of renown, mountaineers) (am-oneי), and from the Philistines, and from Amalek (dweller in a valley) (am-aw-lakeי).   —>
These kenites tried to bribe David for peace. David didn’t keep the money for himself, but put it in with the other tribute monies he was collecting from all the nations around Israel.

David was good in staying with Father but, he allowed himself to be taken in by these salesmen from Hamath, and just as like in Joshua 9 when they first came to Joshua and the elders of Israel and our forefathers allowed them to stay, these kenites are now forever going to be imbedded with and mixed in with Israel until Jesus returns at the sounding of the seventh trump.
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Edom=The name Edom sprang from Isaac and Rebekah’s first born: Esau. The first time he was called Edom was in Genesis 25:30 which reads: Genesis 25:30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint:” therefore was his name called Edom.. We can pretty much assume it was Father Who gave Esau the nick-name Edom because, Father’s Word does not say that either his brother Jacob, nor his parents Isaac and Rebekah gave him that name. The name Edom means: Red, rosy or ruddy and this also stems from his birth and his name Esau as, as we read in Genesis 25:25 which reads: Genesis 25:25 And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau.   —>   Though the name Esau means: “handling, rough (that is, sensibly felt; or, hairy” because Esau was born extremely hairy, Father’s Word also declares that he was red. Red is our clue as, we are in the final generation of this Age of flesh, and as such, there is a country we must keep our eye on, that country s the red country or nation: Russia. Why are we to keep our eye on them? Because Father told us to, again, it was while Rebekah was pregnant with Esau and Jacob and she was receiving much stress and duress during her pregnancy, so she sought Father as to why. Genesis 25:22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it be so, why am I thus?” And she went to enquire of the LORD. [25:23] And the LORD said unto her, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.”   —>   The two nations are Israel—Jacob—and his older brother Esau—Russia—Rosh—Edom. As we close in on the entering into the final times of this Age, we also close in on the so-called peace of the “New World Order,” and Russia will again turn against the Christian nations—Jacob—and that is how we close out this current generation, and earth Age of the flesh. Russia is like a jackal, and cannot be trusted, and those who trust Russia—the government, not the people—in any form are fools. We are not to bother with Russia as, Father Himself will take care of them as we close out this Age as we read in Ezekiel 38,39. † The etymology of the name Edom: In the famous soup-scene where Esau receives his nickname Edom, the author seems to engage in word play. The word for soup (נזיד, nazid) comes from the verb זיד/זוד (zid/zud), meaning to ‘boil’ in the literal sense, but figuratively to act proudly or presumptuously. This verb is used in the sense of boiling only once, in our soup-scene. All other occurrences of this verb have to do with arrogance or otherwise aggressive attitudes. It stands to reason that a Hebrew audience understood the aggression to be the literal meaning of this verb, and the meaning of to boil the figurative charge. When Esau walks in, tired from the field, he demands that Jacob gives him of ‘that red stuff, that red stuff.’ The word for ‘red stuff’ is אדם (adom); a word highly similar to the name Edom. The identical root אדם ss(יdm) is the source for the name Adam. Another derivation is אדמה (adama), meaning field. Esau is a ‘man of the field’ and even though the word adama is not used but rather שדה (sadeh), also meaning field, the association is clear: Jacob gives Esau of the red stuff and wings him out of his birth-right. At least, that what he hopes. But just to be sure, he tries to deceive his blind father by dressing up as Esau. Not very clever, especially since the bigger blessing was his already, and Isaac bestowed it on Jacob out of faith, and not because he was tricked Hebrews 11:20. The name Edom means Red or Ruddy.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H123, - אֱדֹם or אֱדוֹם, - 'ĕdôm or 'ĕdôm, pronounced – ed-omeי or ed-omeי, and means: From H122; red; (see Genesis 25:25); Edom, the elder twin-brother of Jacob; hence the region (Idumaea) occuped by him: - Edom, Edomites, Idumea. Total KJV occurrences: 100.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “The name Edom was given to Esau, the first-born son of Isaac and twin brother of Jacob, when he sold his birthright to the latter for a meal of lentil pottage. The country which the Lord subsequently gave to Esau was hence called “the country of Edom” Genesis 32:3, and his descendants were called Edomites. Edom was called Mount Seir and Idumea also. Edom was wholly a mountainous country. It embraced the narrow mountainous tract (about 100 miles long by 20 broad) extending along the eastern side of the Arabah from the northern end of the Gulf of Elath to near the southern end of the Dead Sea. The ancient capital of Edom was Bozrah (Buseireh). Sela (Petra) appears to have been the principal stronghold in the days of Amaziah II Kings 14:7. Elath and Ezion-geber were the seaports II Samuel 8:14; I Kings 9:26. History. — Esau’s bitter hatred to his brother Jacob for fraudulently (I disagree with Dr. Smith that Jacob “fraudulently” obtained Esau’s Blessing as, this was prophesied by Father to their mother while they were still in her womb) obtaining his blessing appears to have been inherited by his latest posterity. The Edomites peremptorily refused to permit the Israelites to pass through their land Numbers 20:18-21. For a period of 400 years we hear no more of the Edomites. They were then attacked and defeated by Saul I Samuel 14:47, and some forty years later by David II Samuel 8:13,14. In the reign of Jehoshaphat the Edomites attempted to invade Israel, but failed II Chronicles 20:22. They joined Nebuchadnezzar when that king besieged Jerusalem. For their cruelty at this time they were fearfully denounced by the later prophets Isaiah 35:5-8; 63:1-4; Jeremiah 49:17. After this they settled in southern Palestine, and for more than four centuries continued to prosper. But during the warlike rule of the Maccabees they were again completely subdued, and even forced to conform to Jewish laws and rites, and submit to the government of Jewish prefects. The Edomites were now incorporated with the Jewish nation. They were idolaters II Chronicles 25:14,15,20. Their habits were singular. The Horites, their predecessors in Mount Seir, were, as their name implies, troglodytes, or dwellers in caves; and the Edomites seem to have adopted their dwellings as well as their country. Everywhere we meet with caves and grottos hewn in the soft sandstone strata.”.

Ammon (Ammonites)=Ammon was the son of Abraham’s nephew, Lot, by his younger—un-named in Father’s Word—daughter — Genesis 19:38. This then, made Ammon and his descendants of Adamic lineage. As far as Lot’s two daughters getting their father drunk and laying with him in order to repopulate the earth after Father destroyed Sodom and Gommorah, it’s best to draw a veil over such an incestuous union as, it sure does testify as to the corrupt influence that Sodom had over Lot and his daughters—and his wife too as, don’t forget that she died when she stopped and turned to look back on that filthy lifestyle, knowing and longing for what they were leaving behind. The descendants of the Ammonites and Moabites—Ammon’s half brother by lot’s older daughter, and his descendants—were closely related, and covered many chief places in Judah, the Salt Sea and Reuben Genesis 36:35; Exodus 15:15; Judges 3:28. The Israelites were commanded to have no dealings with the Ammonites, they weren’t even to engage them in battle when the Ammonites refuse our forefathers request to cross their land when Father brought them up out of the land of Egypt. Many years later they did engage them in battle — many times: Judges 3; Judges 10, to name just two. The Ammonites honored, served and worshipped several false gods, namely: milchom and molech. † The etymology and original meaning of the name Ammon derives of the assumed root עמם: The ון upon which the name Ammon ends is a common construction to localize or personify the root. For a meaning of the name Ammon, New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads A People. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names proposes Great People, taking the ון extension as an intensitive. Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary doesn’t translate the name Ammon, but refers to the noun עם, meaning kinsman.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H5983, - עַמּוֹן, - ‛ammôn, pronounced - am-moneי, and means: From H5971; tribal, that is, inbred, Ammon, a son of Lot; also his posterity and their country: - Ammon, Ammonites. Total KJV occurrences: 105.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(sons of renown, mountaineers), Amיmonites, Children of Ammon, A people descended from Ben-ammi, the son of Lot by his younger daughter Genesis 19:38. Compare Psalms 83:7,8. The Ammonites are frequently mentioned with the Moabites (descendants of Ben-ammi’s half-brother), and sometimes under the same name. Compare Judges 10:6; II Chronicles 20:1, Zephaniah 2:8 etc. The precise position of the territory of the Ammonites is not ascertainable. In the earliest mention of them, Deuteronomy 2:20>, they are said to have dwelt in their place, Jabbok being their border Numbers 21:24; 2:37; 3:16) (i.e. Land or country is, however, but rarely ascribed to them. Their capital city was Rabbath, called also Rabbath Ammon on the Jabbok. We find everywhere traces of the fierce habits of maranders in their incursions) I Samuel 11:2; Amos 1:13) and a very high degree of crafty cruelty to their toes Jeremiah 41:6,7; Judges 17:11,12. Moab was the settled and civilized half of the nation of Lot, and Ammon formed its predatory and Bedouin section. On the west of Jordan they never obtained a footing. The hatred in which the Ammonites were held by Israel is stated to have arisen partly from their denial of assistance Deuteronomy 23:4, to the Israelites on their approach to Canaan. But whatever its origin the animosity continued in force to the latest date. The tribe was governed by a king Judges 11:12, etc.; I Samuel 12:12; II Samuel 10:1; Jeremiah 40:14, and by “princes” II Samuel 10:3; I Chronicles 19:3. The divinity of the tribe was Molech [MOLECH], and they were gross idolaters.”.

Amalek=Amalek was the great-grandson of Isaac, grandson of Esau and son of Eliphaz. Almost strangely, I say this because it is rather strange that the maternal line is also given, and that line is as follows: Amalek’s mother was Timna—Eliphaz’s concubine—his grandmother was Adah—Esau’s wife—and his great-grandmother was Rebekah—Isaac’s wife. † As Father was leading our forefathers out of Egypt toward the Promised Land, when and while they were pitched in Rephidim, just after they chided Moses and whinned and belly-ached about having no water, the Amalekites came and attacked our forefathers as depicted and told in Exodus 17:8-16. The last verse of Exodus 17 reads and tells us: Exodus 17:16 For he said, “Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”   —>   Here in this verse, after Father gave the victory to Moses and our forefathers over the Amalekites, Father declares that He will have war with Amalek from: generation to generation, and this held true for many generations as, we can read of these wars in His Word in Judges 3:13-15; Judges 5:14 ; Judges 6:3; Judges 7:12-14; I Samuel 15:2-9; I Samuel 15:32-33; I Samuel 27:8; I Samuel 30:1; I Samuel 30:17; II Samuel 8:12 and I Chronicles 4:42-43. Why did Father have all these wars against Amalek? You have to remember that his grandfather was Esau, and Father hated Esau. Now, we know that the sons don’t pay for the sins of their fathers so, that means that Amalek and his descendants were committing the same atrocities that Esau had committed i.e., he—they—didn’t give a hoot about his—their—heritage. † The etymology of the name Amalek: The word עמלק does not really exist, and Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary dares not to propose an interpretation. But, says Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names, as a name it may be a compound of the Hebrew word עם ss(יam), people or nation, from the assumed root עמם: Jones further proposes that the second part of the name Amalek comes from the Hebrew verb לקק (laqaq), lap or lick: The second part of the name Amalek may also have something to do with the Hebrew verb מלק> (malaq), meaning to nip: The Amalekites were thus either known as the Nippers or as the Lickers. Perhaps little Amalek when he was born licked more frequently than others, and was named Leq and his people Am-aleq, which then was projected back on their arch father. Or perhaps, since the Amalekites were a bitter enemy of Israel, the descendants of some guy who in retrospect came to be known as Amalek, were known as either the Wrung Off People, or the People That Wring.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H6002, - עֲמָלֵק, - ‛ămâlêq, pronounced - am-aw-lakeי, and means: Probably of foreign origin; Amalek, a descendant of Esau; also his posterity and their country: - Amalek. Total KJV occurrences: 35.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(dweller in a valley), a son of Eliphaz by his concubine Timnah grandson of Esau, and chieftain (“duke,” Authorized Version) of Edom Genesis 36:12,16; I Chronicles 1:36.”.

I Chronicles 18:12 Moreover Abishai (father of a gift (that is generous), or, father of a gift) (ab-shahיee) the son of Zeruiah (wounded; or, balsam) (tser-oo-yawי) slew of the Edomites in the valley of salt eighteen thousand.   —>   The parallel Chapter of II Samuel 8 goes into a little more depth than here in I Chronicles 18, so let’s turn there to read it: II Samuel 8:12 Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.   —>   We see in this verse the continuation of the fulfilling of prophesy from Numbers 24 but, also, we see that all the spoils which were coming into Israel will be used in the future for the building of the Temple for Father YHVH. Let’s turn now and read Numbers 24:17-23: Numbers 24:17 “I shall see Him, but not now: I shall behold Him, but not nigh: There shall come a Star out of Jacob, And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, And shall smite the corners of Moab, And destroy all the children of Sheth.
—>   Which Star do you follow? Did you know there are two? There is the True Bright and Morning Star: — Jesus, and then there is the false: — satan — who wants to be Jesus. We can compare the two different stars in Revelation 2:26-28 which reads: Revelation 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth My works until the end, to him will I give power over nations: [2:27] And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father. [2:28] And I will give him the morning star.   —>   Here, in this portion of Revelation 2, Jesus is talking to the church in Thyatira, which is a church that has much works, but no charity— meaning love or compassion, no not even enough to search out the deep teachings of Jesus or our Father YHVH. But, Jesus is saying here, that those in Thyatira, if they keep His works — meaning His teachings about the entire plan of YHVH from the foundation of the world, who the kenites are and what is to happen in these end days — then He will give them power over the first star to come, that is antichrist or satan. Then, we read in Revelation 22: Revelation 22:16 “I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright and morning Star.”   —>   Our Lord Jesus Christ, now speaks to John and there can be no mistake as to why He allowed John to see and witness all that is about to happen. he allowed it, so that we may know what is to come and not be deceived, that it be taught in our churches. That we may know our Savior is the Promised Messiah, and our Redeemer, and that we know the prophecies concerning His birth and resurrection are true. If you have eyes to see and ears to hear, you will understand by the work of the Holy Spirit. Then we have the fake: — satan, and we can read about him in the Isaiah 14:12: Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer (from the Strong’s Concordance: From H1984; (in the sense of brightness) the morning star, - lucifer.), son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!, also in Revelation 8: Revelation 8:10 And a third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp (torch), and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;   —>   The sounding of the third angel is, the sounding of the third trumpet of Father YHVH. What did Jesus teach us in Luke 10? Luke 10:18 And He said unto them “I beheld Satan as lightening fall from heaven.   —>
As we just read, satan is called “the morning star” in Isaiah 14:12. This falling star is the devil, the “son of perdition.” Satan reflects as an illuminated lamp, and his “Illuminati” today, shines his lies out to all the world, and is drawing his world-wide one-world system—called “globalism”—together. Do you see it happening today? If you don’t, you’re either blind, or in a convent. The news from all the media today covers only that which is promoting the agenda of the United Nations, even then, it is so distorted and full of lies that it isn’t worth the time to watch. The “shining ones” from the United Nations, which are part of the Illuminati, are given whatever authority of credit they need to carry on their murder, thievery, and attacks on the public at large. The “rivers” are waters, or nations, whereas, the “fountains” are in reference to “the fountains of the living waters,” which are the Christians whose fountains of living water flows from our Lord Jesus Christ. This burning by satan, comes through his deception, and sadly, many Christians will be and are deceived by satan because, they do not know the difference between the pretend-to-be morning star—satan—and the True Morning Star—Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Every man, woman and child, except Father’s elect, are going to be deceived. [8:11] And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.   —>   Though satan may come appearing like, and pretending to be our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and he may offer “fountains of blessings,” his fountains, will only give bitterness. You may think it is clean, fresh, and pure water, but when you taste of that water, it is only acidic. When you drink of it and digest it, then, it becomes poison to your very soul. This is why Father calls satan “wormwood”—a bitter poisonous calamity. One third of the world will become part of satan’s system, and drink freely from the antichrist’s waters. Will you? Are you prepared and do you know the difference between the two Stars? or do you trust your soul to a pack of false teaching kenites? Sadly, many church denominations today are allowing changes to take place in their doctrines to allow for compromise with the world, and satanic doctrines — homosexuality and rapture doctrines. They allow for abominations such as sodomy to enter their house of worship, and then call it “of God.” The chief shepherd of their Luciferian dogma is the “World Council of Churches” not the true Shephard. When wormwood is allowed to happen in the church, when they allow man’s dogma, doctrine, and levin in their chruches, then those churches lose complete and total sight of Our Lord’s teachings and doctrines. They then also become part of the type of Churches which we read about in Revelation 2: Ephesus and Pergamos. Let’s return to Numbers 24: [24:18] And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; And Israel shall do valiantly.   —>   As I have already chronicled and detailed here in I Chronicles 18:11, Edom in the Hebrew language means: red<. Esau was born red and it is his offspring who make up Edom. The Edomites occupy Idumea, and they are going to fall prey to our forefathers. Seir=Who or what is Seir? In the Strong’s Concordance, in the Hebrew, Seir is Hebrew word number: H8165, - שֵׂעִיר, - śê‛ı̂yr, pronounced - say-eerי, and means: Formed like H8163; rough; Seir, a mountain of Idumaea and its aboriginal occupants, also one in Palestine: - Seir. Total KJV occurrences: 39.. Now let’s look at H8163, - שָׂעִיר or שָׂעִר, - śâ‛ı̂yr or śâ‛ir, pronounced – saw-eerי or saw-eerי, and means: From H8175; shaggy; as noun, a he goat; by analogy a faun: - devil, goat, hairy, kid, rough, satyr Total KJV occurrences: 59.. It is from this word “seir,” that we pretty much get our false description of satan looking like a man-goat. So, again, this prophesy from Father through Balaam is for both the time that was — when Israel was going to and did defeat these offspring of Esau, and for the future — when Jesus returns and defeats satan’s offspring, and those who have allowed themselves to be deceived by him and his children during his reign here in this end time of this Age of flesh man. [24:19] Out of Jacob shall come He that shall have dominion, And shall destroy him that remaineth of the city.’”   —>   Out of Jacob shall come=As we know, this was the prophesy of Jesus’ coming for His First Advent. He came 2,000 years ago to be crucified — the slain Lamb of Father YHVH. He will come again during His Second Advent to defeat Father’s enemies while ruling with that rod of iron during His 1,000 Millennial period prior to the eternity. The very moment He arrives, the fallen angels who refused to be born of women go into the Lake of Fire along with satan’s role of anti-christ. Satan himself will be cast into the abyss for the entire Millennial period but, at the end, he will be released in order to test Father’s Children. That testing will only last a short time then he and all those who follow after him will be cast into the Lake of Fire and will perish forever, that is the Second death — the death of the soul. [24:20] And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations; But his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.”   —>   First of the nations=This is not saying that Amalek was first in time or importance but, that the Amalekites were the first to war against our forefathers as they came up out of Egypt as, they would not allow our forefathers to pass through their lands when Father was leading them to the Promised Land as can be read in Exodus 17:8 Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.   —>
It was at Rephidim that the Amalekites came from behind and attacked our forefathers in the rear of their company. They didn’t get the victory over our forefathers then and when Jesus returns during His 1,000 year reign, the Amalekties and all those who continue of them to this day, will be destroyed because of it. [24:21 And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, “Strong is thy dwelling place, And thou puttest thy nest in a rock.
—>   This is directed directly at satan’s children through Eve — Cain and his offspring. Who is the “rock”—notice the lower case “r”?—that they put their trust in? It is none other than their father satan, and not the True Rock — our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. [24:22] Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted, until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.”   —>   Yes, Father will in the future destroy these Kenites, why? Because they carried out their father’s plan—which unwittingly to them, was our Father’s plan—to crucify Him when He came as His Only Begotten Son: Jesus Christ. How will Father destroy these kenites? Check out the word “wasted” in your Strong’s Concordance and you’ll find that it is Hebrew word number: H1197, - בָּעַר, - bâ‛ar, pronounced - י, and means: A primitive root; to kindle, that is, consume (by fire or by eating); also (as denominative from H1198) to be (become) brutish: - be brutish, bring (put, take) away, burn, (cause to) eat (up), feed, heat, kindle, set ([on fire]), waste.. In other words, to consume by fire, and Who and What is our Father? We find the answer to that question in Hebrews 12:29 which reads: Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.. Who was Asshur? They were\are the Assyrians who latter carried our forefathers of the House of Israel—the ten northern Tribes—away captive. The Assyrians will also be destroyed. [24:23] And he took up his parable, and said, “Alas, who shall live when GOD doeth this!   —>   This is not another—fifth—parable by Balaam, but a continuation of his fourth. Who shall live when Jesus in all His fury strikes with that rod of iron on the first day of the millennium? Only those who never worshiped satan when he was here in his role as antichrist, or, to put it another way, satan in his role of the pretend-to-be-jesus. II Samuel 8:13 And David gat him a name (made for himself because of his exploits — not that he called himself by a new name) when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.   —>   Smiting=
David’s smiting of the Syrians, these are his exploits; however, with his being king, he himself isn’t necessarily going out and fighting these battles, as a matter of fact, as we read here in I Chronicles 18, David’s nephew Abishai—oldest son of his sister Zeruiah—had his hand in the victory here in the Valley of Salt. Moreover, we can further read in I Kings 15:15-16 and the Title of Psalms 60, that Joab—Abishai’s younger brother—also played a role in some of these victories. Eighteen thousand was the total Syrians killed, but Joab’s share was twelve thousand however, his campaign took 6 months longer to complete.

Abishai=Abishai was the eldest of three nephews of David’s by his sister Zeruiah, his two brothers were Joab and Asahel. † As can be read in I Samuel 26, while David and his men were in the Wilderness of Ziph fleeing from Saul, Abishai was the only one who accompanied his uncle as he went to the camp of Saul and took the king’s spear and water bottle from Saul as he slept. He was a Captain under David, and as we read in II Samuel 18:2, he had the command of one of the three divisions of David’s army when they were engaging in the civil war against their brothers of the House of Israel of whom David’s own son Absalom was wanting to rule over. † He was the commander of the second rank of the three “mighty men,” and on one occasion, he withstood 300 men and slew them with his own spear. † We also read in II Samuel 21 that it was Abishai who slew the Philistine giant Ishbi-benob, who had threatened David’s life. His younger brother, Asahel, who could run as fast as a gazelle, fought in battle against Abner, the General of Israel’s army, who overpowered him and killed him by the back of his spear. Abishai, was so enraged at the death of Asahel that, he and his brother Joab later killed Abner to avenge their youngest brother’s death. Both mens deaths were needless and senseless as, Abner warned Asahel to not try and overtake him as he knew he was more powerful than the younger man; however, Asahel wouldn’t hear and charged toward the stronger Abner anyway, Abner he had no choice but to defend himself, thus killing Asahel in the process. Abishai and Joab later killed Abner wrongly, thinking he had purposefully killed their younger brother. † The etymology of the name Abishai is not directly clear how the name Abishai is constructed, but there are a few possibilities, and it’s also quite clear that the first part of the name Abishai consists of the common Hebrew word אב (ab), meaning father: But the second part of the name Abishai is disputed. One possibility is that it’s meant to be the same as name ישי, which is the name of Abishai’s grandfather Jesse. In English these names don’t really sound alike, but apparently they did in Bible times. The Septuagint lists these names as Ιεσσαι (Iessai) for Jesse, and Αβεσσαι (Abessai) for Abishai. To make matters worse: the meaning of the name Jesse is also disputed, but may mean either My Husband or Yah Exists. The name Abishai would thus mean both My Father Is My Husband or My Father Yah Exists. Another possibility comes when we recognize that in names the word אב is often followed by a yod in connection with names of places to express the lord of a country, city or village. The second part of the name Abishai would then be the masculine noun שי (shay), meaning a gift, or a gift offered as homage Isaiah 18:7, Psalm 68:30 and 76:12. This noun is a bit of an orphan; we have no idea from which root or what verb it derives. The name Abishai may thus mean My Father Is Jesse, as proposed by Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary; Father Of A Gift, as forwarded by New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List, or Father Of Gifts, as per Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H52, - אֲבִישַׁי or אַבְשַׁי, - 'ăbı̂yshay or 'abshay, pronounced - ab-ee-shahיee or ab-shahיee, and means: From H1 and H7862; father of a gift (that is, probably generous); Abishai, an Israelite: - Abishai. Total KJV occurrences: 25.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “The eldest of the three sons of Zeruiah, David’s sister, and brother to Joab and Asahel I Chronicles 2:16. Like his two brothers he was the devoted follower of David. He was his companion in the desperate night expedition to the camp of Saul I Samuel 26:6-9. On the outbreak of Absalom’s rebellion he remained true to the king, and commanded a third part of the army in the decisive battle against Absalom. He rescued David from the hands of the gigantic Philistine, Ishbi-benob II Samuel 21:17. His personal prowess on this, as on another occasion, when he fought single-handed against three hundred, won for him a place as captain of the second three of David’s mighty men II Samuel 23:18; I Chronicles 11:20.”.

Zeruiah=There are 25 verses with 26 matches in Father’s Word for David’s sister Zeruiah and the strong’s Hebrew word number—H6870—associated with her name. Of these 25 verses with 26 matches, 1—I Chronicles 2:17—lists her as David’s sister, and in every other verse and match for her name, we read: “son(s) of Zeruiah”. Of the woman herself, we know nothing, not even her husband’s name. The only thing we do know for sure is, that, she was indeed David’s sister, and the mother of three of David’s heroes. † The etymology of the name Zeruiah: Scholars are in disagreement about the meaning and etymology of the name Zeruiah. New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List and Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary think that the name Zeruiah comes from the unused root צרה and its sole derivative, the noun צרי, meaning balsam: And thus, for a meaning of the name Zeruiah, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Balsam, which would require the masculine noun צרי (sari) to be made feminine by adding the regular letter ה (he). Note that by so doing our word or name terminates in יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHVH, or Yahveh, the sacred name of Father. This could be an exception (others are the names Aiah, Arieh and Zibiah) but since the name Zeruiah doesn’t exist as a regular noun, this forced feminization might in fact be a reference to the Lord, and Zeruiah means Balsam Of Yah. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names won’t have any of that, and goes after an unused and hitherto unknown root צרה, which is strikingly similar to the root shown above, and which shows up in Chaldean and Syriac as a verb meaning to cleave. Hence Jones reads Cleft.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H6870, - צְרוּיָה, - tserûyâh, pronounced - tser-oo-yawי, and means: Feminine participle passive from the same as H6875, wounded; Tserujah, an Israelitess: - Zeruiah. Total KJV occurrences: 26.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “The mother of the three leading heroes of David’s army—Abishai, Joab and Asahel — known as the “sons of Zeruiah.” Of Zeruiah's husband there is no mention in the Father’s Word.”.

Valley of Salt=The valley of Salt was located south of the Dead Sea, and was the scene of two major battles and memorable victories for our forefathers over the Edomites. † Abarim Publications where I get the etymologies did not have the etymology for the Valley of Salt. † As far as the Strong’s definition and make-up, we find that it is made up of two separate words: “valley” and “salt.” I’ll bring in both words beginning with valley, and we find that it in the Strong’s Concordance, is Hebrew word number: H1516, - גַּיְא or גַּי, - gay' or gay, pronounced – gahי-ee or gahי-ee, and means: Probably (by transmutation) from the same root as H1466 (abbreviated); a gorge (from its lofty sides; hence narrow, but not a gully or winter torrent): - valley. total KJV occurrences: 60.. † Now the word salt, we find that it in the Strong’s Concordance, is Hebrew word number: H4417, - מֶלַח, - melach, pronounced - mehי-lakh, and means: From H4414; properly powder, that is, (specifically) salt (as easily pulverized and dissolved): - salt ([-pit]). Total KJV occurrences: 28.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “A valley in which occurred two memorable victories of the Israelite arms: That of David over the Edomites II Samuel 8:31; I Chronicles 18:12. That of Amaziah II Kings 14:7; II Chronicles 25:11. It is perhaps the broad open plain which lies at the lower end of the Dead Sea, and intervenes between the lake itself and the range of heights which crosses the valley at six or eight miles to the south. This same view is taken by Dr. Robinson. Others suggest that it is nearer to Petra. What little can be inferred from the narrative as to its situation favors the latter theory.”.

18:13 Garrisons in Edom.
18:13 Subjection.
18:13 Preservation.

I Chronicles 18:13 And he put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became David’s servants. Thus the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.   —>   David put garrisons in Edom just as he had put garrisons and outposts in Syria-Damascus, as we read in verse v8:6 above.

Some scholars say that this was an error however, it was not because, Edom was kin to the Israelites, as the Edomites were the offspring of Esau, the twin brother to Jacob. Notice where this commitment came from. “The LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.” Though Israel’s army was used, it was Father YHVH” Who protected David where ever he went. When you obey and do Father’s Commandments, Laws, Ordinances and Statutes, He will go with you in your daily life, He will also protect you, and give you success in all you do. Therefore you should thank Him and tell Him that you love Him often.

18:14-17 HOUSEHOLD.
   (Introversion.)
18:14-17 David’s
   administration.
18:14-17 David’s
   officers.
18:14 David. King.
18:14 David himself.

I Chronicles 18:14 So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.   —>   All Israel=With Father having given David the victory over all his enemies, Israel’s territories and borders are greatly expanding.

David executed judgment and justice among all his people=David was a fair and righteous king, at least to this point in time. Sadly, he’ll lose some of the righteousness in some of the upcoming Chapters, namely when he commits adultery with Bathsheba and then when he sends her husband to the hottest part of the battle the Israelites are engaged in, in order to have Uriah killed to hide the pregnancy of Bathsheba by David.

In the final verses of this Chapter, we’ll read of the various officers that David had in some key positions, and also the priests.

18:15 Chief captain.
18:15 Recorder.

I Chronicles 18:15 And Joab (YHVH-fathered); or, whose father is YHVH) (yo-awbי) the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat (YHVH judged; or, whom YHVH judges) (yeh-ho-shaw-fawtי) the son of Ahilud (brother of one born; and, a brother of one born i.e. before him) (akh-ee-loodי), recorder. —>
Joab was David’s nephew and he was the Commanding General over all of David’s troops; while Jehoshaphat was a historian, chronicler and the recorder of events for David’s rein, cataloguing the every act which David preformed and the writing them into the Books of the Chronicles of David.

Joab=Of the 125 verses mentioning him, and the 146 matches for his name and the Strong’s Hebrew word number—H3097—associated with his name, Joab, is the most spoken about of David’s three nephews by his sister Zeruiah; three of those 125 verses and 146 matches—Ezra 2:6; 8:9; and Nehemiah 7:11—are of Joab’s descendants. Joab was Zeruiah’s middle son, with Abishai being the older, and Asahel being the younger. † Some of Joab’s more notable facts are: Before David became king of the entire House of Israel; while Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was king of the divided House of Israel, appointed by Saul’s captain Abner, Joab and a contingency of men met to face off with Abner and his men at the Pool of Gibeon. The men had gathered to conduct mock-war in order to prevent all-out war between the two nations; however, sadly, their simulated war of sending out 12 men from each side to fend against each other in a “winner take all” mock war sport quickly escalated into something more sinister: war, as each man grabbed his foe by the beard and they all thrust each other through with their weapons of war, killing each other. That little war-play intensified and worsened; and, the next thing they all knew, they were engaging in real war, with Joab’s 600 battle-tested warriors overpowering Abner’s men who had just suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Philistines. It was at this little mock-war which quickly turned into true war that Joab’s younger brother Asahel chased down the more experienced Abner, who warned him off three times to no avail, and when Asahel charged; Abner had no choice but to defend himself; and, he slew the younger, less experienced Asahel. Joab considered it murder, and later, he conspired and murdered Abner for it. † Because of his fearless courage and leading the assault on the fortress of Jebus, Joab was promoted to the rank of General as can be read in I Chronicles 11:4-6 and 27:34. † The etymology of the name Joab consists of two elements: The first one being יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHVH, or Yahveh, the sacred name of Father. This very short abbreviation of YHVH also occurs in the names Jochebed and Jonathan. The second element of the name Joab is אב (ab): The name Joab means Yah Is Father. New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads Yahveh Is Father. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Lord Father or Whose Father Is The Lord.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H3097, - יוֹאָב, - yô'âb, pronounced - yo-awbי, and means: From H3068 and H1; Jehovah-fathered; Joab, the name of three Israelites: - Joab. Total KJV occurrences: 145.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “The most remarkable of the three nephews of David, the children of Zeruiah, David’s sister. Joab first appears after David’s accession to the throne at Hebron. Abner slew in battle Asahel, the youngest brother of Joab; and when David afterward received Abner into favor, Joab treacherously murdered him. There was now no rival left in the way of Joab’s advancement, and at the siege of Jebus he was appointed for his prowess commander-in-chief — “captain of the host.” In the wide range of wars which David undertook, Joab was the acting general. He was called by the almost regal title of “lord," ”in II Samuel 11:11 and “the prince of the king’s army” in I Chronicles 27:34. In the entangled relations which grew up in David’s domestic life he bore an important part, successfully reinstating Absalom in David’s favor after the murder of Amnon (II Samuel 14:1-20). When the relations between father and son were reversed by the revolt of Absalom, Joab remained true to the king, taking the rebel prince’s dangerous life in spite of David’s injunction to spare him, and when no one else had courage to act so decisive a part II Samuel 18:2 and 11-15. The king transferred the command to Amasa, which so enraged Joab that he adroitly assassinated Amasa when pretending to welcome him as a friend in II Samuel 20:10. Friendly relations between himself and David seem to have existed afterward (II Samuel 24:2), but at the close of his long life, his loyalty, so long unshaken, at last wavered. “Though he had not turned after Absalom, he turned after Adonijah” (I Kings 2:28). This probably filled up the measure of the king’s long-cherished resentment. The revival of the pretensions of Adonijah after David’s death was sufficient to awaken the suspicions of Solomon. Joab fled to the shelter of the altar at Gibeon, and was here slain by Benaiah.”.

Jehoshaphat=The only thing we know of Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat, is that he was a historian, chronicler and recorder for king David. † The etymology of the name Jehoshaphat consists of two elements: The name יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHVH—from Dr. Bullinger’s Companion Bible Appendices: YHVH—or Yahveh, the sacred and personal name of Father. The verb שפט (shapat), meaning to judge or govern. For a meaning of the name Jehoshaphat, New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads Yahveh Has Judged, and Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary has the similar Yah Hath Judged. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names translates Yah and suggests The Lord Judges.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H3092, - יְהוֹשָׁפָט, - yehôshâphât, pronounced - yeh-ho-shaw-fawtי, and means: From H3068 and H8199; Jehovah-judged; Compare H3146. Total KJV occurrences: 84.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(whom Jehovah judges.) Son of Ahilud, who filled the office of recorder of annalist in the courts of David, II Samuel 8:16 etc., and Solomon I Kings 4:3.”.

Ahilud=The only thing we know from being recorded in Father’s Word of Ahilud, was that he was the father of Jehoshaphat, the recorder under David and Solomon II Samuel 8:16; 20:24; I Kings 4:3; I Chronicles 18:15. † The etymology of the name Ahilud consists of two elements. The first part comes from the word אח (ah), meaning brother or friend: The second part of the name Ahilud probably (or possibly) comes from the verb ילד (yalad), meaning to beget, or bring forth. All together, the name Ahilud would translate to something like Brother Of That What Was Born, which is curious even to Hebrew standards. None of the sources consulted offers a way out of this conundrum, but perhaps the name Ahilud has to do with the evenly mysterious name לוד (Lud), which is the name of one son of Shem, or the ethnonym Ludim, which descended from Shem’s nephew Mizraim. Ahilud may simply mean Brother/Friend Of Lud/Ludim. This proposal is not all that far fetched because the feminine name Lydia means Of Lud. For a meaning of the name Ahilud, Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary and New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List quote Gesenius and read A Child’s Brother. Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names), who usually stays close to what Gesenius dictates, suggests the curious Brother Of One Born.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H286, - אֲחִילוּד, - 'ăchı̂ylûd, pronounced - akh-ee-loodי, and means: From H251 and H3205; brother of one born; Achilud, an Israelite: - Ahilud. Total KJV occurrences: 5.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(a brother of one born, i.e. before him). Father of Jehoshaphat, the recorder or chronicler of the kingdom in the reigns of David and Solomon II Samuel 8:16; 20:24; I Kings 4:3; I Chronicles 18:15.”.

18:16 Priests.
18:16 Scribe.

I Chronicles 18:16 And Zadok (just; and, just) (tsaw-dokeי) the son of Ahitub (brother of goodness; and, brother of goodness) (akh-ee-toobי), and Abimelech (father of (the) king; and, father of the king) (ab-ee-melי-ek) the son of Abiathar (father of abundance (that is, liberal); and, father of abundance, i.e. liberal) (eb-yaw-thawrי), were the priests; and Shavsha (joyful; or, nobility) (shav-shawי) was scribe;   —>   The reason that at this time, both Zadok and Abimelech—called Ahimelech in II Samuel 8:17—are considered the High Priests is because, when Saul and David were over the House of Israel and the House of Judah, each had a High Priest: Zadok was with Saul, and Abimelech was with David. Abiathar, Abimelech’s father, if you’ll recall, was the only survivor of the murder of his father Ahimelech and the 84 priests of Nob, along with the priest’s wives, children and livestock, by Saul’s agent Doeg back in I Samuel 22.

Scribe=The first time this term was used in Father’s Word was in the parallel Chapter to this Chapter: II Samuel 8:17. You can think of the scribes as the secretaries, accountants, and\or keepers of the books. Individual scribes held high positions as: associates of the High Priests, and of the Commander-in-Chief. They were amanuenses, registrars, accountants II Kings 12:10, adjutants II Kings 25:19, and\or even Secretaries of State II Samuel 8:17 and Isaiah 33:18. When the Priests who should have been scribing and recording, and teaching Father’s Children His Law—according to Father as he laid out in Deuteronomy 17:9-11: Deuteronomy 17:9 And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment: [17:10] And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: [17:11] According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left., and Deuteronomy 33:10—became lazy, they allowed the nethinims to take over these duties from them. This is how we find Father angry, and pointing out to us that the nethinims and kenites had become the scribes in I Chronicles 2:55. They still controlled the scribeship up to the time of Nehemiah and Ezra as our forefathes were coming out of their 70 year captivity to the Babylonians and rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem. Ezra found them out when he had everybody do a head count as they were by the River Ahava, and sent one of them back to bring up the Levites. Yes, the kenite nethinim went back and got 20 of the Levites however, he also brought 200 more nethinim with him. Between the 400 years that the temple was rebuilt and the birth of Jesus, they retook over the priesthood, and it was these who Jesus was contending with as He walked in the flesh. He knew exactly who they were.

Zadok=Ahitub’s son Zadok was the tenth descendant in the Priest line from Aaron, and he was great, great, great, great, great-grandfather to another High Priest named Zadok. † There are 46 verses with 49 matches for the name Zadok and it’s associated Strong’s Hebrew word number: H6659 in Father’s Word. Zadok was one of two Priests during the reign of king David, the other being Abiathar who was the son of Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the High Priest who raised and guided the Judge Samuel. Zadok was part of the band of mighty men—helpers of war, as it is written in I Chronicles 12:1—who joined onto David as he was in Ziklag, keeping himself close to Saul; but, far enough away to stay safe. Zadok remained true to David during Absalom’s rebellion and for his loyalty, he rewarded with retaining his high and holy office till his death. Zadok was the founder of an important part of the Priesthood, and from Solomon’s time his descendants constituted the most prominent family among the order of priests. † The etymology of the name Zadok comes from the verb צדק (sadeq), meaning to be just: For a meaning of the name Zadok, New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads Righteous. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has Just. And Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary says Just, righteous.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H6659, - צָדוֹק, - tsâdôq, pronounced - tsaw-dokeי, and means: From H6663; just; Tsadok, the name of eight or nine Israelites: - Zadok. Total KJV occurrences: 53.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “Son of Ahitub, and one of the two chief priests in the time of David and Solomon, Abiathar being the other. Zadok was of the house of Eleazar the son of Aaron I Chronicles 24:3, and eleventh in descent from Aaron I Chronicles 12:28. He joined David at Hebron after Saul’s death I Chronicles 12:28, and thenceforth his fidelity to David was inviolable. When Absalom revolted and David fled from Jerusalem, Zadok and all the Levites bearing the ark accompanied him. When Absalom was dead, Zadok and Abiathar were the persons who persuaded the elders of Judah to invite David to return II Samuel 19:11. When Adonijah, in David’s old age, set up for king, and had persuaded Joab, and Abiathar the priest, to join his party, Zadok was unmoved, and was employed by David to anoint Solomon to be king in his room I Kings 1:34. For this fidelity he was rewarded by Solomon who “thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord,” and “put in Zadok the priest” in his room I Kings 2:27,35. From this time, however, we hear little of him. Zadok and Abiathar were of nearly equal dignity II Samuel 15:35-36; 19:11. The duties of the office were divided, Zadok ministered before the tabernacle at Gibeon I Chronicles 16:39, Abiathar had the care of the ark at Jerusalem.”.

Ahitub=Ahitub, son of Amariah, son of Meraioth, is the nineth descended High Priest from Aaron. I say it this way because, there are approximately 3 other men named Ahitub, 1 which is this Ahitub’s direct descendant, i.e., loin-to-loin, and the others are collateral descendants, i.e., cousins, or what have you as, they were descended from the Levitical line; however, probably from Ithamar’s lineage; Hence the 15 verses and 15 matches for the name Ahitub and the Strong’s Hebrew word number H285 associated with it in Father’s Word. Unique is the fact that all four of the Ahitub’s were father to famous men: Ahitub the son of Amariah, son of Meraioth, was the father of Zadok who was the priest II Samuel 8:17; I Chronicles 6:7, spelled אחיטוב. † The etymology of the name Ahitub consists of two elements: The first part is formed after the word אח (ah), meaning brother or close associate. With the letter yod postfixed to it, it means either my brother, or brother of: The second part of the name Ahitub comes from the familiar word טוב (tob), the Bible’s common but difficult word for “good:” For a meaning of the name Ahitub, Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary and New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List propose My Brother Is Goodness. Alfred Jones (Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names) reads Brother Of Goodness.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H285, - אֲחִיטוּב, - 'ăchı̂yṭûb, pronounced - akh-ee-toobי, and means: From H251 and H2898; brother of goodness; Achitub, the name of several priests: - Ahitub. Total KJV occurrences: 15.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(brother of goodness). Son of Amariah, and father of Zadok the high priest, I Chronicles 6:7,8; II Samuel 8:17 of the house of Eleazar.”.

Abimelech=Also known as, or called Ahimelech in II Samuel 8:16 and I Chronicles 24:6. † The only thing we know of Abimelech\Ahimelech is that, he was the son of Abiathar, and a priest during the reign of king David I Chronicles 18:16. † The etymology of the name Abimelech consists of two parts. The first part comes from the very common noun אב (ab), meaning father: The second part of the name Abimelech is the marvelous word מלך (melek), meaning king: The name Abimelech may be interpreted as any combination of the above words. It means Desired Counsel as much as My Father Is King, and that these two ideas — although far removed in English — are quite kindred in Biblical Hebrew is shown by the prophet Isaiah who in one breath, calls Immanuel a Wonderful Counselor and Eternal Father Isaiah 9:6. For a meaning of the name Abimelech New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads The Father Is King. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names goes with Father Of The King, and Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary takes the melech-part to be a reference to the god Molech and reads Melek (= Malik, Molech) Is Father. A Greek name that might be construed to be similar to Abimelech is Patrobas.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H40, - אֲבִימֶלֶךְ, - 'ăbı̂ymelek, pronounced - ab-ee-melי-ek, and means: From H1 and H4428; father of (the) king; Abimelek, the name of two Philistine kings and of two Israelites: - Abimelech. Total KJV occurrences: 67.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(father of the king), the name of several Philistine kings, was probably a common title of these kings, like that of Pharaoh among the Egyptians and that of Caesar and Augustus among the Romans. Hence in the title of Psalm 34:1 ... the name of Abimelech is given to the king, who is called Achish in I Samuel 21:11. A son of Abiathar I Chronicles 18:16.”.

Abiathar=Abiathar was the son of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub. He was fourth in descent from Eli and approximately twelfth from Aaron, from Aaron’s son Eleazar. † Abiathar is the only one who was able to escape and then flee to David at the cave of Adullam when Saul had Doeg the Edomite slaughter his father and eighty-five priests at Nob. † He went back to Jerusalem with the Ark when David fled from his own son Absalom who was trying to over-throw him as king. † Sadly, after his fleeing to David and then assisting David while he was on the run from both Saul and then Absalom, he later conspired and rebelled against David in order to make David’s son Adonijah king in David’s old age against Father’s anointed: Solomon. Solomon spared his life for the sake of his first love, but dismissed him from office for his treachery at his last. For a time, he was joint high-priest with Zadok. † The etymology of the name Abiathar consists of two elements. The first part of the name Abiathar comes from the familiar word אב, meaning father: The second part of the name Abiathar comes from the magnificent root יתר, meaning to remain or be a rest of some larger collective: For a meaning of the name Abiathar, New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads Father Of Preeminence. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Father Of Plenty. Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary reads The Great One Is Father.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H54, - אֶבְיָתָר, - 'ebyâthâr, pronounced - eb-yaw-thawrי, and means: From H1 and H3498; father of abundance (that is, liberal); Ebjathar, an Israelite: - Abiathar. Total KJV occurrences: 31.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “High priest and fourth in descent from Eli. Abiathar was the only one of the all the sons of Ahimelech the High Priest who escaped the slaughter inflicted upon his father’s house by Saul. Abiathar having become high priest, was thus enabled to inquire of the Lord for him in I Samuel 23:9; 30:7; II Samuel 2:1; and 5:19) etc. He adheres to David in his wanderings while being pursued by Saul; he will be with him while he reigns in Hebron, and afterwards in Jerusalem II Samuel 2:1-3. He will continue to be faithful to David during his son Absalom’s rebellion II Samuel 15:24,29,35-36; 17:15-17; and 19:11. When, however, Adonijah sets himself up for David’s successor on the throne, in opposition to Solomon, Abiathar sides with him, while Zadok was on Solomon’s side. For this, Abiathar will be deprived of the high priesthood. Zadok joins David at Hebron I Chronicles 12:28, so that there will be henceforth two High Priests during the reign of David, and until the deposition of Abiathar by Solomon, when Zadok becomes the sole High Priest.”.

Shavsha=Either this man is one of the kenites who had taken over the scribeship as Father had told us in I Chronicles 2:55; or, if there was any man who could claim an identity crisis, I believe this man could\would qualify, why? Because, as we dig into his name, we find that he is also known as, or called Seraiah in II Samuel 8:17; Sheva in II Samuel 20:25; and Shisha in I Kings 4:3. † The only thing we know of this man besides his 4 names is that, he was a scribe during the reigns of both David and Solomon and it is most likely that he had two sons: Ahiah and Elihoreph who were also scribes. † As for the etymology of the name Shavsha, Abarim Publications doesn’t list an etymology for the name Shavsha, but does provide etymologies for his other three names: Seraiah; Shisha; and Sheva. As Abarim Publications doesn’t list\provide an etymology, they also don’t list\provide any meaning for is name of Shavsha. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H7798, - שַׁוְשָׁא, - shavshâ', pronounced - Shav-shawי, and means: From H7798; joyful; Shavsha, an Israelite: - Shavsha. Total KJV occurrences: 1. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(nobility), the royal secretary in the reign of David I Chronicles 18:16, called also Seraiah in II Samuel 8:17, Sheva in II Samuel 20:25, and Shisha in I Kings 4:3.”.

18:17 Captains.
18:18 David’s sons.

I Chronicles 18:17 And Benaiah (YAH has built; or, made by YAH) (ben-aw-yawי-hoo) the son of Jehoiada (YHVH-known; or, YHVH knows) (yo-yaw-dawי) was over the Cherethites (executioners; and, executioners) (ker-aw-theeי) and the Pelethites (couriers, or messengers; and, couriers) (pel-ay-theeי); and the sons of David were chief about the king. —>
The Cherethites and Pelethites were the king’s Royal Guards, Executioners and Couriers who watched over and protected the king — much like our Secret Service does for our President; and David made Benaiah Captain over them. What acts had Benaiah performed which warranted his selection and appointment as Captain of the king’s Royal Guards? For our answer to that, let’s turn to I Chronicles 11: I Chronicles 11:22 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel (God has gathered; or, gathered by God) (keb-tseh-aleי), who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab (from (her (the mother’s)) father; or, of his father) (mo-awb): also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day. —>
Benaiah was an extremely courageous man who did many great acts and deeds; he took on and fought against two “lionlike men,” which we find in the Strong’s Concordance tells us they were “men of Ariel,” Hebrew word number H739, - אראל or אריאל, - 'a rı̂y'êl or 'ări'êl, pronounced - ar-ee-aleי, ar-ee-aleי, and means: From H738 and H410; lion of God, that is, heroic: - lionlike men.. So in other words, they most likely were the offspring to the fallen angels, and probably much like Goliath. This Benaiah was fearless, he at another time—obviously during winter, as, there was snow on the ground—even jumped into a pit and slew a lion. This Benaiah was faithful to David; but more importantly, he remained faithful to David’s son Solomon, and he became one of Solomon’s Chief military leaders after Solomon became king. I Chronicles 11:23 And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian's hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear.   —>   Several things to note from this verse: (1) A cubit was between 18 and 24 inches in length, depending upon the length of the current king’s forearm; thus this Egyptian was approximately 7 1/2 - 10 feet tall, and, as we read, he was extremely adept with his spear, or weaver’s beam—a weaver’s beam was approximately between 20-26 feet in length. However, Benaiah was more skilled with his staff than the Egyptian was with his spear, because he was able to take the Egyptians spear away from him and then slay him with his own spear; and (2) Since this Egyptian was a giant, we can probably safely assume that some of the Egyptians had also mated with the fallen angels. Now why an Egyptian was fighting or coming against our forefathers at this time in the history of our forefathers is unbeknownst, and Father’s Word doesn’t say or give any clue, nor do any of the Biblical scholars offer up a reason. I Chronicles 11:24 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among the three mighties.   —>   Yes, all these acts are things that Benaiah did, and remember, Benaiah was the son of a Priest, which made him a Levite. “What,” you might ask, a Levite taking up arms and fighting and killing people? Brethren, this isn’t the first time a Levite or a Priest of Father YHVH have fought for Him, if more of His Pastors did this today, this country—the United States of America—wouldn’t be in the shape it’s in. I Chronicles 11:25 Behold, he was honourable among the thirty, but attained not to the first three: and David set him over his guard.   —>
Honorable among the thirty=In II Samuel 23:23 this reads: II Samuel 23:23 He was more honourable than the thirty, but he attained not to the first three. And David set him over his guard.   —>   In other words, Benaiah by large measure, out shined and performed more notable acts of valor than some of David’s most mightiest of warriors, and even with his performing all his acts of valor, he still didn’t rise to the first tier of David’s warriors, so David promoted him to be the Captain of his Royal Guard of Cherethites and Pelethites.

Benaiah=A Levite, son of the Chief Priest Jehoiada of Kabzeel in Judah, and one of David’s heroes II Samuel 8:18; 20:23; 23:20,23; I Kings 1. Benaiah was a man of dauntless courage. Benaiah was inspired by noble ambition. He came of a noble ancestry whose forefathers had left their impress upon the history of the nation. Born well, Benaiah sought to live well. The sons of both Chief Priests Eli and then Samuel lived in sin and died in disgrace. Benaiah, privileged with the example of Godly parentage, looked upon life as a challenge to personal and individual responsibility. He was fearless in his destruction of Israel’s foes. Born in an age of warfare, when youths were valiant in fight and middle-aged men were veterans, Benaiah had been valiant in many a campaign against hostile nations. This grandson of a valiant man of Kabzeel had many mighty deeds to his credit I Chronicles 11:22-25. Three glimpses are given of Benaiah’s bravery: (1) He confronted two lionhearted men of Moab—giants among their fellows—either of whom would have been more than a match for any ordinary soldier, but Benaiah took them both on and was the victor; (2) He attacked the Egyptian of “great statute” but although this dark-skinned giant carried a spear “like a weaver’s beam” Benaiah met him with an ordinary staff and left the field victorious; (3) Benaiah’s next exploit finds him attacking not “lionhearted men” but an actual lion which had scared the people. A pit was dug to trap the marauding lion, and then Father caused it to snow thereby hidding the trap in a most effective way. The lion fell into the pit and vainly tried to extricate itself; but, Benaiah, the hero who had vanquished a giant and conquered two lionhearted Moabites, leap right into the pit on a snowy day and single-handed slew the lion. No wonder David, who also had slew a lion, gave Benaiah the chief place among the favored three. A greater than Benaiah dealt a death blow at our three great foes—the world, the flesh, the devil. † The etymology of the name Benaiah consists of two elements, the final one being יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHVH, or Yahveh, the sacred name of our Father. The first part of the name Benaiah comes from the verb בנה (bana), which is the Hebrew common and ubiquitous verb meaning to build: It should be remembered that the punctuations in the Hebrew text were added to the original during a time when Judaism was competing with Christianity, and every reference to a son of God may be expected to have been obscured. The name Benaiah may mean Son Of God, but New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List proposes YHVH Has Built. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names reads Built Up Of The Lord, and Brown Driver Briggs (BDB) Theological Dictionary offers Yah Hath Built Up.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H1141, - בְּנָיָה or בְּנָיָהוּ, - benâyâh or benâyâhû, pronounced - ben-aw-yawי or ben-aw-yawי-hoo, and means: From H1129 and H3050; YAH has built; Benajah; the name of twelve Israelites. Total KJV occurrences: 42.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “The son of Jehoiada the chief priest I Chronicles 27:5, of the tribe of Levi, though a native of Kabzeel II Samuel 23:20, set by David I Chronicles 11:25, over his body-guard II Samuel 8:18; 20:23; I Kings 1:38; and I Chronicles 18:17. One of the mighty men of II Samuel 23:22-23; I Chronicles 11:25 and 27:6. The exploits which gave him this rank are narrated in II Samuel 23:20-21; and I Chronicles 11:22. He was captain of the host for the third month I Chronicles 27:5. Benaiah remained faithful to Solomon during Adonijah's attempt on the crown I Kings 1:8,10,32,38 and 44, and was raised unto the place of Joab as commander-in-chief of the whole army in I Kings 2:35 and 4:4.”.

Jehoiada=Chief Priest and leader of the Aaronites. Jehoiada is probably more well-known as being the father of Benaiah, one of David’s mightiest warriors. † The etymology of the name Jehoiada consists of two parts: The first part, is the appellative יה (Yah) = יהו (Yahu) = יו (Yu), which in turn are abbreviated forms of the Tetragrammaton יהוה, YHVH, or Yahveh, the sacred and personal name of Father. The second part of the name Jehoiada comes from the root-verb ידע (yadaי), meaning to know: For a meaning of the name Jehoiada, New Open Bible Study Edition (NOBSE) Study Bible Name List reads Yahveh Knows. Jones’ Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has the similar The Lord Knows.. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H3111, - יוֹיָדָע, - yôyâdâ‛, pronounced - yo-yaw-dawי, and means: A form of H3077; YHVH-known; jojada, the name of two Israelites: - Jehoiada, Joiada. Total KJV occurrences: 9.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “Father of Benaiah, David’s well-known warrior II Samuel 8:18; I Kings 1:2.”.

Shavsha=Either this man is one of the kenites who had taken over the scribeship as Father had told us in I Chronicles 2:55; or, if there was any man who could claim an identity crisis, I believe this man could\would qualify, why? Because, as we dig into his name, we find that he is also known as, or called Seraiah in II Samuel 8:17; Sheva in II Samuel 20:25; and Shisha in I Kings 4:3. † The only thing we know of this man besides his 4 names is that, he was a scribe during the reigns of both David and Solomon and it is most likely that he had two sons: Ahiah and Elihoreph who were also scribes. † As for the etymology of the name Shavsha, Abarim Publications doesn’t list an etymology for the name Shavsha, but does provide etymologies for his other three names: Seraiah; Shisha; and Sheva. As Abarim Publications doesn’t list\provide an etymology, they also don’t list\provide any meaning for is name of Shavsha. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H7798, - שַׁוְשָׁא, - shavshâ', pronounced - Shav-shawי, and means: From H7798; joyful; Shavsha, an Israelite: - Shavsha. Total KJV occurrences: 1. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(nobility), the royal secretary in the reign of David I Chronicles 18:16, called also Seriah in II Samuel 8:17, Sheva in II Samuel 20:25, and Shisha in I Kings 4:3.”.

Cherethites=The Cherethites were the executioners—don’t think of those who were tasked to putting to death, those who were worthy of such action as, that is not what the word executioner means in this case—who were charged with ensuring the carrying out of the kings orders and decrees, and ensuring of the king and his family’s safety. As such, they were part of the king’s royal staff. † As for the etymology of the word\ name Cherethite, Abarim Publications doesn’t list an etymology for the word\name. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H3774, - כְּרֵתִי, - kerêthı̂y, pronounced - ker-ay-theeי, and means: Probably from H3772; in the sense of executioners; a Kerethite or life guardsman (compare H3876), (only collectively in the singular as plural): - Cherethims, Cherethites. Total KJV occurrences: 10.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(executioners) and of King David II Samuel 8:18; 15:18; 20:7,23; I Kings 1:38,44; I Chronicles 18:17. It is plain that these royal guards were employed as executioners II Kings 11:4, and as couriers I Kings 14:27. But it has been conjectured that they may have been foreign mercenaries, and therefore probably Philistines, of which name Pelethites may be only another form.”.

Pelethites=The Pelethites were couriers and personal messengers of the king. They also served alongside the Cherethites as royal bodyguards, ensuring the safety of the king and his family. As such, they were part of the king’s royal staff. † As for the etymology of the word\name Pelethite, Abarim Publications doesn’t list an etymology for the word\name. † Now from the Strong’s Concordance, where we find that it is Hebrew word number: H6432, - פְּלֵתִי, - pelêthı̂y, pronounced - pel-ay-theeי, and means: From the same form as H6431; a courier (collectively) or official messenger: - Pelethites. Total KJV occurrences: 7.. † Now from the Smith’s Bible Dictionary, where we read: “(couriers), see CHERETHITES.”.

Oct 2018

This Bible Study was written by Scott Reis and is provided in order to be used as a private Bible Study Tool. Therefore, it may be copied in whole or in part and shared for private Bible Study; however, it may not be reproduced and published as an original work.

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Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy and not sacrifice;and the knowledge of God more than your burnt offerings.

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I CHRONICLES CHAPTER 18

Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy and not sacrifice;
and the knowledge of God more than your burnt offerings.