📖WEB · 1 Chronicles 18:6
What does 1 Chronicles 18:6 mean?
"Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went."
— 1 Chronicles 18:6 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
David defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah to Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates.
David took from him one thousand chariots, seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen; and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved of them enough for one hundred chariots.
When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck twenty-two thousand men of the Syrians.
Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went.
David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
From Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took very much brass, with which Solomon made the bronze sea, the pillars, and the vessels of brass.
When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had struck all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah,
Explanation
1 Chronicles 18:6 describes a moment in David's military campaigns where he established a permanent Israelite military presence ("garrisons") in the region of Damascus, which was part of Aram (called "Syria" in this translation). The Arameans of Damascus, who had come to the aid of another king David was fighting against, were subdued and made into vassals who paid tribute money or goods to David's kingdom. The verse closes with a summarizing theological statement: it was Yahweh, the God of Israel, who granted David success in these campaigns, "wherever he went."
To understand the context, remember that 1 Chronicles was written to a Jewish community, likely after the Babylonian exile, reviewing Israel's history through David's monarchy. Its purpose is to remind the returned exiles of God's covenant faithfulness to David's line and to the nation as a whole, often with more theological emphasis than the parallel account in 2 Samuel. This particular verse sits in a chapter (1 Chronicles 18) that catalogs David's military victories over surrounding nations — Philistines, Moabites, Zobah, Arameans, Ammonites, Edomites — showing how David expanded and secured Israel's borders and brought wealth and stability to the kingdom.
Theologically, the key point of the verse is not really about military strategy or geopolitics, but about the source of David's success. The Chronicler is careful to attribute David's victories not to his own tactical genius or army strength, but explicitly to Yahweh. This reflects a major theme throughout Chronic
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