1 Chronicles 5:20

20 And they were helped against them, so that the Hagarites, and those with them, were given into their power. For they sent up prayers to God in the fight, and he gave ear to them, because they put their faith in him.

1 Chronicles 5:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 5:20

And they were helped against them
The Israelites were helped against the Ishmaelites, to fight with them, and overcome them; either by their brethren of the house of Israel, as the Targum, those on this side Jordan; or rather by the Lord, to whom they cried, and who was entreated by them as follows:

and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all that [were]
with them;
they and their confederates and auxiliaries, the Ituraeans, &c.

for they cried to God in the battle;
which at first seems to have gone against them; and they prayed to God, as the Targum, while they were fighting, that he would appear for them, and give them victory:

and he was entreated of them;
he received their prayer, as the same paraphrase; he heard them, and answered them:

because they put their trust in him;
in his power and providence, and not in their own strength, courage, and military skill; the Targum is,

``because they trusted in his word.''

1 Chronicles 5:20 In-Context

18 There were forty-four thousand, seven hundred and sixty of the sons of Reuben and of the Gadites and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, all strong men, expert in the use of the body-cover, the sword, and the bow, and in the art of war, all able to take up arms.
19 And they went to war against the Hagarites, with Jetur and Naphish and Nodab.
20 And they were helped against them, so that the Hagarites, and those with them, were given into their power. For they sent up prayers to God in the fight, and he gave ear to them, because they put their faith in him.
21 And they took away their cattle: fifty thousand camels, two hundred and fifty thousand sheep, and two thousand asses, and a hundred thousand men.
22 And a very great number went to their death, because the war was God's purpose. And they went on living in their place till they were taken away as prisoners.
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