1 Chronicles 5:20

20 and received help while fighting them. Hagar's descendants and the nations with them were handed over to Reuben's descendants. They had called out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayers because they trusted 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 The descendants of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 soldiers ready to go to war. They were skilled fighters who could carry shields and swords and shoot arrows.
19 They went to war against Hagar's descendants (including Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab)
20 and received help while fighting them. Hagar's descendants and the nations with them were handed over to Reuben's descendants. They had called out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayers because they trusted him.
21 They confiscated the Hagrites' livestock: 50,000 of their camels, 250,000 sheep and goats, and 2,000 donkeys. They captured 100,000 people.
22 Many were killed in battle because this was God's war. Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh lived in the Hagrites' land until the Assyrians captured them.
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