And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
He brought out the people who were there and forced them to work with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and made them work at the brick kilns. He did this same thing to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his army returned to Jerusalem.
This verse describes David forcing the conquered Ammonite people into hard labor with tools and brick-making before returning home with his army.
📚 Historical Context
This follows David's conquest of the Ammonite capital city of Rabbah, concluding a war that began when the Ammonites insulted David's messengers. In ancient Near Eastern warfare, it was common practice for victorious armies to either execute captives or force them into slave labor. David chose to use the conquered people as a workforce rather than kill them.
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