The Weight of the Crown Text: 1 Chronicles 20:1-3
Introduction: The King's War
We live in an age that is allergic to authority, allergic to kingship, and allergic to victory. Our generation prefers its saviors to be victims and its leaders to be managers. The idea of a conquering king who takes the crown from his enemy, plunders a city, and puts the vanquished to work is offensive to our soft, therapeutic sensibilities. We want a Jesus who is perpetually meek and mild, a lamb but never a lion, a savior but never a judge. But the Christ of Scripture is both. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and He is at war.
The historical books of the Old Testament are not a collection of quaint, bronze-age stories for Sunday School flannelgraphs. They are the inspired record of God's redemptive plan unfolding in history, in real time, with real dirt and real blood. And at the center of this history is the throne of David, a throne which God promised would last forever. Every battle David fought, every victory he won, and every crown he took was a down payment on the final victory of his greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. These are not just stories about David; they are prophecies about Jesus.
The book of Chronicles was written to the returning exiles to remind them of who they were. They were a people of the covenant, a people with a king and a kingdom, a people whose God had made unbreakable promises. And this passage in 1 Chronicles 20 is a potent reminder of that reality. It is a snapshot of the kingdom in its strength, a portrait of David as the victorious king. The Chronicler here omits the sordid details of David's sin with Bathsheba, which the parallel account in 2 Samuel includes. This is not to whitewash history, but because the Chronicler's purpose is different. He is focusing on the office, on the throne, on the covenantal reality of David's kingship as a type of the Messiah's perfect rule. He is showing us what the kingdom looks like when it is on the offensive, and what happens to those who stand against God's anointed.
Therefore, we must read this not as embarrassed moderns, trying to apologize for our God, but as faithful Christians, learning about the nature of the King we serve. This passage shows us the nature of the war, the certainty of the victory, and the weight of the crown.
The Text
Now it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that Joab led out the force of the military and brought the land of the sons of Ammon to ruin, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. And Joab struck Rabbah and tore it down. Then David took the crown of their king from his head; and he found it to weigh a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city in a very great amount. He also brought out the people who were in it and made them work with saws and with sharp iron instruments and with axes. And thus David used to do to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
(1 Chronicles 20:1-3 LSB)
The Delegated Battle (v. 1)
The narrative begins by setting the scene in the rhythm of the created order.
"Now it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that Joab led out the force of the military and brought the land of the sons of Ammon to ruin, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. And Joab struck Rabbah and tore it down." (1 Chronicles 20:1)
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. That includes war. "In the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle." This was the normal course of things. Winter was past, the harvests were planted, and the roads were passable. This was the season for settling accounts. The war against the Ammonites had begun in the previous chapter because they had grotesquely insulted David's ambassadors, who came offering kindness. The Ammonites had hired Syrian mercenaries, and Israel had already defeated them in the field. This campaign is the follow-up, taking the fight to their capital city, Rabbah.
Joab, David's commander, leads the army. He is a blunt instrument, a hard man for a hard job. He does what he is sent to do; he brings the land to ruin and besieges the capital. But the central figure, the king, is not there. "But David stayed at Jerusalem." As we know from 2 Samuel, this was the occasion of David's great sin. But the Chronicler's focus is on the principle of headship. The victory is ultimately credited to the king, even when it is won by his servants. The battle belongs to the throne. Joab is David's man, and the army is David's army. The authority flows from the head.
This is a picture of our situation now. The great King, Jesus, has ascended to His Jerusalem and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He has sent us, His servants, out into the world to wage war against the spiritual Rabbahs of this age. We go out in His name, under His authority, as the force of His military. The battles we fight are real, but the victory is not ultimately ours; it is His. He has already won the decisive engagement on the cross. We are now engaged in the mop-up operation. Joab struck Rabbah and tore it down, but as we will see, the final triumph belongs to the king.
The Transfer of Authority (v. 2)
After the city is taken, the king arrives to preside over the victory.
"Then David took the crown of their king from his head; and he found it to weigh a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city in a very great amount." (1 Chronicles 20:2 LSB)
This is the central act of the entire chapter. This is not just about loot. This is a profound theological statement about authority and dominion. The crown is the symbol of sovereignty. The Ammonite king, who likely wore the crown of Milcom, their detestable idol, represented a rival kingdom, a rival claim to authority. In taking that crown, David is not merely deposing a man; he is deposing a god. He is asserting the lordship of Yahweh over the pagan gods of the Ammonites.
The weight of the crown is specified: "a talent of gold." A talent was somewhere around 75 pounds. This is an immense weight, far too heavy for a man to wear in any normal sense. This detail is given to us to communicate the sheer gravity, the immense value and power, of the authority being transferred. This is not a small thing. This is the weight of a kingdom. Some have suggested the crown was suspended over the king's throne, and David sat under it. Whatever the mechanics, the point is the placement: "it was placed on David's head." The authority of the defeated enemy now belongs to God's anointed. All the glory and power of the Ammonite kingdom is now subjugated to the throne of David.
This is a magnificent type of Christ's victory. On the cross, Jesus crushed the head of the serpent. He defeated the god of this world. And in His resurrection and ascension, He has taken the crown. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. The apostle Paul tells us that Christ "disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him" (Col. 2:15). He has taken their crown. He wears on His head "many diadems" (Rev. 19:12), signifying His rule over all the kingdoms of the earth. The weight of all that glory rests upon His head.
And with the crown comes the spoil. The wealth of the wicked is laid up for the just. All the resources of the enemy's kingdom are plundered and brought into the service of the true King. In the new covenant, this is the great reversal of the gospel. The very people who were the spoils of the evil one, held captive to do his will, are liberated and brought into the kingdom of God, their talents and energies now dedicated to the service of Christ.
The Subjugation of Enemies (v. 3)
The chapter concludes with a statement that is, for many, the hardest part of the passage.
"He also brought out the people who were in it and made them work with saws and with sharp iron instruments and with axes. And thus David used to do to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem." (1 Chronicles 20:3 LSB)
Our sentimental age reads this and recoils. But we must not read the Bible through the lens of our own squeamishness. We must read it as God's holy and just Word. The Ammonites were a nation that had set itself implacably against God's covenant people. They were cruel, idolatrous, and had initiated this conflict with a vile insult. This is not an act of personal, vindictive cruelty. This is an act of covenantal judgment. This is what the imprecatory psalms look like when they are enacted in history.
The text says David "made them work with" these instruments. The older translation of "cut them with saws" is likely a misunderstanding of the Hebrew. The meaning here is that he put them to forced labor. He subjugated them. The men who fought against God's king are now put to work building God's kingdom. Their swords are beaten into plowshares, or in this case, saws and axes. Their rebellious energy is harnessed and redirected for the purposes of the victor. This was David's consistent policy with the Ammonites, a people who repeatedly refused peace.
This is a physical picture of a profound spiritual reality. God's enemies will be subjugated. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Psalm 110, the most quoted psalm in the New Testament, says of the Messiah, "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.'" The enemies of Christ will either be converted and joyfully put their hands to the work of His kingdom, or they will be conquered and compelled to serve His ultimate purposes whether they like it or not. God's justice is not tame. He will not be mocked. Those who set themselves against His anointed will be broken, and their strength will be made to serve the King they despised.
Conclusion: Whose Crown, Whose Kingdom?
So what does this ancient battle mean for us? It means everything. It means we serve a victorious King who has already won the war. The outcome is not in doubt.
Like David, our King has ascended to His Jerusalem. Like Joab, we have been sent out to fight His battles. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, they are not saws and axes, but they are mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds. We wage war with the proclamation of the gospel, with lives of faithful obedience, and with the celebration of the sacraments. With these weapons, we bring the ruin of the gospel to the kingdoms of this world.
Every time a sinner repents and bows the knee to Christ, a crown is transferred. The authority that person once gave to sin and self is now placed on the head of King Jesus. Every time a Christian family dedicates their home to the Lord, the spoil of a conquered territory is brought into the King's treasury. Every time the church gathers to worship faithfully, we are celebrating the victory at Rabbah and anticipating the final victory to come.
We must not be timid Christians. We must not be embarrassed by our King's authority or His justice. He has taken the crown. He is subjugating His enemies. And He has called us to be soldiers. The war is real, the stakes are eternal, but the King is on the throne, and the weight of the crown is on His head. And when the work is done, we too will return with our King to the New Jerusalem.