And he brought forth the people who were in it: The Hebrew noun translated people usually has the more specific meaning of “military troops” in the context of war. In this context the people who were in it probably refers to the general population of Ammonites who had been living in the city of Rabbah, and not just the soldiers. Compare “the city’s residents” ( NET Bible).

And set them to labor with saws and iron picks and axes is literally “and he sawed [them] with the saw and with the iron picks and with the saws.” The main difficulty in translating this verse lies in deciding what David did to the people of the city of Rabbah. Did he torture them, or did he force them to do hard labor with tools? This verse as it stands in the Masoretic Text most likely should be understood as meaning that David tortured the Ammonites with the tools mentioned here. King James Version, for example, says that David “cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes” (similarly New American Standard Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente also follows the Masoretic Text, saying “and tortured them with saws, iron picks and axes.”

Since the Masoretic Text does not have an object after the verb “sawed,” it is also possible to understand the object to be the fortified places in the conquered city. A translation reflecting this interpretation reads “and he ripped the city apart with saws, and iron cutting tools, and axes” (Klein).

However, most interpreters correct the Masoretic Text to agree with the parallel text of 2 Sam 12.31 and understand this clause to mean that David forced the people to do different kinds of work, using these tools for that work (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and nearly all modern versions, including even New King James Version ). They change the Hebrew verb wayyasar (“and he sawed”) to read wayyasem (“and he put [to work]”). Despite this decision of most modern versions, Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives an {A} rating to the Masoretic Text and recommends that translators not change the text to agree with the parallel in 2 Sam 12.31.

If the reading of most versions is followed, it is not clear whether the conquered people were forced to further destroy their own city, whether they were forced to rebuild it, or whether they were forced to do work for King David’s city. Forced labor of a defeated army was not unusual in Old Testament times (see Deut 20.11; Josh 16.10; Jdg 1.28-35).

The Hebrew word for saws is megerah. It now seems probable that translations have been inaccurate in rendering this word as “saw[s].” Archaeology knows of no use of saws either to quarry or to shape stones in the time period described. Many building stones have been found which were finely smoothed, but these stones show none of the marks that would have been left by a saw. It has been proposed that the megerah was a heavy metal instrument with a wide rough surface, like that of a file. This instrument was pushed and pulled across the surface of the stone until it was quite smooth. For a good description of the megerah, see WTH, pages 68-69|fig:WTH.1.8.4.1.Stone plane, saw.68-69.html.

The Hebrew word for picks (charits) occurs also in the parallel text of 2 Sam 12.31. It comes from a verb meaning “to cut” and refers to a “cutting thing” or “sharp instrument.” The same word is used for “cuts of milk” or “cheeses” in 1 Sam 17.18, but this should not affect the translation here. Peregrino says “chisels,” and La Bible du Semeur reads “harrows.” New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translate “threshing boards,” apparently reading the Hebrew word charuts.

Instead of axes, the Masoretic Text has “saws” (megeroth, which is the plural of megerah in Hebrew). Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {C} rating to the Masoretic Text here. However, Revised Standard Version follows the parallel text in 2 Sam 12.31, which has the Hebrew word magzeroth. The word magzeroth is found only there in all the Old Testament, but most scholars are agreed that it refers to a blade or cutting instrument. If translators follow the parallel in 2 Samuel as Revised Standard Version has done, in some languages the picks and axes may have to be translated by a single term since there may not be equivalents to distinguish the two terms. However, many languages do have different words for “hoes” and “axes” and these may be used here. For the three tools Revised English Bible has “saws and other iron tools, sharp and toothed.”

And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites: The Hebrew adverb rendered thus refers to the way or manner in which David dealt with the Ammonites. Just as he had done with the citizens of Rabbah, so also he treated the inhabitants of the other Ammonite cities. All the cities of the Ammonites (literally “all the cities of the sons of Ammon” [Traduction œcuménique de la Bible]) refers to all the other places where Ammonite people lived. Some of these places would have been considerably smaller than Rabbah. For this reason Good News Translation says “the people of all the other towns of Ammon” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible).

Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem: All the people refers to the Israelite army that had been with David and Joab in the campaign against the city of Rabbah. Translations include “his men” (Good News Translation), “all the/his troops” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Nueva Versión Internacional), “all his army” (Revised English Bible, El libro del Pueblo de Dios, Reina-Valera revisada, Peregrino, “Israel’s army” (Contemporary English Version), “his whole army” (New American Bible), and “his entire army” (New International Version).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .