Do or Don't Burn Battle Gods

I Chronicles.14.11-13

Amichai Lau-Lavie (he/him)

Jun 17, 2025

Here’s the next Davidic drama for today- what do you do with the gods of your enemy, left behind in battle? Return, destroy, or loot? What are the ethical lessons left to learn when holy wars are waged upon each other?

This story also presents another sample of conflicting versions: Did David burn the discarded deities of his Philistine enemies - or were they taken as wartime loot? The return to the enemy does seem to have been a realistic option. Not in the iron age anyway.

The Chronicles version is different from the one we read in Samuel. How do we handle, honor or dishonor our defeated enemy’s articles of faith and religious relics?

When it comes to the morality of battleground behaviour, then and now, this feels like an important issue, with ethical implications. And also some repair work.

Here’s the basic story:

The Philistines, alarmed by the news of David’s anointing as king over all Israel, come out from the plains, climb up towards the Judean hills to seek him out and settle accounts. The battle is bloody, won by David’s men, and as the Philistines flee for their lives, they abandon their gods - religious icons of precious metal - on the battlefield.

What does David do?

וַיַּ֥עַזְבוּ שָׁ֖ם אֶת־אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר דָּוִ֔יד וַיִּשָּׂרְפ֖וּ בָּאֵֽשׁ׃

They abandoned their gods there, and David ordered these to be burned.

I Chronicles.14.11-13

In doing so, whether he is aware of the Torah law - it will be written down centuries later -- he fulfills YHWH’s commandment that would resurface in the Torah - “You shall burn their carved idols in fire. Do not covet the silver or gold on them and take it for yourself” (Deuteronomy 7:25).

But that pious choice is not what we read in the earlier version of the story, as it appears in 2 Samuel 5:21:

“They abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.”

The account in the Book of Samuel troubled many sages across the generations—ancient, medieval, and modern. Commentators typically sought to understand the verb “carried them off” as if it meant “burned them”. It is understandable why some would want to reconcile what is said here in Chronicles with the version in Samuel, regarding David’s and his men’s actions. They couldn't imagine David taking loot. But we must also recall the essential character of the Book of Chronicles, which consistently presents David and his dynasty in a favorable light, flaws avoided or ignored. Therefore, the view that sees the text in Chronicles as another attempt to go easy on David makes sense—as a portrayal of him fulfilling the Torah’s commands and not falling into the grave transgression of coveting the Philistines’ idols, made of silver and gold.

So—were the idols burned? Or were they taken?

If Samuel is the raw footage, Chronicles is the polished documentary. The Chronicler, writing centuries later, wanted us to remember David not just as a king, but as the ideal king—the Torah-aligned, God-fearing, idol-burning, sin-free founder of Jerusalem. So instead of taking the Philistine idols, possibly as war trophies, David in Chronicles destroys them in righteous flames.

Because we are living, once again, in a world where wars are waged, gods are desecrated, and the property of others is taken, torched, hoarded, or sold we must ask: What does ethical leadership look like in such moments?

The Chronicler's edit reminds us that stories are shaped by agendas. But it also reminds us of the values we hope to live by. In an age of too many wars, too many spoils, and too few moral compasses, this little verse demands our attention.

David made a choice. Or someone wanted us to think he did. Either way, it’s up to us to choose better now.

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Below the Bible Belt

Do or Don't Burn Battle Gods

I Chronicles.14.11-13

Here’s the next Davidic drama for today- what do you do with the gods of your enemy, left behind in battle? Return, destroy, or loot? What are the ethical lessons left to learn when holy wars are waged upon each other?

This story also presents another sample of conflicting versions: Did David burn the discarded deities of his Philistine enemies - or were they taken as wartime loot? The return to the enemy does seem to have been a realistic option. Not in the iron age anyway.

The Chronicles version is different from the one we read in Samuel. How do we handle, honor or dishonor our defeated enemy’s articles of faith and religious relics?

When it comes to the morality of battleground behaviour, then and now, this feels like an important issue, with ethical implications. And also some repair work.

Here’s the basic story:

What does David do?

וַיַּ֥עַזְבוּ שָׁ֖ם אֶת־אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמֶר דָּוִ֔יד וַיִּשָּׂרְפ֖וּ בָּאֵֽשׁ׃

They abandoned their gods there, and David ordered these to be burned.

I Chronicles.14.11-13

In doing so, whether he is aware of the Torah law - it will be written down centuries later -- he fulfills YHWH’s commandment that would resurface in the Torah - “You shall burn their carved idols in fire. Do not covet the silver or gold on them and take it for yourself” (Deuteronomy 7:25).

But that pious choice is not what we read in the earlier version of the story, as it appears in 2 Samuel 5:21:

“They abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.”

So—were the idols burned? Or were they taken?

Because we are living, once again, in a world where wars are waged, gods are desecrated, and the property of others is taken, torched, hoarded, or sold we must ask: What does ethical leadership look like in such moments?

The Chronicler's edit reminds us that stories are shaped by agendas. But it also reminds us of the values we hope to live by. In an age of too many wars, too many spoils, and too few moral compasses, this little verse demands our attention.

David made a choice. Or someone wanted us to think he did. Either way, it’s up to us to choose better now.

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