1 Chronicles 19

Some time after this, Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, and his son became king in his place.

1Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.

NoteThe Ammonites were a people living east of the Jordan River, in what is now Jordan, long-standing neighbors and frequent enemies of Israel. Nahash had been their king for decades; he appears earlier as the besieger of Jabesh-gilead in 1 Samuel 11.

2David said, "I will be kind to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father was kind to me." So David sent messengers to comfort Hanun about his father's death. David's servants came into the land of the Ammonites, to Hanun, to comfort him.

2And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.

NoteThe kindness Nahash showed David is not described anywhere in the record; it may date from the years when David was a fugitive from King Saul, who was Nahash's enemy. Messengers sent between rulers were formal envoys, and by the custom of the region their persons were protected, harming them was treated as an act of war.

3But the leaders of the Ammonites said to Hanun, "Do you really think David is showing respect for your father by sending men to comfort you? His servants have come to look over the land, to spy it out, and to destroy it."

3But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?

Note"Princes" here means the king's chief advisers and nobles, not sons of the king.

4So Hanun seized David's servants, shaved off their beards, cut their robes off halfway up, at the hips, and sent them away.

4Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.

NoteA full beard was a mark of adult male standing; forcibly shaving a man was a deliberate humiliation, and a beard took months to regrow. Men wore a long tunic; cutting it off at the hips left the lower body exposed, since undergarments as we know them were not worn. Doing this to envoys insulted the king who sent them.

5Someone went and told David how the men had been treated. He sent messengers to meet them, because the men were deeply shamed. The king said, "Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back, and then come home."

5Then there went certain, and told David how the men were served. And he sent to meet them: for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

NoteJericho lay just west of the Jordan, the first Israelite town the returning men would reach. Staying there let them wait out of public sight rather than walk through the country in that state.

6When the Ammonites saw that they had made David hate them, Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and from Zobah.

6And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syriamaachah, and out of Zobah.

Note"Made themselves odious" in the King James is literally "made themselves a stench": they had made themselves hateful to David. A talent was a weight of roughly 75 pounds (34 kg), so a thousand talents of silver was an enormous sum, effectively a national treasury spent on mercenaries. "Mesopotamia" translates Aram-naharaim, "Aram of the two rivers," the region between the Euphrates and its tributaries. Aram-maacah and Zobah were Aramean kingdoms to the north of Israel, in modern Syria and Lebanon.

7So they hired thirty-two thousand chariots, along with the king of Maacah and his troops. These came and camped near Medeba. The Ammonites also gathered from their towns and marched out to fight.

7So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle.

NoteThe number is unusually large; the parallel account in 2 Samuel 10:6 counts foot soldiers rather than chariots, and the Hebrew word for a military unit of a thousand can also mean a smaller company, so the size of these forces is disputed. Medeba was a town on the high plateau east of the Dead Sea.

8When David heard about it, he sent Joab out with the whole army of fighting men.

8And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men.

NoteJoab was David's nephew and the commander of his army. "The host of the mighty men" means the full army including the professional core of veteran soldiers who had served David since his outlaw years.

9The Ammonites marched out and lined up for battle at the entrance of the city, while the kings who had come stayed by themselves out in the open country.

9And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array before the gate of the city: and the kings that were come were by themselves in the field.

NoteThe city is Rabbah, the Ammonite capital, on the site of modern Amman. A walled city's gate was the one point where an army could form up with its back protected.

10Joab saw that he would be attacked from the front and from behind. So he picked some of the best troops in Israel and lined them up to face the Arameans.

10Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.

NoteThe King James "Syrians" renders Aram, the Aramean kingdoms of the north, hired as mercenaries. They are not the modern country of Syria, though the territory overlaps. Joab was caught between the Ammonites at the city gate in front and the hired Aramean force in the open country behind.

11He put the rest of the men under the command of his brother Abishai, and they lined up to face the Ammonites.

11And the rest of the people he delivered unto the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in array against the children of Ammon.

NoteAbishai was Joab's brother, and like Joab a nephew of David and one of his senior commanders.

12Joab said, "If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you must come and help me. But if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you.

12And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee.

13Be brave, and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the LORD do what he thinks is good."

13Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the LORD do that which is good in his sight.

Note"The cities of our God" means the towns of Israel, understood as the land given to the people, rather than any particular sacred site.

14So Joab and the troops with him moved up to attack the Arameans, and the Arameans ran away from him.

14So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him.

15When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had run away, they also ran from Joab's brother Abishai and went back inside the city. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem.

15And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

16When the Arameans saw that Israel had beaten them, they sent messengers and brought out more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates River. Shophach, the commander of Hadadezer's army, led them.

16And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river: and Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.

Note"Beyond the river" in Hebrew usage means the far side of the Euphrates, the northern limit of Aramean territory. Hadadezer was king of Zobah, the most powerful of the Aramean states; Shophach was his commanding general.

17David was told about it. He gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, came at them, and lined up his army against them. When David had lined up to face the Arameans, they fought against him.

17And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over Jordan, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.

18But the Arameans ran away from Israel. David killed seven thousand of their chariot fighters and forty thousand foot soldiers, and he killed Shophach, the commander of their army.

18But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.

NoteThe parallel account in 2 Samuel 10:18 gives seven hundred chariots rather than seven thousand chariot fighters; the two figures may count different things, or one may be a copying error in the transmitted text.

19When Hadadezer's servants saw that Israel had beaten them, they made peace with David and became subject to him. After that the Arameans were not willing to help the Ammonites anymore.

19And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and became his servants: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.

Note"Became his servants" means they became vassal states, retaining their own rulers but paying tribute to David and bound not to make war on him.