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Then the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David. So Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent [a]1,000 talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and (A)from Zobah. So they hired for themselves 32,000 chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped before (B)Medeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to battle. Then David heard of it, and he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. And the sons of Ammon came out and arranged themselves for battle at the entrance of the city. But the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.

David Defeats Ammon and Aram

10 Then Joab saw that the [b]battle was set against him in front and in the rear. So he chose from all the choice men of Israel and [c]they arranged themselves to meet the Arameans. 11 But the remainder of the people he put in the hand of [d]Abshai his brother; and they arranged themselves to meet the sons of Ammon. 12 And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall save me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will save you. 13 Be strong, and let us show strength for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may Yahweh do what is good in His sight.” 14 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Arameans for the battle, and they fled before him. 15 Now the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans fled. So they themselves also fled before Abshai his brother and came into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

16 Then the Arameans saw that they had been [e]defeated by Israel. So they sent messengers and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the [f]River, and Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer [g]led them. 17 And it was told to David, so he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came upon them and arranged for battle against them. So David arranged them in battle to meet the Arameans. And they fought against him. 18 But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed of the Arameans 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death Shophach the commander of the army. 19 Then the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were [h]defeated by Israel. So they made peace with David and served him. And the Arameans were not willing to save the sons of Ammon anymore.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 19:6 Approx. 38 tons or 34 metric tons, a talent was approx. 75 lb. or 34 kg
  2. 1 Chronicles 19:10 Lit the face of the battle
  3. 1 Chronicles 19:10 Lit he...himself
  4. 1 Chronicles 19:11 In 2 Sam 10:10, Abishai
  5. 1 Chronicles 19:16 Lit smitten before
  6. 1 Chronicles 19:16 The Euphrates River
  7. 1 Chronicles 19:16 Lit before
  8. 1 Chronicles 19:19 Lit smitten before

The Ammonites saw that they had made themselves a disgusting stench to David. Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents[a] of silver to hire chariots and charioteers for themselves from Aram of the Two Rivers, from Aram Ma’akah, and from Zobah. They hired thirty-two thousand chariots, the king of Ma’akah, and his troops. They came and set up camp in front of Medeba. The Ammonites were called together from their cities, and they came for battle.

When David heard about this, he deployed Joab and the entire army of powerful warriors. The Ammonites came out and lined up in battle formation in front of the entrance to the city. The kings who had come from Aram were lined up by themselves in the open country.

10 Joab saw that the battle lines were drawn up against him both in front of him and behind him, so he chose some of the best troops of Israel and deployed them to confront the Arameans. 11 The rest of the army he put under the command of his brother Abishai. They were deployed to confront the Ammonites.

12 He said, “If Aram is too strong for me, you will come to my rescue, and if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will rescue you. 13 Be strong and act courageously for our people and for the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his eyes.”

14 Joab and the people who were with him confronted the Arameans in the battle, and the Arameans fled from him.

15 When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Joab’s brother Abishai and entered the city. Joab returned to Jerusalem.

16 When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated, they sent messengers and summoned the Arameans who were from beyond the Euphrates. Shophak[b] the commander of the army of Hadadezer was leading them.

17 This was reported to David, so he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan. He came upon them and deployed for battle against them. David deployed for battle to engage Aram, and they fought against each other.

18 The Arameans fled from Israel. David killed seven thousand Aramean charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers.[c] He also killed Shophak the commander of the army.

19 The kings subject to[d] Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel. They made peace with David and became subject to him. Then Aram was not willing to rescue the Ammonites anymore.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 19:6 More than thirty-seven tons
  2. 1 Chronicles 19:16 The parallel in 2 Samuel reads Shobak.
  3. 1 Chronicles 19:18 The numbers and the identification of the troops here are not identical with those in the Hebrew text of 2 Samuel 10:18, which reads seven hundred Aramean chariots/charioteers and forty thousand charioteers/horsemen.
  4. 1 Chronicles 19:19 The Hebrew term is servants, which may refer to his officials, to the nations subject to him, or to his vassal kings.