1 Chronicles 19
David fights east of the Jordan River
Ammon’s king gets David all wrong
2 Samuel 10:1-19 2David said, “Hanun’s father always kept his word to me, so I’m going to give his son the same respect I gave his father.” David sent ambassadors to him in Ammon.
3Some of King Hanun’s officials said, “Don’t be fooled by these men. David didn’t send them here to honor you with his condolences. They’re spies. David wants to take our land.” David’s men half-stripped
4Hanun arrested David’s men. Then he shamed them by shaving off their beards on just one side of the face and by stripping away their clothes from the waist down. He sent them home that way, horribly humiliated.
5When David met the men, they were ashamed of the way they looked. David said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back. Then come home.”
6When leaders of Ammon heard how angry they made David, they hired armies of Syrian mercenaries to protect them. They spent 34 tons [1]of silver on charioteers and cavalry from three Syrian territories: Aram-naharaim, [2] Aram-maacah, [3] and the kingdom of Zobah. [4]
7They hired 32,000 chariots. [5] In addition, the king of Maacah brought his army, and they camped near Medeba. Warriors from the nation of Ammon left their hometowns to join the battle against David, as well. David invades Ammon
8When David found out, he sent Joab and the entire Israelite army to Ammon.
9Ammon’s army defended the front gate into the capital city. [6] All the other units and the kings leading them took positions in the open field outside the city.
10Joab saw he would have to fight on two fronts, between Ammon’s own warriors inside the city and mercenaries behind him in the fields. He picked elite troops to lead them into battle against the Syrians. 11He gave the rest of the army to his brother, Abishai, and ordered him to engage the locals of Ammon at the guarded city gate. 12He told his brother, “If the Syrians are too much for me, then stand down from the city and come reinforce my troops. But if the army of Ammon is too strong for you, I’ll come to reinforce you. 13Show your courage and your strength. Remember that we’re fighting for our people and for the land that belongs to the people of God. Let’s trust that the LORD will do what he knows is best.” Israel’s enemies run away
14Joab and his men sent the Syrian army running away.
15When locals of Ammon saw that their allies had left, they retreated behind the city walls. So, Joab took his army back home to Jerusalem.
16Syrians of Aram, humiliated by their defeat, called in more troops. They consolidated all their armies into a single attack force. Syrian king Hadadezer [7] called up warriors from the other side of the Euphrates River. All the armies assembled at the territory of Helam. [8] Hadadezer led the offensive campaign, with Shobach commanding the army.
17When David got the news, he assembled his army and marched his men to Helam. Syrians of Aram engaged David and the Israelites. 18Syrians eventually withdrew and then ran away. Syrian body count:
- 700 charioteers
- 40,000 soldiers on foot
- Commander Shobach, mortally wounded.
19When the group of kings who served Hadadezer saw David had defeated their coalition army, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. After that, Syrians of Aram were afraid to help the people of Ammon. 
Footnotes
119:6The silver weighed 34,000 kilograms. In ancient Hebrew measurement, it was an even 1,000 talents. The weight nearly equals half a dozen bull African bush elephants. They each weigh about 6.7 tons.
219:6Aram-naharaim was the homeland of Syrians along the great bend of the Euphrates River. The name means “Aram (Syria) of the two rivers.” The other river was the Habur River, which ran by the town of Haran. That’s where Abraham’s family settled after they left their hometown of Ur in southern Iraq, and before they moved to Cannan, in what is now Israel and Palestinian Territory.
319:6Aram-maacah was a small kingdom east of the Sea of Galilee. It was in land that the half tribe of West Manasseh claimed when Moses led the Hebrew refugees out of Egypt, for Canaan.
419:6Zobah was between the Euphrates River and Damascus.
519:7Samuel’s version of this same story: “They hired 20,000 Syrian soldiers from the cities of Beth-rehob and Zobah in Aram. They also hired 1,000 from the king of Maacah and another 12,000 from Tob territory” (2 Samuel 10:6).
619:9The Ammon capital was Rabbah, near the modern capital of Jordan: Amman. About a three-day march from Jerusalem.
719:162 Samuel 8:3.
819:16Helam’s location is uncertain. It could be a city or a region.
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3Some of King Hanun’s officials said, “Don’t be fooled by these men. David didn’t send them here to honor you with his condolences. They’re spies. David wants to take our land.”
David’s men half-stripped
4Hanun arrested David’s men. Then he shamed them by shaving off their beards on just one side of the face and by stripping away their clothes from the waist down. He sent them home that way, horribly humiliated.5When David met the men, they were ashamed of the way they looked. David said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back. Then come home.”
6When leaders of Ammon heard how angry they made David, they hired armies of Syrian mercenaries to protect them. They spent 34 tons [1]of silver on charioteers and cavalry from three Syrian territories: Aram-naharaim, [2] Aram-maacah, [3] and the kingdom of Zobah. [4]
7They hired 32,000 chariots. [5] In addition, the king of Maacah brought his army, and they camped near Medeba. Warriors from the nation of Ammon left their hometowns to join the battle against David, as well.
David invades Ammon
8When David found out, he sent Joab and the entire Israelite army to Ammon.9Ammon’s army defended the front gate into the capital city. [6] All the other units and the kings leading them took positions in the open field outside the city.
10Joab saw he would have to fight on two fronts, between Ammon’s own warriors inside the city and mercenaries behind him in the fields. He picked elite troops to lead them into battle against the Syrians. 11He gave the rest of the army to his brother, Abishai, and ordered him to engage the locals of Ammon at the guarded city gate. 12He told his brother, “If the Syrians are too much for me, then stand down from the city and come reinforce my troops. But if the army of Ammon is too strong for you, I’ll come to reinforce you. 13Show your courage and your strength. Remember that we’re fighting for our people and for the land that belongs to the people of God. Let’s trust that the LORD will do what he knows is best.”
Israel’s enemies run away
14Joab and his men sent the Syrian army running away.15When locals of Ammon saw that their allies had left, they retreated behind the city walls. So, Joab took his army back home to Jerusalem.
16Syrians of Aram, humiliated by their defeat, called in more troops. They consolidated all their armies into a single attack force. Syrian king Hadadezer [7] called up warriors from the other side of the Euphrates River. All the armies assembled at the territory of Helam. [8] Hadadezer led the offensive campaign, with Shobach commanding the army.
17When David got the news, he assembled his army and marched his men to Helam. Syrians of Aram engaged David and the Israelites. 18Syrians eventually withdrew and then ran away. Syrian body count:
- 700 charioteers
- 40,000 soldiers on foot
- Commander Shobach, mortally wounded.
Footnotes
The silver weighed 34,000 kilograms. In ancient Hebrew measurement, it was an even 1,000 talents. The weight nearly equals half a dozen bull African bush elephants. They each weigh about 6.7 tons.
Aram-naharaim was the homeland of Syrians along the great bend of the Euphrates River. The name means “Aram (Syria) of the two rivers.” The other river was the Habur River, which ran by the town of Haran. That’s where Abraham’s family settled after they left their hometown of Ur in southern Iraq, and before they moved to Cannan, in what is now Israel and Palestinian Territory.
Aram-maacah was a small kingdom east of the Sea of Galilee. It was in land that the half tribe of West Manasseh claimed when Moses led the Hebrew refugees out of Egypt, for Canaan.
Zobah was between the Euphrates River and Damascus.
Samuel’s version of this same story: “They hired 20,000 Syrian soldiers from the cities of Beth-rehob and Zobah in Aram. They also hired 1,000 from the king of Maacah and another 12,000 from Tob territory” (2 Samuel 10:6).
The Ammon capital was Rabbah, near the modern capital of Jordan: Amman. About a three-day march from Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 8:3.
Helam’s location is uncertain. It could be a city or a region.
Discussion Questions
- Sorry, there are currently no questions for this chapter.
