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I Chronicles
Chapter 19
1~~And
it came to pass after this, {change of subject}
{after David manufactures grace toward Jonathan's son}
that
Nahash the king of the people of Ammon died.
And Hanun his son ruled in his place.
{Note: Nahash was the greatest king the Ammonites ever had. He was most successful king . . . the wisest . . . on and on. RBT says he died as a believer and possibly a mature believer. His son Hanun was weak. He was arrogant. He had no ability of his own. He was respected because of the greatness of his father.}
{David's
Friendly Gesture to the New King - David's Pure Motivation}
2~~Consequently,
{as a result of the death} David said
{both his thought and the follow-through action of his grace
thought},
"I
will manufacture {`asah - out of doctrine resident in his soul}
grace
{checed} to Hanun, the son of Nahash . . .
{grace here includes the attributes of: courtesy, respect,
thoughtfulness, kindness}
as
his father manufactured
{`asah - out of doctrine resident in his soul}
grace
{checed} to me.
And
David sent to comfort him concerning his father . . .
by
the hand of his ambassadors.
{these would have been high nobles in David's court acting as his
ambassador}
And
David's ambassadors came into the land of the people of Ammon.
{Hanun will assume they are spies because that is what HE would
do if he sent men to Jerusalem}
{Note: Principal: courtesy must never be construed as weakness or cowardness. Principal: Weak people superimpose their weaknesses on others. So, David assumes that since he grieves truly for Nahash, his son would grieve more for his lost father. This is not true. And, the pure motivations of the grace oriented person are not understood by evil and/or arrogant people. Arrogant people should not rule nations. They are too divorced from reality and they can not think under pressure. The Ammonites are tough people physically and mentally. But they need a strong spiritually mature leader to keep them in line. Hanun is not the man his father was.}
{Note: David remembers the kindnesses that Nahash did for him when he was exiled from Israel and Saul was trying to kill him. One sign of a truly humble person is that they never forget a kindness done to them no matter how far they rise in life.}
3~~Consequently,
the chief ministers of the sons/people of Ammon
said
to Hanun . . . their lord,
{the authority resides with Hanun but soon these men will use
Hanun to take the power to themselves - dooming the nation in
the process}
"In
your thinking/'In your viewpoint'/'From your standpoint'
is
David honoring your father,
because
he has sent comforters unto you?
{putting doubt in the thoughts of the young king and appeals to his
pride}
Is
it not for the purpose of making a reconnaissance of the city,
both
by spying it out . . . and overthrowing it
that
David has sent his embassy to you?"
{Chain
of Violence from Young King with Power Hungry Advisors}
4~~Therefore
Hanun violently seized David's embassy/ambassadors,
and
shaved off the one half of their beards,
{a great insult in this day - like branding someone}
and
cut off their upper garments in the middle above their buttocks
{meaning that they were naked from the waist down
and had to walk back to Jerusalem in this state - a great
indignity},
and
sent them away.
5~~When
they announced it to David
how
the men were treated,
then
he went out to see/meet them {personally}
{he went out to meet them personally - personal touch
to remove some of the shame},
because
the men {the ambassadors}
were
extremely humiliated/embarrassed.
So
the king said,
"Remain/Tarry
{yashab} at Jericho
until
your beards have grown,
and
then return."
6~~
And when the children of Ammon
saw
that they had made themselves malodorous to David,
Hanun
and the citizens of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver
{2 million of 1936 dollars - maybe 20 million in 2003}
to
hire them chariots and cavalry/horsemen
out
of Mesopotamia/' 'Aram Naharayim',
{name means 'Northern Mesopotamia' or 'Syria across the river
(Euphrates)'}
and
out of 'Syria maachah'/' 'Aram Ma`akah',
and
out of Zobah {('Aram) Tsowba'}.
{Note: A parallel passage is at II Samuel 10:6 and following. 'Aram Naharayim' and 'Aram Tsowba' are the same country ruled by Hadadezer.}
7~~So
they hired thirty and two thousand chariots,
{not mentioning the small 1000 from 'Iysh-Towb - too small for this
writer to mention}
and
the king of Maachah and his troops
who
advanced and bivouacked before Medeba
{Medeba is 50 kilometers/clicks south of Rabah -
David sent a flying column around Medeba to hit Rabah
from the north, not knowing Joab was flying right by this pitched
army}.
Furthermore
the citizens of Ammon
mobilized
from their cities,
and
concentrated for battle.
{acting as bait for Joab's Jewish Army}
8~~Consequently
when David heard of it
{a G2 summary report - on Rabah concentration},
he
sent Joab, and all the army/host {means the new recruits}
{sent the new recruits to give them experience, with the elite
ranger battalions}
including
the mighty men {the elite forces}.
9~~Now
the army of Ammon came out {of Rabbah},
and
deployed/'put the battle in array'
in
front of the gate.
While
the kings
{the Syrians of Zoba and of Rehob including {the men of} Ishtob,
and Maacah}
{were}
'alone on the field'/
'maneuvered
independently on the battlefield'.
{'alone on the field' means the Syrians were not tactically linked
with the Syrian army - they were operating independently to close
the trap}
10~~When
Joab 'was caused/forced to see' {from recognizance}
{indicates this is 'his motivation' - he saw he was in a trap and
moved on}
that
the face of the battle
was
toward him from the front
and
toward him from the rear
{in other words he was trapped between two armies -
his answer will be 'to attack!' and he is doing the unexpected -
he will attack the strongest army first (at their weakest point) -
leaving the lessor army for last - He will hit with his crack troops
leaving the recruits to hold off the lessor army for a short time},
he
selected from all the elite men of Israel,
and
deployed/'put them in array' against the Syrians.
11~~And
the rest of the army/people
he
{Joab} 'gave authority' into the hand of Abishai his brother,
that
he might deploy/'put them in array'
against
the army/sons/citizens of Ammon.
{Note:
Joab had to delegate the authority of one part of his army to his
brother Abishai. This requires much trust on both ends. Abishai is
another great general and Joab trusts him.}
12a~~And
he said,
"If
the Syrians/'Aram overpower me,
then
'you shall come to help me.
{idiom literally: 'you will be to me for my deliverance'}
{Note:
Joab is setting up a mobile reserve. So this is a tough job for
Abishai - he must 'demonstrate' against Ammon but NOT engage - they
have to pretend to be fighting but really hold themselves in reserve.}
12b~~But
if the army/citizens/sons of Ammon overpowers you,
then
'I will march and deliver you."
{setting up the military strategy called 'interior lines' -
concentration of force move to where the enemy is too strong}
{Joab's
General Orders for the Army}
13~~Be
of good courage {chazaq - Qal stem}
{order
1: Battle courage - moral courage - to be able to think under
pressure think instead of emoting - do your job calmly}
and
let us 'guarantee freedom and integrity'/
'play
the man' {chazaq - Hithpael stem}
for
our people . . .
and
for the cities of our 'Elohiym/Godhead
{order
2: Motivation for Battle - what are you fighting for?
you
fight to preserve that which you hold dear -
if
you are not a man, then at least act like one!}
And
Jehovah/God manufacture/do
{`asah
- manufacture victory out of battle . . . out of His Perfect
Essence}
the
'inherent good' {victory} . . . in His own eyes.
{3rd
order: remember Jesus Christ controls history -
if
HE wants us to win, no one can defeat us and if the plan
of
God is for us to lose, then so be it}
{Verses
14-15: Battle of Medeba - Rabah}
14~~And
Joab advanced near . . .
and
the army that was with him,
unto
the battle against the Syrians/'Aram
and
they 'panicked and ran away'/fled before him.
15~~And
when the army/sons of Ammon
saw
that the Syrians had 'fled in panic',
then
they also retreated/fled before Abishai,
and
entered into the city
{Rabah
- city of Amman in trans-Jordania today}.
So
Joab returned from the army/sons of Ammon,
and
came to Jerusalem.
{Note:
Joab left a small holding force to trap the army of Ammon in Rabah.
Next spring a large army will return and complete the siege of Rabah.
But the army of Ammon is now kept on the defensive.}
16
And 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 army/host
of
Hadadezer/Hadarezer went before them.
{Note:
The Syrians hired themselves out as mercenaries. So they must
recover their honor or their economy will drop to nothing. So the
King - Hadadezer - has to march out his nation and put down the Jews.}
17
And 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.
18
But the Syrians fled before Israel.
And
David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men
who
fought in chariots,
and
forty thousand infantry/footmen,
and
killed Shophach the general of the army/host.
19
And when the servants of Hadadezer/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 citizens of Ammon any more.
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