1 Chronicles 19

1 And it comes to pass after this, that Nahash king of the sons of Ammon dies, and his son reigns in his stead,

Some time later, Nahash, the king of the Ammon people-group, died. Then his son Hanun became their king.

2 and David says, “I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, for his father did kindness with me”; and David sends messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And the servants of David come to the land of the sons of Ammon, to Hanun, to comfort him,

[When] David [heard about that, he] thought [to himself], “Nahash was kind to me, so I will be kind to his son.” So David sent some officials there, to tell Hanun that he was sorry to hear that Hanun’s father [had died]. But when David’s officials came to Hanun in the land where the Ammon people-group lived,

3 and the heads of the sons of Ammon say to Hanun, “Is David honoring your father in your eyes because he has sent comforters to you? Have his servants not come to you in order to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?”

the leaders of the Ammon people-group said to Hanun, “Do you think that it is really to honor your father that King David is sending these men to say that he is sorry that your father died? [We think that] his men have come to (look around/spy) our city in order to determine how his [army] can conquer us.”

4 And Hanun takes the servants of David and shaves them, and cuts their long robes in the midst, to the buttocks, and sends them away.

Hanun [believed what they said, so he commanded some soldiers to] seize the officials whom David had sent, and shave off their beards, and [insult them by] cutting off the lower part of their robes, and then send them away. [So his soldiers did that].

5 And [some] go and declare to David concerning the men, and he sends to meet them—for the men have been greatly ashamed—and the king says, “Dwell in Jericho until your beard is grown, then you have returned.”

The officials were greatly humiliated/ashamed. When David found out about what had happened to his officials, he sent some messengers to them to tell them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown again, and then return home.”

6 And the sons of Ammon see that they have made themselves abhorred by David, and Hanun and the sons of Ammon send one thousand talents of silver, to hire for themselves, from Aram-Naharaim, and from Aram-Maachah, and from Zobah, chariots and horsemen;

Then the [leaders of the] Ammon people-group realized that they had greatly insulted [IDM] David. So Hanun and some of his officials sent about (37,000 pounds/34,000 kg.) of silver to hire chariots and chariot-drivers from [the] Aram-Naharaim, Aram-Maacah and Zobah [regions of Syria northeast of Israel].

7 and they hire for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people, and they come in and encamp before Medeba, and the sons of Ammon have been gathered out of their cities, and come to the battle.

They hired 32,000 chariots and chariot-drivers, as well as the king of [the] Maacah [region] and his army. They came and set up their tents near Medeba [town in Moab region]. The soldiers from the Ammon people-group also marched out and (stood in their positions/arranged themselves for battle) [at the entrance to their capital city, Rabbah].

8 And David hears, and sends Joab, and all the host of the mighty men,

When David heard about that, he sent Joab and all his army.

9 and the sons of Ammon come out and set in array [for] battle at the opening of the city, and the kings who have come [are] by themselves in the field.

The soldiers of the Ammon people-group came out of their city and lined up for battle at the entrance to [their capital city, Rabbah]. Meanwhile, the other kings who had come [with their armies] stood in their positions in the open fields.

10 And Joab sees that the front of the battle has been to him, before and behind, and he chooses out of all the choice in Israel, and sets in array to meet Aram,

Joab saw that there were groups of enemy soldiers in front of his troops and behind his troops. So he selected some of the best Israeli troops and put them in positions to fight against the soldiers of Syria.

11 and he has given the remnant of the people into the hand of his brother Abishai, and they set in array to meet the sons of Ammon.

He appointed his [older] brother Abishai to be the commander of his other soldiers and he told them to (stand in their positions/arrange themselves) in front of [the army of] the Ammon people-group.

12 And he says, “If Aram is stronger than me, then you have been for salvation to me; and if the sons of Ammon are stronger than you, then I have saved you;

Joab said to them, “If the soldiers from Syria are too strong for us to defeat them, then your soldiers must come and help us. But if the soldiers from the Ammon people-group are too strong for you to defeat them, then my soldiers will come and help your men.

13 be strong, and we strengthen ourselves, for our people, and for the cities of our God, and YHWH does that which is good in His eyes.”

We must be strong/courageous, and fight hard to [defend] our people and our cities (that belong to/where we worship) our God. I will pray that Yahweh will do what he considers to be good.”

14 And Joab draws near, and the people who [are] with him, before Aram to battle, and they flee from his face;

So Joab and his troops [advanced to] fight the army of Syria, and the soldiers from Syria ran away from them.

15 and the sons of Ammon have seen that Aram has fled, and they flee—they also—from the face of his brother Abishai, and go into the city. And Joab comes to Jerusalem.

And when the soldiers of the Ammon people-group saw that the soldiers from Syria were running away, they also started to run away from Abishai and his army, and they retreated back inside the city. So Joab [and his army] returned to Jerusalem.

16 And Aram sees that they have been struck before Israel, and send messengers, and bring out Aram that [is] beyond the River, and Shophach head of the host of Hadarezer [is] before them.

After [the leaders of the army of] Syria realized that they had been defeated by [the army of] Israel, they sent messengers to [another part of Syria on] the east side of the [Euphrates] river, and brought troops from there [to the battle area], with Shophach, the commander of Hadadezer’s army, leading them.

17 And it is declared to David, and he gathers all Israel, and passes over the Jordan, and comes to them, and sets in array against them; indeed, David sets in array [for] battle to meet Aram, and they fight with him;

When David heard about that, he gathered all the Israeli soldiers, and they crossed the Jordan [River]. They advanced and took their battle positions to attack the army of Syria.

18 and Aram flees from the face of Israel, and David slays seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand footmen of Aram, and he has put Shophach head of the host to death.

But the army of Syria ran away from the soldiers of Israel. However, David’s soldiers killed 7,000 of their chariot-drivers and 40,000 other soldiers. They also killed Shophach, their army commander.

19 And the servants of Hadarezer see that they have been struck before Israel, and they make peace with David and serve him, and Aram has not been willing to help the sons of Ammon anymore.

When the kings who had been ruled by Hadadezer realized that they had been defeated by the Israeli army, they made peace with David, and agreed to allow him to rule them. So the rulers of Syria did not want to help the rulers of the Ammon people-group any more.