1 Chronicles 19 Study Notes

19:14-15 Apparently the Arameans had not expected this aggressive response from Joab and his brother. When they saw the Israelite army advancing, they turned and fled. This was enough for the Ammonites to lose heart as well. When they saw the Arameans fleeing, they barricaded themselves behind the walls of Medeba.

19:16 Now it was the Arameans’ turn to make an error in judgment. Even though they had already been defeated once by David, they decided to take advantage of the situation and turn back on David’s forces. While Joab returned victoriously to Jerusalem (v. 15), the Arameans made another alliance, this time with their kinsman all the way on the eastern side of the Euphrates River, in order to take revenge against David.

19:17-18 This time David himself took charge of the Israelite army. With an even greater force than before, he defeated the combined Aramean army.

19:19 Being defeated by David was nothing new to Hadadezer (see 18:3 and note there). Twice now, this king’s attempts to establish superiority among the Arameans had been thwarted by David. Regardless of their king’s ambitions, his subjects had seen enough. They submitted to David—and blamed it all on the Ammonites.