1 Crônicas 19
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
1 Crônicas 19
NJB (LXX versing) David's Messengers Abused The Ammonites and Syrians Defeated David Defeats the Ammonites and Their Aramean (Syrian) Allies David Defeats The Ammonites and the Syrians David's Ambassadors Are Insulted 19:1-5 19:1-5 19:1-5 19:1-2a 19:1-5 19:2b-3 19:4-5 The First Ammonite Campaign 19:6-9 19:6-9 19:6-9 19:6-7 19:6-15 Ammon and Aram Defeated 19:8-9 19:10-15 19:10-15 19:10-15 19:10-13 19:14-15 Victory Over the Arameans 19:16-19 19:16-19 19:16-19 19:16-19 19:16-19 Etc.
1 Crônicas 19:1-5
19:1 This chapter continues the military conquests of David (cf. 2 Samuel 10). They are meant to theologically reenforce YHWH's promised blessing (cf. 1 Chr. 17:10; 18:6,13). It is possible that 1 Chronicles 18-20 are out of chronological order (see Martin J. Selman, Tyndale OT Commentary, pp. 99-100) and this chapter is a more detailed account of the defeat of Ammon, briefly mentioned in 1 Chr. 18:11 (see Leslie Allen, Mastering the OT, p. 134). ▣ "Nahash" He (BDB 638 II), or more probably, his father by the same name, was a combatant against King Saul in 1 Sam. 11:1-2. The conflict was over territory on the eastern side of Jordan (cf. Jdgs. 11:4-33). 19:2-3 What an unnecessary war! David's true motives were impugned by paranoid counselors, or princes (lit., "sons of. . .," cf. 1 Chr. 18:17, used of David's sons) of Hanun. Because of 2 Sam. 17:25,27, it is possible that David was related to Nahash. This may explain why David wanted to be friendly with him (cf. 1 Chr. 19:2). 19:2 "kindness" The word (BDB 338) appears twice in this verse and apparently refers to a covenant between Ammon and David. SPECIAL TOPIC: LOVINGKINDNESS 19:3 Notice the three accusations of the princes. to search ‒ BDB 350, KB 347 to overthrow ‒ BDB 245, KB 253 to spy out the land ‒ BDB 920, KB 1183 All three are Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCTS. The second one, "overthrow," הפן, is emended by some scholars to חמר, meaning "to search out" or "explore" (BDB 343, KB 340 I). 19:4 This shaving would be a significant cultural shaming, as was the cutting off of their garments at the buttocks. It was designed to cause a reaction from David (cf. 1 Chr. 19:6). The 2 Samuel 10 parallel says they also shaved half of the beards (cf. 2 Sam. 10:4), which is an eyewitness detail. ▣ "garments" The word (BDB 551) occurs only here and in the 2 Sam. 10:4 parallel. It is translated "cloak" or "long robe," but mostly "garment," but this is only a guess from the context. It may refer to body hair from the beard to the genitals. This shaving and cutting may have been a symbol of mock castration (i.e., political impotence).
1 Crônicas 19:6-9
19:6-7 The mercenary army hired by Ammon was made up of Mesopotamian military from Aram-Maacah from Zobah The parallel in 2 Sam. 10:6 adds soldiers from Beth-rehob soldiers from Tob 19:6 "odious" The VERB (BDB 92, KB 107, Hithpael PERFECT) is used in this same sense of disgust/distrust in Gen. 34:30 and 1 Sam. 27:12. The Niphal stem occurs in the 2 Sam. 10:6 parallel, also note 1 Sam. 13:4; 2 Sam. 16:21. ▣ "talents" The term is literally ףסך (BDB 494) and is used of a weight of silver (cf. 1 Chr. 18:11; 22:14). SPECIAL TOPIC: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN WEIGHTS AND VOLUMES 19:7 "before Medeba" This location is unknown in Ammon but a city/plain by this name is in Moab (BDB 567; cf. Num. 21:30; Josh. 13:9,16; Isa. 15:2). So the options are a city in Moab an unknown city in Ammon emendation suggested by the Jerome Commentary (p. 410), "waters of Rabbath" (cf. 2 Sam. 12:27), which was another way of referring to Rabbath, the ancient capital of Ammon 19:9 "the city" This refers to the capital of Ammon, Rabbah, whose defeat is recorded in chapter 20.
1 Crônicas 19:10-15
19:10 This verse reveals the military strategy of Joab the patriotic sense of Joab Judah's faith in Israel's God (i.e., God is in control, cf. 1 Sam. 3:18; 2 Chr. 19:11; 32:7-8) 19:13 "Be strong and let us show ourselves courageous" "be strong" ‒ BDB 304, KB 302, Qal IMPERATIVE, SINGULAR, cf. Deut. 31:6-7,23; Jos. 1:6,7,9; 10:25; 2 Sam. 10:12 "let us show ourselves courageous" ‒ BDB 304, KB 302, Hithpael IMPERFECT , PLURAL used in a COHORTATIVE sense The implication of the author of Chronicles is that as Joab trusted YHWH, so too, should the Israelites/Judeans of the post-exilic period! 19:14-15 "they fled. . .they fled. . ." This immediate victory seems to reflect the "Holy War" concept of YHWH fighting on behalf of Israel (cf. Exod. 14:14; 15:3; Deut. 1:30; 3:22; 20:4), and giving them the victory!
1 Crônicas 19:16-19
19:16-19 This records a second battle against Syria/Aramean troops on the eastern side of Jordan. This time Israel faced the full army of Hadadezer, who was king of Zobah (cf. 1 Chr. 18:5). 19:17 "and came upon them" In the parallel of 2 Sam. 10:17 there is an unknown city named "Helam," which is in the trans-Jordan area. This city is not mentioned in 1 Chronicles 19 but there is a series of Hebrew letters that are close. Helen (חילם) in 2 Sam. 10:17 is חלאמה "and came upon them" in 1 Chr. 19:17 is אלהם No ancient version or modern English translation uses this supposed emendation. We just do not know why the Chronicler changed his Samuel sources. It is possible he had different Hebrew source documents. 19:18-19 The Jewish Study Bible (p. 1750) makes the comment that the Chronicler expands the numbers in 2 Samuel 10 to glorify David's victory. The NASB Study Bible (p. 577) says it was a copyist's mistake in Samuel. This shows the two ways of viewing these number differences (i.e., literary or scribal error). See Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 51-54, 239-240, which supports the numbers in Chronicles. The best book on the number differences involved in the OT historical books is Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings.