Discovery Box1 Chronicles 19:6-15 
Context19:6 When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, 1 Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents 2 of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Aram Naharaim, Aram Maacah, and Zobah. 3 19:7 They hired 32,000 chariots, along with the king of Maacah and his army, who came and camped in front of Medeba. The Ammonites also assembled from their cities and marched out to do battle.
19:8 When David heard the news, he sent Joab and the entire army to meet them. 4 19:9 The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance to the city, while the kings who had come were by themselves in the field. 19:10 When Joab saw that the battle would be fought on two fronts, he chose some of Israel’s best men and deployed them against the Arameans. 5 19:11 He put his brother Abishai in charge of the rest of the army and they were deployed against the Ammonites. 19:12 Joab 6 said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me, 7 you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you, 8 I will come to your rescue. 19:13 Be strong! Let’s fight bravely for the sake of our people and the cities of our God! The Lord will do what he decides is best!” 9 19:14 So Joab and his men 10 marched toward the Arameans to do battle, and they fled before him. 19:15 When the Ammonites saw the Arameans flee, they fled before Joab’s 11 brother Abishai and withdrew into the city. Joab went back to Jerusalem. 12
1 tn Heb “that they were a stench [i.e., disgusting] with David.”
2 tn The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the Ammonites hired chariots and charioteers for about 33.7 tons (30,600 kg) of silver.
3 tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 10:6 has “Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah.”
4 tn The words “the news” and “to meet them” are added in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.
5 tc The parallel text of 2 Sam 10:10 has “the Ammonites” in place of “the Arameans” here.
tn Heb “and Joab saw that the face of the battle was to him before and behind and he chose from all the best in Israel and arranged to meet Aram.”
6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Heb “if Aram is stronger than me.”
8 tn Heb “if the sons of Ammon are stronger than you.”
9 tn Heb “and the
10 tn Heb “and the army which was with him.”
11 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
