2 Samuel 10:13
Ver. 13. And Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians,.... Fell upon them; attacked them first, began the battle with them; rightly judging, that if they, being hired soldiers, were closely pressed, they would give way, which would discourage the Ammonites, who depended much upon them; and the fight, according to Josephus {x}, lasted some little time, who says, that Joab killed many of them, and obliged the rest to turn their backs and flee, as follows:
and they fled before him: the Syriac and Arabic versions in this verse, and in all others in this chapter where the word "Syrians" is used, have "Edomites", reading "Edom" instead of "Aram", the letters r "R" and d "D" in the Hebrew tongue being very similar.{x} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 6. sect. 2.) 2 Samuel 10:14Ver. 14. And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled,.... In whom they put great confidence:then they fled also before Abishai; without engaging at all with him, as it seems:and entered into the city; out of which they came, either Rabbah or Medeba, for their safety:so Joab returned from the children of Ammon; did not stay to lay siege to their city, the season of the year not being proper for it, winter drawing near; see 2Sa 11:1;and came to Jerusalem; in triumph, to report to David the victory he had obtained. 2 Samuel 10:15Ver. 15. And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel,.... Considered it in their minds, and conversed with one another about it, and fearing what would be the consequence of it:they gathered themselves together; not only the forces got together again, that fled before Joab, but all the kings of Syria united their forces together, as appears from 2Sa 10:19; supposing that David would avenge himself on them for assisting the Ammonites against him; and therefore judged it advisable to raise a large army, that they might be in a condition to receive him. 2 Samuel 10:16Ver. 16. And Hadarezer sent,.... The same with Hadadezer, 2Sa 8:3, who was at the head of this confederacy, and to whom the rest of the kings of Syria were servants, 2Sa 10:19;and brought out the Syrians that [were] beyond the river; the river Phrat or Euphrates, as the Targum; so the Arabic version and Josephus {y}, who says, that he hired them:and they came to Helam; which, according to the same writer, was king of the Syrians beyond Euphrates; but it seems to be the name of a place, where was the general rendezvous of the Syrian army. Junius conjectures that it is the same with the Alamatha of Ptolemy {z}, which he places with the Trachonite Arabs near the Euphrates:and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer [went] before them: before the whole combined army, which according to Josephus {a}, consisted of eighty thousand foot, and ten thousand horse: this general is called Shophach, 1Ch 19:16 the letters "B" and "P" being of the same pronunciation in the Hebrew tongue, as Kimchi observes, though it is there read "Shobach", in the Syriac and Arabic versions; he was no doubt a very able, valiant, and skilful general, since he is particularly mentioned by name, and whose name was then famous; the Arabic version calls him a spear bearer of Hadarezer.{y} Ut supra, (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 6.) sect. 3. {z} Geograph. l. 5. c. 15. {a} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 6. sect. 3.) 2 Samuel 10:17Ver. 17. And when it was told David,.... What preparations the Syrians were making to fight him, and where they were:he gathered all Israel together; all the fighting men in the country:and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam: which, according to Bunting {b}, was twenty miles from Jerusalem. David seems to have gone himself in person to this war:and the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him; they formed themselves in a line of battle, and attacked him first, being eager to fight, and perhaps confident of victory, because of their numbers.{b} Travels, &c. p. 140, 141. 2 Samuel 10:18Ver. 18. And the Syrians fled before Israel,.... After an obstinate and bloody fight between them:and David slew [the men of] seven hundred chariots of the Syrians; the word "men" is rightly supplied, for chariots could not be said to be slain, but the men in them; in 1Ch 19:17, they are said to be seven thousand, here seven hundred; which may be reconciled by observing, that here the chariots that held the men are numbered, there the number of the men that were in the chariots given, and reckoning ten men in a chariot, seven hundred chariots held just seven thousand men; though Kimchi takes another way of reconciling the two places, by observing that here only the choicest chariots are mentioned, there all of them, but the former way seems best:and forty thousand horsemen; in 1Ch 19:17; it is forty thousand "footmen", and so Josephus {c}; and the same may be called both horse and foot, be cause though they might come into the field of battle on horseback, yet might dismount and fight on foot; and so one historian calls them horsemen, and the other footmen; or the whole number of the slain, horse and foot mixed together, were forty thousand; Kimchi makes use of another way of removing this difficulty, and which perhaps is the best, that here only the horsemen are numbered that were slain, and there the footmen only, and both true; an equal number of each being slain, in all eighty thousand, besides the seven thousand in the chariots:and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there; of his wounds upon the spot.{c} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 6. sect. 3.) 2 Samuel 10:19Ver. 19. And when all the kings [that were] servants to Hadarezer,.... That were subject to him, and at his beck and command, at least were hired by him into his service:saw that they were smitten before Israel; could not stand their ground against them, being too powerful for them;they made peace with Israel, and served them; became tributaries to them, whereby the promise of the land of Canaan made to Abraham and his seed, as reaching to the river Euphrates, had its accomplishment, Ge 15:18;so the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more; who standing by themselves, they were soon and easily conquered by David's forces, as recorded in the following chapters.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.