1 CHRONICLES LESSON 22


     We will begin this lesson in I Chronicles 19:1 "Now it came to
pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died,
and his son reigned in his stead."

     "Nahash" means serpent. This could be a name, or a title for the
king of the Ammonites. They, probably, used this name to cause others
to fear them. In 2 Samuel chapter 10 beginning with verse 1, we find a
very similar account of the same event that is mentioned here.

     I Chronicles 19:2 "And David said, I will shew kindness unto
Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And
David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the
servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to
Hanun, to comfort him."

     The offer of condolence on the death of another leader is done
even today. Sometimes, heads of state will go half-way around the
world to another leader's funeral. This act of kindness from David was
explained, for some favor the king had done for David in the past.
David had to find help from many different people, when he was fleeing
from Saul. David did not go himself, but sent his servants to carry
his message of comfort from him to the king's children.

     I Chronicles 19:3 "But the princes of the children of Ammon said
to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he
hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee
for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?"

     It seemed, the children of Ammon were not as smart as their king
who died. They were suspicious of David, and thought he would take
advantage of their time of grief to overthrow them. They did not count
David's servants as messengers of good will, but as spies.

     I Chronicles 19:4 "Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and
shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their
buttocks, and sent them away."

     The shaving of these men was to humiliate them. It shamed them.
It was a direct statement against their religion, and their customs. A
man who had grown a beard had spent quite a long time in the process.
This, to them, was a great humiliation. They shamed them further by
cutting off half their garment. In some societies, the beard is a
symbol of standing in the community. This whole thing is a terrible
insult.

     I Chronicles 19:5 "Then there went [certain], and told David how
the men were served. And he sent to meet them: for the men were
greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards
be grown, and [then] return."

     They could quickly get a new garment to wear, but it would take
some time for their beards to grow out. David gave them permission not
to come into the camp, until their beards had grown out, again. They,
probably, found a favorable home to dwell in at Jericho.

     I Chronicles 19:6  "And when the children of Ammon saw that they
had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon
sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen
out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syria-maachah, and out of Zobah."

     The word "odious" means dimness of sight. David had offered them
friendship, now he could not even see them for his anger at what they
had done to his men. In 2 Samuel where this is stated, the word
"stank" is used in place of odious. They suddenly realized they had
incited the anger of David and hired them mercenaries to fight for
them against David. In this particular case, 3,000 shekels made up one
talent, so we can quickly see this is a tremendous amount of money. It
would total 3,000,000 shekels of silver. The names of the places they
sent for soldiers vary a little, but that is not important here. This
was such a foolish thing to do, and now, they will pay for it. In the
parallel Scripture in 2 Samuel chapter 10 verse 6, we find they hired
33,000 men to fight for them.

     I Chronicles 19:7 "So they hired thirty and two thousand
chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched
before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together
from their cities, and came to battle."

     It is not a difficult situation for the number to vary 100 men.
They now felt confident that they could kill David and his men. Medeba
is a few miles southeast of Heshbon. The only thing these Ammonites
had not taken into consideration, was the God of David.

     I Chronicles 19:8 "And when David heard [of it], he sent Joab,
and all the host of the mighty men."

     Joab was the leader of David's army. The army that Joab led, in
this, was a much smaller group, but with the help of the LORD, they
would defeat this mighty army the Ammonites had hired to fight them.

     I Chronicles 19:9 "And the children of Ammon came out, and put
the battle in array before the gate of the city: and the kings that
were come [were] by themselves in the field."

     It appears, from this, that the troops of the Ammonites were
separated from the troops they had hired to fight for them . The
Ammonites remained close enough to their city, so they might run for
safety to the city. The hired troops were a good way out in the field
from the city.

     I Chronicles 19:10 "Now when Joab saw that the battle was set
against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of
Israel, and put [them] in array against the Syrians."

     It seems that, Joab was between the two groops of soldiers. The
Syrians would have been the more skilled of the two armies Joab faced.
Joab chose the most skilled of his men to go against the Syrians.
Joab would lead the group of elite soldiers in battle against the
Syrians.

     I Chronicles 19:11 "And the rest of the people he delivered unto
the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set [themselves] in array
against the children of Ammon."

     God was with them, and the LORD had put this plan into the heart
of Joab. Abishai would attack the Ammonites, and Joab would attack the
Syrians. This would keep one of the armies from attacking them from
the rear, and getting them in a cross fire. Joab and Abishai would
have their backs to each other. No one would slip up behind them.

     I Chronicles 19:12 "And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for
me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too
strong for thee, then I will help thee."

     This way they could quickly tell which side needed more soldiers.
Whichever one was winning their battle, could send additional soldiers
to help the other one.

     I Chronicles 19:13 "Be of good courage, and let us behave
ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and
let the LORD do [that which is] good in his sight."

     This was Joab telling Abishai and all of the men to be of good
courage, that God would help them. Joab was an unusually brave man,
and it caused the men under his command to be couragous, as well. Joab
says, "If the LORD wants us to win this battle, we will".

     I Chronicles 19:14 "So Joab and the people that [were] with him
drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before
him."

     We must remember, the Syrians were hired soldiers. They did not
have as good a reason to stand and fight as Joab and his men. The
bravery portrayed in the attack of these few whom Joab led, caused the
Syrians to fear and run for safety.

     I Chronicles 19:15 "And when the children of Ammon saw that the
Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and
entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem."

     The troops with Abishai had hardly begun to advance, when the
Ammonites saw the Syrians running for their lives. The Ammonites ran
for safety into their city. It appears that, Joab felt the battle was
over, and went back to Jerusalem to proclaim the victory.

     I Chronicles 19:16  "And when the Syrians saw that they were put
to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the
Syrians that [were] beyond the river: and Shophach the captain of the
host of Hadarezer [went] before them."
     The Syrians, that Joab thought were defeated and would not be
back, got additional help from the other Syrians. They were
refortifying their troops to come against Israel, again. They had
retreated to get more help.

     I Chronicles 19:17 "And it was told David; and he gathered all
Israel, and passed over Jordan, and came upon them, and set [the
battle] in array against them. So when David had put the battle in
array against the Syrians, they fought with him."

     David had sent his army that was in ready before. Now, he called
for all the able soldiers to come to fight this enemy. It appears
that, David led his troops in this. It, also, appears that, he
attacked the Syrians. The troops would, probably, fight more bravely
with their king at the battlefront.

     I Chronicles 19:18 "But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David
slew of the Syrians seven thousand [men which fought in] chariots, and
forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host."

     This was a fierce battle, and we see that David and his men
killed over 40,000 of the Syrians. The Syrians, who were not killed,
fled for their lives. Shopach had been the general of the Syrian
armies.

     I Chronicles 19:19 "And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that
they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David,
and became his servants: neither would the Syrians help the children
of Ammon any more."

     The Syrians, that fled, surrendered to David and became his
servants. One of the agreements they made with David, was that they
would not help the Ammonites against Israel anymore.





















                      1 Chronicles 22 Questions


1.  ___________ the king of the children of Ammon died.
2.  What does "Nahash" mean?
3.  Why did David want to show kindness to the children of Nahash?
4.  What did the princes think of the men David sent?
5.  What terrible thing did they do to David's servants?
6.  What was the beard in some societies?
7.  What did David tell them to do, to keep from being further
    embarrassed?
8.  What does "odious" mean?
9.  What word is used in 2 Samuel for odious?
10. When they realized that David was angry, what did they do?
11. How many shekels of silver did they send to pay them?
12. How many chariots did they hire?
13. When David heard of this army, who did he send to fight them?
14. Where did the children of Ammon set up for battle?
15. Where were the hired soldiers set up to fight?
16. What did Joab do, when he realized he was between the two armies?
17. Who would go against the Syrians?
18. Who led the troops against the Ammonites?
19. What advantage would this be to the Israelites?
20. What encouragement did Joab give the men?
21. What happened, when Joab and his men attacked Syria?
22. Where did the Ammonites retreat to?
23. When the Syrians got out of danger, what did they do?
24. What did David do, when he heard this?
25. How many Syrians did David and his men kill?
26. What did the servants, that did not die in battle, do?