⁷So they hired them thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle. =7.= _thirty and two thousand chariots_] Compare 2 Samuel x. 6, which reckons the army (including Maacah) at 33,000, of whom 20,000 are expressly described as footmen. The word “chariots” may have slipped in from verse 6 instead of “men” or may be an intentional alteration, magnifying the war. _Medeba_] In the territory of Reuben; Joshua xiii. 26. The country round is a table-land suited for the manœuvres of chariots. The place of the rendezvous of the allies is not mentioned in 2 Samuel x., some words having probably fallen out of the text. ⁸And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men. ⁹And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the gate of the city: and the kings that were come were by themselves in the field. =8.= _David ... sent Joab_] Why in such a crisis did he not go himself? Perhaps because he could watch the gathering of the more serious storm described in verses 16‒19 better from Jerusalem. ¹⁰Now when Joab saw that the battle¹ was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put ¹¹them in array against the Syrians. And the rest of the people he committed into the hand of Abishai² his brother, and they put themselves in array against the children of Ammon. ¹²And 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. ¹ Hebrew _the face of the battle was against_. ² Hebrew _Abshai_. =10.= _he chose of all the choice men_] The Syrians were the more formidable because of the chariots they had; Joab therefore opposed to them the flower of his army. ¹³Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good. =13.= _the cities of our God_] The cities which our God has given us and in which He is worshipped. If these were captured by the enemy, false gods would be worshipped in them. Religious feeling often supplies the place of patriotism in the East. ¹⁴So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him. =14.= _drew nigh before the Syrians_] Without fear for their own rear advanced against the Syrian front. ¹⁵And 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. =15.= _Joab came to Jerusalem_] Probably because he was wanted for the new danger gathering in the North. =16‒19.= THE END OF THE ARAMEAN WAR.