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1 Chronicles 19:1-5 describes the death of Nahash king of Ammon, David sending messengers to console his son Hanun in return for Nahash's kindness, the Ammonite princes persuading Hanun that the messengers are spies, Hanun shaving them and cutting off their garments at the hips, and David sending word for the humiliated men to stay at Jericho until their beards grow.
1 Chronicles 19:6-9 describes the sons of Ammon, aware that they had made themselves odious to David, sending 1,000 talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, Aram-maacah, and Zobah, the hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah camping before Medeba, Ammon mustering from its cities, David sending Joab with the whole army of mighty men, and the two enemy forces taking position, Ammon at the city gate and the kings in the open field.
1 Chronicles 19:10-15 describes Joab, caught between enemies in front and behind, dividing his force with his brother Abishai, each pledging to help the other if hard pressed, Joab calling the army to courage for the sake of their people and the cities of their God while leaving the outcome to the LORD, the Arameans fleeing before Joab, the Ammonites fleeing into their city before Abishai, and Joab returning to Jerusalem.
1 Chronicles 19:16-19 describes the defeated Arameans summoning reinforcements from beyond the Euphrates under Shophach the commander of Hadadezer's army, David gathering all Israel, crossing the Jordan, and drawing up against them, the Arameans fleeing before Israel with 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers killed and Shophach dead, and Hadadezer's vassals making peace with David and refusing to help Ammon again.
1 Chronicles Chapter 19 parallels 2 Samuel 10, and the two accounts agree closely in substance while differing in details. 2 Samuel 10:6 lists the hired forces as 20,000 Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zobah, 1,000 men with the king of Maacah, and 12,000 men of Tob; Chronicles gives the price, "1,000 talents of silver" (v 6), lists Mesopotamia among the sources, totals the hired force as "32,000 chariots plus the king of Maacah and his people" (v 7), and adds that they "camped before Medeba." The 32,000 of Chronicles matches the 20,000 and 12,000 of Samuel, with the king of Maacah counted separately in both.
This chapter importantly comes after God's covenant to David. God had promised David, "I will subdue all your enemies" (1 Chronicles 17:10), and the previous chapter showed the promise kept on each border, with the refrain that "the LORD helped David wherever he went" (1 Chronicles 18:6, 13). 1 Chronicles 18:11 already listed the sons of Ammon among the nations whose spoil David dedicated; chapter 19 now tells how that war began. The chronicler shows that the war began with Ammon. He sent comfort, received insult, and even then took no action until Ammon hired armies and "came to battle" (v 7). The war that follows is defensive, and it ends with Aram neutralized and Ammon isolated, which is the situation the next chapter assumes when Joab besieges Rabbah (1 Chronicles 20:1-3).
Israel had been told to leave Ammon's land alone, since God had given it to the sons of Lot (Deuteronomy 2:19), and Ammon's own history with Israel included hiring a foreigner against God's people, when Moab and Ammon "hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia" (Deuteronomy 23:4). In this chapter Ammon again hires help from Mesopotamia against Israel, and again the hired help fails. The title of Psalm 60 connects David's struggle "with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah" to these same campaigns.
The shaming of David's messengers echoes forward to Isaiah's Servant, who gave His cheeks "to those who pluck out the beard" and did not hide His face "from humiliation and spitting" (Isaiah 50:6), and to Jesus' parable of the king whose invitation was answered by the abuse of his servants (Matthew 22:2-7). David's care for his shamed men and his vindication of them anticipate the way God treats those who bear reproach for His name (Hebrews 11:26; 1 Peter 4:14).
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