Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 19:10
When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes Joab’s tactical assessment during the engagement with the Ammonite army and their allied kings, who have positioned themselves at the city entrance and in the open field.
The words — פְּנֵי הַמִּלְחָמָה (pe-nei ha-milchamah) translates literally to "face of the battle," denoting the full orientation of the opposing forces, while וַיַּרְא (va-yar') means "and he saw," indicating immediate visual recognition of the threat's scope.
The thread — The identical tactical observation and response appear in 2 Samuel 10:9, while Joshua 8:22 and Judges 20:42 describe parallel military scenarios where forces confront threats from multiple directions or face encirclement.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that facing opposition from both front and rear requires immediate, selective deployment of elite forces rather than a scattered response.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Joshua 8:22 Meanwhile, those in the ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces on both sides. So Israel struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained.
- Judges 20:42 So they fled before the men of Israel toward the wilderness, but the battle overtook them, and the men coming out of the cities struck them down there.
- 2 Samuel 10:9 When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans.