So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh unto the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him.

And Joab and the people that were with him, began to fight against the Syrians: and they immediately fled before him.

And Joab draweth nigh, and the people who are with him, to battle against Aram, and they flee from his presence;

Then Joab and the people with him went forward to the fight against the Aramaeans, and they went in flight before him.

So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh unto the battle against the Arameans; and they fled before him.

And so, Joab, and the people who were with him, undertook the conflict against the Syrians, who immediately fled before their face.

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" and "D" in the Hebrew tongue being very similar.
(x) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 6. sect. 2.)