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.
In bringing these battle stories together, the writer has omitted a number of passages from the parallel section of 2 Samuel. He is concerned with God’s plan for establishing the kingdom of David, not with the fate of Saul’s survivors (2 Samuel 9:1-13; 2 Samuel 21:1-17), nor with David’s personal sins and family troubles (2 Samuel 11:2-25; 2 Samuel 13:1-26).