But these had already come out of the city: the young men who served the district governors and the army that followed them.
The young men who served the district governors went out first. Ben-hadad had sent out scouts, and they reported to him, “Men have come out from Samaria.”
He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive.”
Each killed his man; the Arameans fled, and Israel pursued them, but King Ben-hadad of Aram escaped on a horse with the cavalry.
So Joab and the troops who were with him advanced toward the Arameans for battle, and they fled before him.