David and the Ammonites

¹Later the king of the Ammonites died and his son Hanun succeeded him.[#tn Heb “reigned in his place.”]

²David said, “I will express my loyalty to Hanun son of Nahash just as his father was loyal to me.” So David sent his servants with a message expressing sympathy over his father’s death. When David’s servants entered the land of the Ammonites,[#tn Heb “do loyalty.”; #tn Heb “did loyalty.”; #tn Heb “and David sent to console him by the hand of his servants concerning his father.”]

³the Ammonite officials said to their lord Hanun, “Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? No, David has sent his servants to you to get information about the city and spy on it so they can overthrow it!”[#tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”; #tn Heb “Is it not to explore the city and to spy on it and to overthrow it [that] David has sent his servants to you?”]

⁴So Hanun seized David’s servants and shaved off half of each one’s beard. He cut the lower part of their robes off so that their buttocks were exposed, and then sent them away.[#tn Heb “and he cut their robes in the middle unto their buttocks.”]

⁵Messengers told David what had happened, so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown again; then you may come back.”[#tn Heb “they”; the referent (the messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.; #tn The words “what had happened” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.; #map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.]

⁶When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, they sent and hired 20,000 foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, in addition to 1,000 men from the king of Maacah and 12,000 men from Ish-tob.[#tn Heb “that they were a stench [i.e., disgusting] with David.”; #tn Heb “the Ammonites.”; #tn Or “Arameans of Beth Rehob and Arameans of Zobah.”; #tn Or perhaps “the men of Tob.” The ancient versions (the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) understand the name to be “Ish-tob.” It is possible that “Ish” is dittographic and that we should read simply “Tob,” a reading adopted by a number of recent English versions.]

⁷When David heard the news, he sent Joab and the entire army to meet them.[#tn The words “the news” and “to meet them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.]

⁸The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the men from Aram Zobah, Rehob, Ish-tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field.

⁹When Joab saw that the battle would be fought on two fronts, he chose some of Israel’s best men and deployed them against the Arameans.[#tn Heb “and Joab saw that the face of the battle was to him before and behind and he chose from all the best in Israel and arranged to meet Aram.”]

¹⁰He put his brother Abishai in charge of the rest of the army and they were deployed against the Ammonites.[#tn Heb “people.”; #tn Heb “he arranged.”]

¹¹Joab said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me, you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you, I will come to your rescue.[#tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.; #tn Heb “if Aram is stronger than me.”; #tn Heb “if the sons of Ammon are stronger than you.”]

¹²Be strong! Let’s fight bravely for the sake of our people and the cities of our God! The Lord will do what he decides is best!”[#tn Heb “and the Lord will do what is good in his eyes.”]

¹³So Joab and his men marched out to do battle with the Arameans, and they fled before him.[#tn Heb “and the army which was with him.”]

¹⁴When the Ammonites saw the Arameans flee, they fled before his brother Abishai and went into the city. Joab withdrew from fighting the Ammonites and returned to Jerusalem.[#tn Heb “and Joab returned from against the sons of Ammon and entered.”; #map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.]

¹⁵When the Arameans realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they consolidated their forces.[#tn Heb “were gathered together.”]

¹⁶Then Hadadezer sent for Arameans from beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam. Shobach, the general in command of Hadadezer’s army, led them.[#tn Heb “and Hadadezer sent and brought out Aram which is.”; #tn Heb “from beyond the River.” The name “Euphrates” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.; #tn Heb “was before them.”]

¹⁷When David was informed, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and came to Helam. The Arameans deployed their forces against David and fought with him.[#tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.]

¹⁸The Arameans fled before Israel. David killed 700 Aramean charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach, the general in command of the army, who died there.[#tn Heb “horsemen” (so KJV, NASB, NCV, NRSV, NLT) but the Lucianic recension of the LXX reads “foot soldiers,” as does the parallel text in 1 Chr 19:18. Cf. NAB, NIV.]

¹⁹When all the kings who were subject to Hadadezer saw they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subjects of Israel. The Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.[#tn Heb “the servants of Hadadezer.”; #tn Heb “and they served them.”]