Open Bible Data Home About News OET Key
OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB MSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV SLT Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
OET By Document By Section By Chapter Details
OET GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD 1 YHN 2 YHN 3 YHN REV
2 SAM Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24
10 Some time later, the Ammonite king died, and his son Hanun replace him as king. 2 “I’ll be kind to Nahash’s son Hanun,” David said, “just like his father was kind to me.” So he sent servants to Hanun to convey his condolences.
When they arrived in the Ammon region, 3 the Ammonite commanders said to their master Hanun, “Do you think that David really sent condolences to honour your late father? Isn’t it more likely because he wanted them to spy on us, and to explore the city so he could more easily conquer it?”
4 So Hanun seized David’s servants and had half of their beards shaved off and their robes cut in half all the way up to their buttocks, then he sent them off. 5 They sent messengers ahead to tell David because they were very humiliated, and the king told them to stay in Yeriho before returning when their beards grew back.
6 Then the Ammonite leaders realised that they’d now caused David to despise them, so they hired twenty thousand Aramean (or Syrian) mercenaries from Beyt-Rehob and Tsovah, and another one thousand from Maakah and twelve thousand from Tov. 7 When David heard that, he sent Yoav in with the entire army. 8 The Ammonites came out the city gate and organised themselves for battle at the entrance, while their hired mercenaries stood apart out in the countryside.
9 When Yoav saw that he was disadvantaged with enemy lines both in front and behind, he selected certain Israeli warriors and placed them to battle the Aramean mercenaries, 10 leaving the others to face the Ammonites under the command of his brother Avishay, 11 telling him, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you come and rescue us, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I’ll come and rescue you. 12 Be strong and courageous for the sake of our people and our god’s cities, and Yahweh will do whatever he considers right.”
13 So Yoav and his men advanced to attack the Aramean mercenaries but they fled away from them. 14 When the Ammonites saw the Arameans running away, they started retreating from Abishai and went back into the city, so Yoav withdrew from attacking the Ammonites and returned to Yerushalem.
15 When the Arameans realised that they’d been defeated by Yisrael, they assembled all their warriors together again. 16 King Hadadezer (from Tsovah) called for Aramean warriors from beyond the Euphrates River and they came to Heylam. Shovak was Hadadezer’s army commander. 17 When David heard that, he assembled all the Israeli warriors and they crossed the Yordan going towards Helam. The Arameans came out to meet David and the two sides fought each other. 18 But again the Arameans fled from the Israelis, and David killed seven hundred Aramean charioteers and forty thousand cavalry, and their commander Shobak was struck and died there also. 19 Then all the kings associated with Hadadezer realised they couldn’t defeat Yisrael, so they made peace with the Israelis and served them, and so the Arameans were afraid to try to rescue the Ammonites again.
10:9 OSHB variant note: ב/ישראל: (x-qere) ’יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל’: lemma_3478 n_0.1 morph_HNp id_10KEX יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל
2 Samuel 8:1-8; 10:1-19; 12:21-31; 1 Chronicles 18:2-11; 19:1-19; 20:1-3
The accounts of David’s greatest military victories stand like bookends around the record of David’s most grievous sins. Sometime after David brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem and the Lord promised to establish his dynasty over Israel, David achieved a series of victories over virtually all of Israel’s neighboring nations. These began with David’s capture of Metheg-ammah (likely Gath) and all of Philistia and was followed by his victory over Moab. Then Nahash king of Ammon died, and David sent envoys to express his condolences to Nahash’s son Hanun, who had now become king. Hanun, however, intentionally humiliated David’s envoys, shaving off half their beards and cutting off the bottom half of their garments before sending them back to Israel. When David heard of it, he sent word to his envoys to remain at Jericho until their beards grew back. In the meantime, the Ammonites called upon several Aramean nations to help them fight against Israel, which was likely their original intent for humiliating David’s envoys. Warriors came from Beth-rehob and Zobah, which lay between Israel and Hamath farther north, as well as from Maacah (see “Geshur and Maacah” map) and Tob. The writer of 1 Chronicles also notes that soldiers came from Mesopotamia as well. David sent his commander Joab to fight this coalition at Rabbah. The writer of 1 Chronicles consistently speaks of the battle occurring at Medeba, rather than Rabbah, but the town of Medeba south of Heshbon seems an unlikely location for the battle. Perhaps Rabbah was also referred to at times as Medeba. In any case, Joab and his brother Abishai divided their forces into two groups, with Joab leading the fight against the Arameans to the north and Abishai leading the fight against the Ammonites just outside the gates of Rabbah. As Joab advanced, the Arameans fled, which in turn led the Ammonites to retreat behind the walls of Rabbah. After this Joab (and probably his forces) returned home to Israel. But the Arameans regrouped and added more troops from Aramean nations beyond the Euphrates River. David met them in battle at Helam (likely modern Alma) and won a great victory over them, even killing their commander Shobah (or Shophach). After this the Arameans made peace with Israel. Sometime later David also subjugated the Edomites, who lived to the south of Moab. It was likely sometime after this that David engaged in adultery with the wife of Uriah, one of his own valiant warriors (see “David’s Mighty Men” map), and then he tried to cover up his sin by arranging for Uriah’s death in battle. His sin was later exposed by Nathan the prophet, and David repented. After this Joab returned to Rabbah to finish capturing the city, and when victory was close at hand he called for David to come and finish taking the city. Thus the Ammonites became subject to Israel as well. From all these conquered nations David took many spoils and dedicated them to the Lord’s service, including great amounts of bronze from the towns of Tebah (also called Betah and Tibhath), Berothai, and Cun.
The Battle with the Ammonites and the Arameans
The Battle with the Arameans
2 Samuel 8:1-8; 10:1-19; 12:21-31; 1 Chronicles 18:2-11; 19:1-19; 20:1-3
The accounts of David’s greatest military victories stand like bookends around the record of David’s most grievous sins. Sometime after David brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem and the Lord promised to establish his dynasty over Israel, David achieved a series of victories over virtually all of Israel’s neighboring nations. These began with David’s capture of Metheg-ammah (likely Gath) and all of Philistia and was followed by his victory over Moab. Then Nahash king of Ammon died, and David sent envoys to express his condolences to Nahash’s son Hanun, who had now become king. Hanun, however, intentionally humiliated David’s envoys, shaving off half their beards and cutting off the bottom half of their garments before sending them back to Israel. When David heard of it, he sent word to his envoys to remain at Jericho until their beards grew back. In the meantime, the Ammonites called upon several Aramean nations to help them fight against Israel, which was likely their original intent for humiliating David’s envoys. Warriors came from Beth-rehob and Zobah, which lay between Israel and Hamath farther north, as well as from Maacah (see “Geshur and Maacah” map) and Tob. The writer of 1 Chronicles also notes that soldiers came from Mesopotamia as well. David sent his commander Joab to fight this coalition at Rabbah. The writer of 1 Chronicles consistently speaks of the battle occurring at Medeba, rather than Rabbah, but the town of Medeba south of Heshbon seems an unlikely location for the battle. Perhaps Rabbah was also referred to at times as Medeba. In any case, Joab and his brother Abishai divided their forces into two groups, with Joab leading the fight against the Arameans to the north and Abishai leading the fight against the Ammonites just outside the gates of Rabbah. As Joab advanced, the Arameans fled, which in turn led the Ammonites to retreat behind the walls of Rabbah. After this Joab (and probably his forces) returned home to Israel. But the Arameans regrouped and added more troops from Aramean nations beyond the Euphrates River. David met them in battle at Helam (likely modern Alma) and won a great victory over them, even killing their commander Shobah (or Shophach). After this the Arameans made peace with Israel. Sometime later David also subjugated the Edomites, who lived to the south of Moab. It was likely sometime after this that David engaged in adultery with the wife of Uriah, one of his own valiant warriors (see “David’s Mighty Men” map), and then he tried to cover up his sin by arranging for Uriah’s death in battle. His sin was later exposed by Nathan the prophet, and David repented. After this Joab returned to Rabbah to finish capturing the city, and when victory was close at hand he called for David to come and finish taking the city. Thus the Ammonites became subject to Israel as well. From all these conquered nations David took many spoils and dedicated them to the Lord’s service, including great amounts of bronze from the towns of Tebah (also called Betah and Tibhath), Berothai, and Cun.
The Battle with the Ammonites and the Arameans
The Battle with the Arameans
2 SAM Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24