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10 Forsooth it was done after these things, that Nahash, [the] king of the sons of Ammon, died; and Hanun, his son, reigned for him (and his son Hanun reigned in his place).

And David said, I shall do mercy with Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father did mercy with me. Therefore David sent comforting (to) him by his servants on the death of the father (And David said, I shall show friendship to Nahash’s son Hanun, like his father showed to me. And so, by his servants, David sent words of comfort to Hanun on the death of his father). And when the servants of David had come into the land of the sons of Ammon,

the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, their lord, Guessest thou, that for the honour of thy father David hath sent comforters to thee; and not rather therefore David sent his servants to thee, that he should espy, and ensearch the city, and destroy it? (and not rather, that David sent his servants to thee to spy out, and to search through the city, so that later he could destroy it?)

Therefore Hanun took the servants of David, and shaved half the part of the beard of them, and he cutted away the middle clothes of them, till to the buttocks; and let go them. (And so Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off half of their beards, and cut away half of their clothes, unto the buttocks, and then let them go.)

And when this was told to David, he sent into the coming of them, for the men were shamed full vilely (And when this was told to David, he sent men to meet them, for these men had been vilely shamed). And David commanded to them, (and said,) Dwell ye in Jericho, till your beard (hath) waxed, and then turn ye again.

And the sons of Ammon saw, that they had done wrong to David, and they sent, and hired with meed of Bethrehob of Syria, and of Zoba of Syria, twenty thousand of footmen, and of king Maacah, a thousand men, and of Ishtob, twelve thousand of men. (And the Ammonites saw that they had wronged David, and so they sent for, and hired for pay, Syrians from Bethrehob and from Zoba, yea, twenty thousand footmen, and a thousand men from King Maacah, and twelve thousand men from Tob.)

And when David had heard this, he sent (out) Joab, and all the host of fighters (and all his army of fighting men).

Therefore the sons of Ammon went out, and dressed battle array before them in the entering of the gate. And Zoba, and Rehob of Syria, and Ishtob, and Maacah, were asides half in the field. (And so the Ammonites went out, and dressed the battle array before them at the entrance to the city gate. And the Syrians from Zoba and from Rehob, and the men from Tob, and from Maacah, were asides half in the field.)

Therefore Joab saw, that the battle was made ready against him, both even against him and behind his back; and he chose to himself of all the chosen men of Israel (and he chose for himself the best men out of all Israel), and ordained (the) battle array against (the) Syrians.

10 Forsooth he betook to Abishai, his brother, the tother part of the people, which dressed (the) battle array against the sons of Ammon.

11 And Joab said, If (the) men of Syria have the mastery against me, thou shalt be to me into help; and if the sons of Ammon have the mastery against thee, I shall help thee;

12 be thou a strong man (be thou of good courage), and fight we for our people, and for the city of our God; for the Lord shall do that, that is good in his sight.

13 Therefore Joab and the people that was with him, began battle against men of Syria, which fled anon from his face. (And so Joab, and the men who were with him, began to fight against the Syrians, who fled at once from before them.)

14 And the sons of Ammon saw, that [the] men of Syria had fled; and they fled also from the face of Abishai, and entered into the city; and Joab turned again from the sons of Ammon, and came into Jerusalem (and then Joab left off fighting the Ammonites, and went back to Jerusalem).

15 And [the] men of Syria saw that they had fallen before Israel, and they were gathered together. (And when the Syrians saw that they had fallen before Israel, they gathered themselves together.)

16 And Hadadezer[a] sent, and led out [the] men of Syria that were beyond the flood, and he brought forth the host of them; and Shobach, [the] master of the chivalry of Hadadezer, was the prince of them. (And Hadadezer sent for the Syrians who were on the other side of the Euphrates River, and they came forth to Helam; and Shobach, the master of Hadadezer’s cavalry, or of his army, was their leader.)

17 And when this was told to David, he drew together all Israel, and he passed over Jordan (and he crossed over the Jordan River), and came into Helam. And [the] men of Syria dressed (the) battle array against David, and fought against him.

18 And Syrians fled from the face of Israel; and David killed of the Syrians (the men in) seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand of horsemen; and he smote Shobach, the prince of the chivalry, the which was dead anon. (And the Syrians fled from the Israelites; and David killed of those Syrians the men in seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen; and he struck down Shobach, the leader of the cavalry, or of the army, who died on the battlefield.)

19 And all the kings, that were in help of Hadadezer, saw that they were overcome of Israel, and they made peace with Israel, and served them; and the Syrians dreaded to give (more) help to the sons of Ammon. (And when all the kings, who were subject to Hadadezer, saw that they were overcome by Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them; and from then on the Syrians were afraid to give any more help to the Ammonites.)

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 10:16 Also known as Hadarezer.

David Defeats the Ammonites(A)

10 In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash,(B) just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father.

When David’s men came to the land of the Ammonites, the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out(C) and overthrow it?” So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard,(D) cut off their garments at the buttocks,(E) and sent them away.

When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.”

When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious(F) to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean(G) foot soldiers from Beth Rehob(H) and Zobah,(I) as well as the king of Maakah(J) with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.(K)

On hearing this, David sent Joab(L) out with the entire army of fighting men. The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country.

Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. 10 He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai(M) his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites. 11 Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. 12 Be strong,(N) and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.”(O)

13 Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. 14 When the Ammonites(P) realized that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city. So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

15 After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. 16 Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.

17 When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. 18 But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers.[a] He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject(Q) to them.

So the Arameans(R) were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 10:18 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 19:18); Hebrew horsemen