2 Samuel 10

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Following the death of the king of the Ammonites, King David sent servants to console his son and successor, Hanun, but the Ammonite princes convinced Hanun that the messengers were spies, leading him to humiliate them by shaving their beards and cutting their garments. After David instructed his disgraced men to stay in Jericho until their beards grew back, the Ammonites hired thousands of Aramean and allied soldiers in anticipation of David's wrath. In response, David dispatched Joab and the Israelite army, and Joab divided his forces with his brother Abishai to successfully engage both the Arameans and the Ammonites, causing both groups to flee. Following this defeat, the Arameans regrouped under commander Shobach and gathered forces from beyond the Euphrates, prompting David to lead all of Israel across the Jordan to Helam, where they defeated the Aramean army, killed numerous soldiers and their commander, and secured peace with the vassal kings who abandoned their support for the Ammonites.

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¹Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died and was succeeded by his son Hanun. ²And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console Hanun concerning his father. But when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites, ³the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Has not David instead sent his servants to explore the city, spy it out, and overthrow it?” ⁴So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away. ⁵When this was reported to David, he sent messengers to meet the men, since they had been thoroughly humiliated. The king told them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return.” ⁶When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah and twelve thousand men from Tob. ⁷On hearing this, David sent Joab and the entire army of mighty men. ⁸The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country. ⁹When Joab saw the battle lines before him and behind him, he selected some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans. ¹⁰And he placed the rest of the troops under the command of his brother Abishai, who arrayed them against the Ammonites. ¹¹“If the Arameans are too strong for me,” said Joab, “then you will come to my rescue. And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to your rescue. ¹²Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do what is good in His sight.” ¹³So Joab and his troops advanced to fight the Arameans, who fled before him. ¹⁴When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. ¹⁵When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they regrouped. ¹⁶Hadadezer sent messengers to bring more Arameans from beyond the Euphrates, and they came to Helam with Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them. ¹⁷When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and went to Helam. Then the Arameans arrayed themselves against David and fought against him. ¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach the commander of their army, who died there. ¹⁹When all the kings who were subject to Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.