Now when the sons of Ammon saw that (A)they had become repulsive to David, the sons of Ammon sent messengers and (B)hired the Arameans of (C)Beth-rehob and the (D)Arameans of Zobah, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and the king of (E)Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob with twelve thousand men. When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all the army, the warriors. And the sons of Ammon came out and lined up for battle (F)at the entrance of the [a]city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of (G)Tob and Maacah were stationed by themselves in the field.

Now when Joab saw that [b]the battle was set against him at the front and at the rear, he selected warriors from all the choice men in Israel, and lined them up against the Arameans. 10 But the remainder of the people he placed [c]under the command of his brother Abishai, and he lined them up against the sons of Ammon. 11 And he said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to help you. 12 (H)Be strong, and let’s show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and the cities of our God; and (I)may the Lord do what is good in His sight.” 13 So Joab and the people who were with him advanced to the battle against the Arameans, and (J)they fled from him. 14 When the sons of Ammon saw that the Arameans had fled, they also fled from Abishai and entered the city. (K)Then Joab returned from fighting against the sons of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.

15 When the Arameans saw that they had been [d]defeated by Israel, they assembled together. 16 (L)And Hadadezer sent word and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam; and (M)Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer [e]led them. 17 Now when it was reported to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Arameans lined up against David and fought him. 18 But the Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed (N)seven hundred charioteers of the Arameans and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings, servants of Hadadezer, saw that they had been [f]defeated by Israel, (O)they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the sons of Ammon anymore.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 10:8 Lit gate
  2. 2 Samuel 10:9 Lit the faces of the battle were against
  3. 2 Samuel 10:10 Lit in the hand of
  4. 2 Samuel 10:15 Lit struck
  5. 2 Samuel 10:16 Lit was before them
  6. 2 Samuel 10:19 Lit struck

When the Ammonites realized they had become repulsive to David, they hired 20,000 foot soldiers from the Arameans of Beth-rehob and Zobah, 1,000 men from the king of Maacah, and 12,000 men from Tob.

David heard about it and sent Joab and all the fighting men. The Ammonites marched out and lined up in battle formation at the entrance to the city gate while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were in the field by themselves. When Joab saw that there was a battle line in front of him and another behind him, he chose some men out of all the elite troops of Israel and lined up in battle formation to engage the Arameans. 10 He placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai who lined up in battle formation to engage the Ammonites.

11 “If the Arameans are too strong for me,” Joab said, “then you will be my help. However, if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I’ll come to help you. 12 Be strong! We must prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God.(A) May the Lord’s will be done.”[a]

13 Joab and his troops advanced to fight against the Arameans, and they fled before him. 14 When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai and entered the city. So Joab withdrew from the attack against the Ammonites and went to Jerusalem.

15 When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they regrouped. 16 Hadadezer sent messengers to bring the Arameans who were across the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam with Shobach, commander of Hadadezer’s army, leading them.

17 When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and went to Helam. Then the Arameans lined up in formation to engage David in battle and fought against him. 18 But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed 700 of their charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers.[b] He also struck down Shobach commander of their army, who died there. 19 When all the kings who were Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became their subjects. After this, the Arameans were afraid to ever help the Ammonites again.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 10:12 Lit the Lord do what is good in His eyes
  2. 2 Samuel 10:18 Some LXX mss; MT reads horsemen; 1Ch 19:18