2 Samuel 12:26-31
Legacy Standard Bible
Joab Fights Ammon
26 (A)Then Joab fought against (B)Rabbah of the sons of Ammon and captured the royal city. 27 And Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah, I have even captured the city of waters. 28 So now, gather the rest of the people together and camp against the city and capture it, lest I capture the city myself and it be named after me.” 29 So David gathered all the people and went to Rabbah, fought against it and captured it. 30 Then (C)he took the crown of [a]their king from his head; and its weight was a [b]talent of gold, and in it [c]was a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought out the spoil of the city in a very great amount. 31 He also brought out the people who were in it and (D)set them up with saws, sharp iron instruments, and iron axes, and made them pass through the brickkiln. And thus he used to do to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
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- 2 Samuel 12:30 Or Malcam, cf. Zeph 1:5
- 2 Samuel 12:30 A talent was approx. 75 lb. or 34 kg
- 2 Samuel 12:30 Or were precious stones
2 Samuel 12:26-31
New English Translation
David’s Forces Defeat the Ammonites
26 [a] So Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal city. 27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured the water supply of the city.[b] 28 So now assemble the rest of the army[c] and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will capture the city and it will be named for me.”
29 So David assembled all the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it. 30 He took the crown of their king[d] from his head—it was gold, weighed about seventy-five pounds,[e] and held a precious stone—and it was placed on David’s head. He also took from the city a great deal of plunder. 31 He removed[f] the people who were in it and made them labor with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, putting them to work[g] at the brick kiln. This was his policy[h] with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.
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- 2 Samuel 12:26 sn Here the narrative resumes the battle story that began in 11:1 (see 11:25). The author has interrupted that story to give the related account of David’s sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. He now returns to the earlier story and brings it to a conclusion.
- 2 Samuel 12:27 sn The expression translated the water supply of the city (Heb “the city of the waters”) apparently refers to that part of the fortified city that guarded the water supply of the entire city. Joab had already captured this part of the city, but he now defers to King David for the capture of the rest of the city. In this way the king will receive the credit for this achievement.
- 2 Samuel 12:28 tn Heb “people.” So also in vv. 29, 31.
- 2 Samuel 12:30 tn Part of the Greek tradition wrongly understands Hebrew מַלְכָּם (malkam, “their king”) as a proper name (“Milcom”). Some English versions follow the Greek here, rendering the phrase “the crown of Milcom” (so NRSV; cf. also NAB, CEV). TEV takes this as a reference not to the Ammonite king but to “the idol of the Ammonite god Molech.”
- 2 Samuel 12:30 tn Heb “and its weight [was] a talent of gold.” The weight of this ornamental crown was approximately 75 lbs (34 kg). See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 313.
- 2 Samuel 12:31 tn Heb “brought out.”
- 2 Samuel 12:31 tnHeb “to pass through.”
- 2 Samuel 12:31 tn Heb “and so he would do.”
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