Chronological

Chapter 10

Insult of the Ammonites. ¹ Sometime afterward the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. ² David thought: “I will show Hanun, the son of Nahash, the same loyalty that his father showed to me.” Then David sent a delegation to console him at the loss of his father.

When David’s envoys entered the country of the Ammonites, ³ the Ammonite princes said to their lord Hanun: “Do you truly believe that David means to honor your father just because he has sent envoys to express their condolences to you? Is it not far more likely that he has sent them to be spies so that they may explore and reconnoiter the city and thus be better prepared to overthrow it?”

⁴ Thereupon Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of their beards, cut away the lower half of their garments up to their hips, and then sent them away.^{[a] 5} When David was informed about how they had been treated, he sent messengers to meet them, for they were greatly humiliated, and to instruct them: “Remain in Jericho until your beards have grown again, and then return.”

Ammonites Defeated. ⁶ When the Ammonites realized that they had greatly offended David, they sent envoys to hire the Arameans of Beth-rehob and the Arameans of Zobah to come to their support, twenty thousand foot soldiers in number, as well as one thousand men from the king of Maacah, and twelve thousand men from Tob.

⁷ When David learned about this, he sent out Joab with his entire force of trained warriors. ⁸ The Ammonites then came forth 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 Maacah stayed some distance away in the open country.

⁹ When Joab perceived that he would be attacked both from the front and from the rear, he chose the best of the troops of Israel and arrayed them against the Arameans. ¹⁰ He put the rest of his forces in charge of his brother Abishai and arrayed them against the Ammonites.

¹¹ Then Joab said: “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you must come to my aid. However, if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to help you. ¹² Be brave! Let us fight courageously for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he judges to be best.”

¹³ Then Joab and the soldiers with him moved forward into battle against the Arameans and put them to flight. ¹⁴ When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they likewise fled when they were confronted by Abishai and withdrew into the city. Then Joab ceased his attack against the Ammonites and withdrew to Jerusalem.

¹⁵ Arameans Defeated. When the Arameans realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered their forces together. ¹⁶ Hadadezer sent messengers to summon other Arameans who lived beyond the Euphrates, and they came to Helam, with Shobach, the commander of the army of Hadadezer, at their head.

¹⁷ When David was informed of this, he assembled all of the forces of Israel, crossed the Jordan, and advanced to Helam. The Arameans then drew up in battle formation against David and fought with him. ¹⁸ However, they were compelled to flee from the Israelite forces. David’s men killed seven hundred Arameans in chariots and forty thousand foot soldiers. In addition, Sho-bach, the general of their army, was seriously wounded, and he died on the battlefield.

¹⁹ When all of the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they sued for peace with the Israelites and became their subjects. As a result, the Arameans were afraid to give any further help to the Ammonites.

Chapter 19

David’s Battles with the Ammonites. ¹ Sometime after this, Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, died, and his son reigned in his stead. ² David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun, the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent emissaries to console him with regard to his father. David’s servants came to the land of Ammon, to console Hanun.

³ The Ammonite nobles said to Hanun, “Do you really think that David is honoring your father by sending men to console you? Do you not see that David has sent his servants to overthrow you and to spy out the land?” ⁴ Hanun, therefore, seized David’s servants, shaving them and cutting their garments up to their hips. He then sent them away.

⁵ Some men came in and told David about what had happened to the men, so he sent someone to meet them, for the men were terribly embarrassed. The king told them, “Wait at Jericho until your beards grow back, and then return.”

⁶ The Ammonites realized that they had become abhorrent to David, so Hanun and the Ammonites sent one thousand talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, Aram, and Zobah. ⁷ They hired thirty-two thousand chariots for themselves along with the king of Maacah and his people. They came and camped in front of Medeba. The Ammonites also assembled from out of their cities and went out to fight.

⁸ David heard about this, so he sent Joab and his army of brave warriors out. ⁹ The Ammonites came and arranged themselves in battle line at the gate to the city while the kings who had come with them stood in the fields by themselves.

¹⁰ Joab saw that they were arranged in battle line both in front of him and behind him, so he chose some of the best men in Israel and placed them up against the Arameans. ¹¹ He placed the rest of the people under the command of Abishai, his brother, and they lined up against the Ammonites. ¹² He said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you. ¹³ Be brave and let us be strong for our people and the cities of God. May the Lord do what he judges to be right.”

¹⁴ Joab and the people who were with him drew up to fight against the Arameans, and they fled before him. ¹⁵ When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai, his brother. They went into the city, and Joab returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ When the Arameans realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers to summon the Arameans who lived beyond the river. Shophach, the commander of Hadadezer’s army, led them.

¹⁷ When David was told, he gathered all of Israel together and crossed over the Jordan. He came upon them and lined up for battle against them. David set up his troops, and they fought against him.

¹⁸ The Arameans fled from before David, and he slew seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also killed Shophach, the commander of the army.

¹⁹ When Hadadezer’s servants saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his vassals. The Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.

Psalm 20^[a]

Prayer in Praise of the Messiah King

¹ For the director.^[b] A psalm of David.