Historical

David’s Successes^(A)

18 After this, David defeated and crushed the Philistines. He took Gath and its surrounding villages from them.

² He also defeated Moab, and the Moabites became David’s subjects and paid taxes to him.

³ When David went to establish his control over the territory along the Euphrates River, he defeated King Hadadezer at Hamath. ⁴ David took 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers from him. David also disabled all but 100 of their horses so that they couldn’t pull chariots.

⁵ When the Arameans from Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David killed 22,000 of them. ⁶ David put troops in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became his subjects and paid taxes to him. Everywhere David went, Yahweh gave him victories.

⁷ David took the gold shields that Hadadezer’s servants carried, and he brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸ David also took a large quantity of bronze from Tibhath and Cun, Hadadezer’s cities. (Later Solomon used it to make the pool, pillars, and utensils for the temple.)

⁹ When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Zobah’s King Hadadezer, ¹⁰ he sent his son Hadoram to greet King David and congratulate him for fighting and defeating Hadadezer. (There had often been war between Hadadezer and Tou.) ¹¹ King David dedicated all the articles of gold, silver, and bronze to Yahweh, along with the silver and gold he had taken from other nations—from Edom, Moab, Ammon, the Philistines, and Amalek.

¹² Zeruiah’s son Abishai killed 18,000 Edomites in the Dead Sea region. ¹³ He put troops in Edom, and all its people became David’s subjects. Everywhere David went, Yahweh gave him victories.

¹⁴ So David ruled all Israel. He did what was fair and right for all his people. ¹⁵ Zeruiah’s son Joab was in charge of the army. Ahilud’s son Jehoshaphat was the royal historian. ¹⁶ Ahitub’s son Zadok and Abiathar’s son Abimelech^[a] were priests. Shavsha was the royal scribe. ¹⁷ Jehoiada’s son Benaiah was commander of the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And David’s sons were his main officials.

David Defeats Ammon and Aram^(B)

19 Later King Nahash of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place. ² David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun because his father Nahash showed me kindness.” So David sent messengers to comfort Hanun after his father’s death. But when David’s servants entered Ammonite territory to comfort Hanun, ³ the Ammonite princes asked Hanun, “Do you think David is honoring your father because he sent men to comfort you? Haven’t his servants come to explore, destroy, and spy on the country?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s men, shaved them, cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away.

⁵ After people told David what had happened to the men, he sent someone to meet them because they were deeply humiliated. The king said to them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return to Jerusalem.”

⁶ The Ammonites realized that they had made themselves offensive to David. So Hanun and the Ammonites sent 75,000 pounds of silver to hire chariots and horses from the Arameans in Upper Mesopotamia, Maacah, and Zobah. ⁷ They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army. They camped near Medeba. The Ammonites gathered for the battle from their cities.

⁸ After David heard about this, he sent Joab and all the elite troops. ⁹ The Ammonites formed a battle line at the entrance of the city, while the Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the kings who had come remained by themselves in the open country.

¹⁰ When Joab saw he was under attack in front and behind, he took the select troops of Israel and organized them for combat against the Arameans. ¹¹ He put his brother Abishai in charge of the rest of the troops. They organized for combat against the Ammonites.

¹² Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for my troops, be ready to help me. And if the Ammonites are too strong for your troops, I’ll help you. ¹³ Be strong! Let’s prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our Elohim, and Yahweh will do what he considers right.”

¹⁴ Then Joab and his troops advanced to fight the Arameans, and the Arameans fled. ¹⁵ When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they, too, fled from Joab’s brother Abishai and went into the city. So Joab returned to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ Realizing that Israel had defeated them, the kings sent messengers to get other Arameans from beyond the Euphrates River. Shophach, the commander of Hadadezer’s army, led them.

¹⁷ When David was told about this, he assembled Israel’s army, crossed the Jordan, and confronted them. David formed a battle line against the Arameans, and they fought him. ¹⁸ The Arameans fled from Israel, and David killed 7,000 chariot drivers and 40,000 foot soldiers. David also killed Shophach. ¹⁹ When all the kings who were subject to Hadadezer saw that Israel had defeated them, they made peace with David and became his subjects. And the Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.

David Defeats the Philistines^(C)

20 In the spring, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led the army to war. They destroyed the Ammonites and came to Rabbah to attack it, while David stayed in Jerusalem. Joab defeated Rabbah and tore it down. ² He took the gold crown from the head of Rabbah’s king and put it on David’s head. (The crown was found to weigh 75 pounds, and in it was a precious stone.) David also took a lot of goods from the city. ³ He brought out the troops who were there and put them to work with saws, hoes, and axes.^[b] He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.

⁴ After this, war broke out with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibbecai from Hushah^[c] killed Sippai, a descendant of Haraphah, and the Philistines were defeated. ⁵ When more fighting broke out with the Philistines, Elhanan, son of Jair, killed Lahmi, the brother of Goliath from Gath. (The shaft of Lahmi’s spear was like a beam used by weavers.) ⁶ In another battle at Gath, there was a tall man who had 24 fingers and toes: six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He also was a descendant of Haraphah. ⁷ When he challenged Israel, Jonathan, son of David’s brother Shimea, killed him. ⁸ These men were the descendants of Haraphah from Gath, and David and his men killed them.