2 Samuel 10
1 And it comes to pass afterward, that the king of the sons of Ammon dies, and his son Hanun reigns in his stead,
Sometime after this, Nahash, the Ammonite king died and his son Hanun succeeded him.
2 and David says, “I do kindness with Hanun son of Nahash, as his father did kindness with me”; and David sends to comfort him by the hand of his servants concerning his father, and the servants of David come into the land of the sons of Ammon.
David said, “I will be kind to Hanun, son of Nahash, just as his father was kind to me.” So David sent representatives to take his condolences to Hanun regarding his father. But when they arrived in the country of the Ammonites,
3 And the heads of the sons of Ammon say to their lord Hanun, “Is David honoring your father in your eyes because he has sent comforters to you? For has David not sent his servants to you to search the city, and to spy it, and to overthrow it?”
the Ammonite military leaders said to Hanun their king, “Do you really believe David sent condolences to you out of respect for your father? Isn't it more likely that David sent his representatives to scout out the city, spy on it, and then conquer it?”
4 And Hanun takes the servants of David, and shaves off the half of their beard, and cuts off their long robes in the midst—to their buttocks, and sends them away;
So Hanun had David's representatives detained, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their clothes at the buttocks, and then sent them back home.
5 and they declare [it] to David, and he sends to meet them, for the men have been greatly ashamed, and the king says, “Abide in Jericho until your beard springs up—then you have returned.”
When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet them, because they were very embarrassed. The king instructed them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have re-grown, and then you can return.”
6 And the sons of Ammon see that they have been abhorred by David, and the sons of Ammon send and hire Aram of Beth-Rehob, and Aram of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah [with] one thousand men, and Ish-Tob [with] twelve thousand men;
When the Ammonites realized they had become like a bad smell to David, they sent a request to the Arameans and hired twenty thousand of their foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as one thousand men from the king of Maakah, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.
7 and David hears, and sends Joab, and all the host—the mighty men.
When David learned of this, he sent Joab and the entire army to confront them.
8 And the sons of Ammon come out, and set in array [for] battle, at the opening of the gate, and Aram of Zoba, and Rehob, and Ish-Tob, and Maacah, [are] by themselves in the field;
The Ammonites set up their battle lines near the entrance to their town gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah took up positions by themselves in the open fields.
9 and Joab sees that the front of the battle has been to him before and behind, and he chooses [out] of all the chosen in Israel, and sets in array to meet Aram,
Joab realized he would have to fight both in front of him and behind him, he chose some of Israel's best troops and he took charge of them to lead the attack the Arameans.
10 and he has given the rest of the people into the hand of his brother Abishai, and sets in array to meet the sons of Ammon.
He put the rest of the army under the command of Abishai, his brother. They were to attack the Ammonites.
11 And he says, “If Aram is stronger than I, then you have been for salvation to me, and if the sons of Ammon are stronger than you, then I have come to give salvation to you;
Joab told him, “If the Arameans are stronger than me, you come and help me. If the Ammonites are stronger than you, I'll come and help you.
12 be strong and strengthen yourself for our people, and for the cities of our God, and YHWH does that which is good in His eyes.”
Be brave, and fight your best for our people and the towns of our God. May the Lord do what he sees as good!”
13 And Joab draws near, and the people who [are] with him, to battle against Aram, and they flee from his presence;
Joab attacked the Arameans with his forces and they ran away from him.
14 and the sons of Ammon have seen that Aram has fled, and they flee from the presence of Abishai, and go into the city; and Joab turns back from the sons of Ammon, and comes to Jerusalem.
When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had run away, they also ran away from Abishai, and retreated into the town. So Joab went back to Jerusalem after fighting the Ammonites.
15 And Aram sees that it is struck before Israel, and they are gathered together;
As soon as the Arameans saw they had been defeated by the Israelites they reassembled their forces.
16 and Hadadezer sends, and brings out Aram which [is] beyond the River, and they come to Helam, and Shobach, head of the host of Hadadezer, [is] before them.
Hadadezer sent for more Arameans to be brought from beyond the Euphrates River. They arrived in Helam under the leadership of Shobach, commander of Hadadezer's army.
17 And it is declared to David, and he gathers all Israel, and passes over the Jordan, and comes to Helam, and Aram sets itself in array to meet David, and they fight with him;
When this was reported to David, he assembled all Israel together. He crossed the Jordan and advanced on Helam. The Arameans positioned themselves in battle line against David and fought him.
18 and Aram flees from the presence of Israel, and David slays seven hundred charioteers and forty thousand horsemen of Aram, and he has struck Shobach, [the] head of its host, and he dies there.
But the Aramean army ran away from the Israelites, and David killed 700 charioteers and 40,000 infantry. He also attacked Shobach, their army commander, and he died there.
19 And all the kings—servants of Hadadezer—see that they have been struck before Israel, and make peace with Israel, and serve them; and Aram is afraid to help the sons of Ammon anymore.
When all the kings allied with Hadadezer realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. As a result, the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites any more.
