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,

Some time later, the king of the Ammon people-group died, and his son Hanun became their king.

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 thought, “Nahash was kind to me, so I will be kind to his son.” So David sent some officials there, to tell Hanun that David was sorry that Hanun’s father [had died]. When those messengers arrived in the land where the Ammon people-group lived,

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 leaders of the Ammon people-group said to Hanun, “Do you think that it is to honor your father that King David has sent these men to say that he is sorry that your father died [RHQ]? [We think that] he has sent them here to look around the city to determine how his [army] can conquer us!”

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;

Hanun [believed what they said; so he commanded some soldiers to] seize David’s officials and [insult them by] shaving off one side of each man’s beard, and [by] cutting off the lower part of their robes, [with the result that their buttocks could be seen], and then they sent them away.

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.”

The men were very humiliated/ashamed, [so they did not want to return home]. When David found out about what had happened to his officials, he sent someone to tell them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown again, and then return home.”

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;

Then [the leaders of] the Ammon people-group realized that they had greatly insulted [IDM] David [IDM]. So they sent some men to hire/pay some soldiers [from other nearby areas to help defend them]. They hired 20,000 soldiers from [the] Beth-Rehob and Zobah [regions northeast of Israel], and 12,000 soldiers from [the] Tob [region], and 1,000 soldiers from [the army of] the king of Maacah [region].

7 and David hears, and sends Joab, and all the host—the mighty men.

When David heard about that, he sent Joab with all of the army [that Joab commanded], to fight against 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 soldiers of the Ammon people-group marched out and (stood in their positions/arranged themselves for battle) at the entrance [to their capital city, Rabbah]. The other soldiers from Syria and Tob and Maacah stood by themselves (in their positions/arranged themselves for battle) in the nearby 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 saw that there were groups of enemy soldiers in front of his troops and behind his troops. So he chose some of the best Israeli soldiers, and put them in positions to fight against the soldiers of Syria.

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 appointed his [older] brother Abishai to be the commander of all the other soldiers, and he told them to (stand in their positions/arrange themselves) in front of [the army of] the Ammon people-group.

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;

Then Joab said, “If the soldiers from Syria are too strong for us to defeat them, your men must come and help us. But if the soldiers from the Ammon people-group are too strong for you to defeat, we will come and help your men.

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.”

We must be strong, and fight hard [IDM] to [defend] our people and the cities [(that belong to/where we worship)] our God. I will pray/request that Yahweh do what he considers to be good.”

13 And Joab draws near, and the people who [are] with him, to battle against Aram, and they flee from his presence;

So Joab and his army [advanced to] attack the army of Syria, and the soldiers from Syria ran away from them.

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.

And when [the soldiers of] the Ammon people-group saw that the soldiers from Syria were running away, they also started to run away from Abishai and his army, and they retreated back inside the city. So Joab’s [army] stopped fighting against [the army of] the Ammon people-group, and Joab [and his army] returned to Jerusalem.

15 And Aram sees that it is struck before Israel, and they are gathered together;

After [the leaders of] the army of Syria saw that the Israeli army had defeated them, they gathered all their troops together.

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.

[Their king, ] Hadadezer, summoned the soldiers of Syria who lived on the east side of the [Euphrates] River. They gathered at Helam [city]. Their commander was Shobach.

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 David heard about that, he gathered all the Israeli soldiers, and they crossed the Jordan [River] and marched to Helam. There, the army of Syria (took their positions/arranged themselves for battle), and the battle started.

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 soldiers of Syria ran away from the Israeli soldiers. David [and his army] killed 700 of their chariot-drivers and 40,000 other soldiers. They also wounded Shobach, their 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 who had been ruled by Hadadezer realized that they had been defeated by the Israeli [army], they made peace with the Israelis and agreed to accept David as their king. So [the army of] Syria was afraid to help [the army of] the Ammon people-group any more.