2 Samuel 10

1 And it came to pass, after this, that the king of the sons of Ammon died, —and that Hanun his son reigned in his stead.

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

2 Then said David—I will shew lovingkindness unto Hanun son of Nahash, as his father shewed, unto me, lovingkindness. So David sent to comfort him, by the hand of his servants, as to his father, —and the servants of David came 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 Then said the rulers of the sons of Ammon unto Hanun their lord—Is David honouring thy father, in thine eyes, that he hath sent unto thee comforters? Is it not, for the sake of exploring the city, and spying it out, and overthrowing it, that David hath sent his servants unto thee?

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 Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off half their beards, and cut off their upper garments in the middle, as far as their buttocks, —and let them go.

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, when they told David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed, —and the king said—Tarry at Jericho, until your beards be grown, then shall ye return.

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, when the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious with David, the sons of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zoba—twenty thousand footmen, and of king Maacah—a thousand men, and men of Tob—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, when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of heroes,

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 came out, and set in array for battle, at the entrance of the gate, —whereas, the Syrians of Zoba, and of Rehob, and the men of Tob and of Maacah, were 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, when Joab saw that the front of the battle was towards him, before and behind, he chose out of all the chosen men of Israel, and set them in array against the Syrians;

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 while, the rest of the people, he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother, —and set [them] in array against 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 said—If the Syrians be too strong for me, then shalt thou become my deliverance, —but, if, the sons of Ammon, be too strong for thee, then will I come with deliverance to thee.

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 let us put forth our strength, for the sake of our people, and for the sake of the cities of our God, —and, Yahweh, do what is good in his own 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 drew nigh, and the people that were with him, to fight against the Syrians, —and they fled before him.

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

14 And, when, the sons of Ammon, saw that the Syrians had fled, then fled they before Abishai, and entered the city, —so Joab returned from the sons of Ammon, and entered 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, when the Syrians saw that they were defeated before Israel, they gathered themselves 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 sent and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the River, and they entered Helam, —Shobach the prince of the host of Hadadezer being 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, when it was told David, he gathered together all Israel, and passed over the Jordan, and entered Helam, —and the Syrians set themselves in array to meet David, and fought 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 Then fled the Syrians before Israel, and David slew of the Syrians seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen, —Shobach also, prince of their host, smote he, that he died, 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, when all the kings who were servants to Hadadezer saw that they were defeated before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them, —and the Syrians feared to give help any more unto the sons of Ammon.

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.