Βασιλειῶν Βʹ 10
1 καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἀπέθανεν βασιλεὺς υἱῶν Αμμων καὶ ἐβασίλευσεν Αννων υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἀντ’ αὐτοῦ
Sometime after this, Nahash, the Ammonite king died and his son Hanun succeeded him.
2 καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ ποιήσω ἔλεος μετὰ Αννων υἱοῦ Ναας ὃν τρόπον ἐποίησεν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ μετ’ ἐμοῦ ἔλεος καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Δαυιδ παρακαλέσαι αὐτὸν ἐν χειρὶ τῶν δούλων αὐτοῦ περὶ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ παρεγένοντο οἱ παῖδες Δαυιδ εἰς τὴν γῆν υἱῶν Αμμων
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 καὶ εἶπον οἱ ἄρχοντες υἱῶν Αμμων πρὸς Αννων τὸν κύριον αὐτῶν μὴ παρὰ τὸ δοξάζειν Δαυιδ τὸν πατέρα σου ἐνώπιόν σου ὅτι ἀπέστειλέν σοι παρακαλοῦντας ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ ὅπως ἐρευνήσωσιν τὴν πόλιν καὶ κατασκοπήσωσιν αὐτὴν καὶ τοῦ κατασκέψασθαι αὐτὴν ἀπέστειλεν Δαυιδ τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ πρὸς σέ
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 καὶ ἔλαβεν Αννων τοὺς παῖδας Δαυιδ καὶ ἐξύρησεν τοὺς πώγωνας αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπέκοψεν τοὺς μανδύας αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ ἡμίσει ἕως τῶν ἰσχίων αὐτῶν καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτούς
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 καὶ ἀνήγγειλαν τῷ Δαυιδ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ ἀπέστειλεν εἰς ἀπαντὴν αὐτῶν ὅτι ἦσαν οἱ ἄνδρες ἠτιμασμένοι σφόδρα καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς καθίσατε ἐν Ιεριχω ἕως τοῦ ἀνατεῖλαι τοὺς πώγωνας ὑμῶν καὶ ἐπιστραφήσεσθε
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 καὶ εἶδαν οἱ υἱοὶ Αμμων ὅτι κατῃσχύνθησαν ὁ λαὸς Δαυιδ καὶ ἀπέστειλαν οἱ υἱοὶ Αμμων καὶ ἐμισθώσαντο τὴν Συρίαν Βαιθροωβ εἴκοσι χιλιάδας πεζῶν καὶ τὸν βασιλέα Μααχα χιλίους ἄνδρας καὶ Ιστωβ δώδεκα χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν
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 καὶ ἤκουσεν Δαυιδ καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τὸν Ιωαβ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν τοὺς δυνατούς
When David learned of this, he sent Joab and the entire army to confront them.
8 καὶ ἐξῆλθαν οἱ υἱοὶ Αμμων καὶ παρετάξαντο πόλεμον παρὰ τῇ θύρᾳ τῆς πύλης καὶ Συρία Σουβα καὶ Ροωβ καὶ Ιστωβ καὶ Μααχα μόνοι ἐν ἀγρῷ
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 καὶ εἶδεν Ιωαβ ὅτι ἐγενήθη πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀντιπρόσωπον τοῦ πολέμου ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ πρόσωπον ἐξ ἐναντίας καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ὄπισθεν καὶ ἐπέλεξεν ἐκ πάντων τῶν νεανίσκων Ισραηλ καὶ παρετάξαντο ἐξ ἐναντίας Συρίας
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 καὶ τὸ κατάλοιπον τοῦ λαοῦ ἔδωκεν ἐν χειρὶ Αβεσσα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ παρετάξαντο ἐξ ἐναντίας υἱῶν Αμμων
He put the rest of the army under the command of Abishai, his brother. They were to attack the Ammonites.
11 καὶ εἶπεν ἐὰν κραταιωθῇ Συρία ὑπὲρ ἐμέ καὶ ἔσεσθέ μοι εἰς σωτηρίαν καὶ ἐὰν υἱοὶ Αμμων κραταιωθῶσιν ὑπὲρ σέ καὶ ἐσόμεθα τοῦ σῶσαί σε
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 ἀνδρίζου καὶ κραταιωθῶμεν ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ περὶ τῶν πόλεων τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ κύριος ποιήσει τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ
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 καὶ προσῆλθεν Ιωαβ καὶ ὁ λαὸς αὐτοῦ μετ’ αὐτοῦ εἰς πόλεμον πρὸς Συρίαν καὶ ἔφυγαν ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ
Joab attacked the Arameans with his forces and they ran away from him.
14 καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Αμμων εἶδαν ὅτι ἔφυγεν Συρία καὶ ἔφυγαν ἀπὸ προσώπου Αβεσσα καὶ εἰσῆλθαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν καὶ ἀνέστρεψεν Ιωαβ ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν Αμμων καὶ παρεγένοντο εἰς Ιερουσαλημ
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 καὶ εἶδεν Συρία ὅτι ἔπταισεν ἔμπροσθεν Ισραηλ καὶ συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό
As soon as the Arameans saw they had been defeated by the Israelites they reassembled their forces.
16 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Αδρααζαρ καὶ συνήγαγεν τὴν Συρίαν τὴν ἐκ τοῦ πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ Χαλαμακ καὶ παρεγένοντο Αιλαμ καὶ Σωβακ ἄρχων τῆς δυνάμεως Αδρααζαρ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν
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 καὶ ἀνηγγέλη τῷ Δαυιδ καὶ συνήγαγεν τὸν πάντα Ισραηλ καὶ διέβη τὸν Ιορδάνην καὶ παρεγένοντο εἰς Αιλαμ καὶ παρετάξατο Συρία ἀπέναντι Δαυιδ καὶ ἐπολέμησαν μετ’ αὐτοῦ
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 καὶ ἔφυγεν Συρία ἀπὸ προσώπου Ισραηλ καὶ ἀνεῖλεν Δαυιδ ἐκ τῆς Συρίας ἑπτακόσια ἅρματα καὶ τεσσαράκοντα χιλιάδας ἱππέων καὶ τὸν Σωβακ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ ἐπάταξεν καὶ ἀπέθανεν ἐκεῖ
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 καὶ εἶδαν πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς οἱ δοῦλοι Αδρααζαρ ὅτι ἔπταισαν ἔμπροσθεν Ισραηλ καὶ ηὐτομόλησαν μετὰ Ισραηλ καὶ ἐδούλευσαν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐφοβήθη Συρία τοῦ σῶσαι ἔτι τοὺς υἱοὺς Αμμων
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.
