שמואל ב 10
| ויהי אחרי כן וימת מלך בני עמון וימלך חנון בנו תחתיו | 1 |
Some time later, the king of the Ammon people-group died, and his son Hanun became their king.
| ויאמר דוד אעשה חסד עם חנון בן נחש כאשר עשה אביו עמדי חסד וישלח דוד לנחמו ביד עבדיו אל אביו ויבאו עבדי דוד ארץ בני עמון | 2 |
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,
| ויאמרו שרי בני עמון אל חנון אדניהם המכבד דוד את אביך בעיניך--כי שלח לך מנחמים הלוא בעבור חקר את העיר ולרגלה ולהפכה שלח דוד את עבדיו אליך | 3 |
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!”
| ויקח חנון את עבדי דוד ויגלח את חצי זקנם ויכרת את מדויהם בחצי עד שתותיהם וישלחם | 4 |
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.
| ויגדו לדוד וישלח לקראתם כי היו האנשים נכלמים מאד ויאמר המלך שבו בירחו עד יצמח זקנכם ושבתם | 5 |
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.”
| ויראו בני עמון כי נבאשו בדוד וישלחו בני עמון וישכרו את ארם בית רחוב ואת ארם צובא עשרים אלף רגלי ואת מלך מעכה אלף איש ואיש טוב שנים עשר אלף איש | 6 |
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].
| וישמע דוד וישלח את יואב ואת כל הצבא הגברים | 7 |
When David heard about that, he sent Joab with all of the army [that Joab commanded], to fight against them.
| ויצאו בני עמון ויערכו מלחמה פתח השער וארם צובא ורחוב ואיש טוב ומעכה לבדם בשדה | 8 |
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.
| וירא יואב כי היתה אליו פני המלחמה מפנים ומאחור ויבחר מכל בחורי בישראל (ישראל) ויערך לקראת ארם | 9 |
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.
| ואת יתר העם נתן ביד אבשי אחיו ויערך לקראת בני עמון | 10 |
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.
| ויאמר אם תחזק ארם ממני--והיתה לי לישועה ואם בני עמון יחזקו ממך והלכתי להושיע לך | 11 |
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.
| חזק ונתחזק בעד עמנו ובעד ערי אלהינו ויהוה יעשה הטוב בעיניו | 12 |
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.”
| ויגש יואב והעם אשר עמו למלחמה בארם וינסו מפניו | 13 |
So Joab and his army [advanced to] attack the army of Syria, and the soldiers from Syria ran away from them.
| ובני עמון ראו כי נס ארם וינסו מפני אבישי ויבאו העיר וישב יואב מעל בני עמון ויבא ירושלם | 14 |
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.
| וירא ארם כי נגף לפני ישראל ויאספו יחד | 15 |
After [the leaders of] the army of Syria saw that the Israeli army had defeated them, they gathered all their troops together.
| וישלח הדדעזר ויצא את ארם אשר מעבר הנהר ויבאו חילם ושובך שר צבא הדדעזר לפניהם | 16 |
[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.
| ויגד לדוד ויאסף את כל ישראל ויעבר את הירדן ויבא חלאמה ויערכו ארם לקראת דוד וילחמו עמו | 17 |
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.
| וינס ארם מפני ישראל ויהרג דוד מארם שבע מאות רכב וארבעים אלף פרשים ואת שובך שר צבאו הכה וימת שם | 18 |
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.
| ויראו כל המלכים עבדי הדדעזר כי נגפו לפני ישראל וישלמו את ישראל ויעבדום ויראו ארם להושיע עוד את בני עמון | 19 |
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.
