2Samuel 10

David Defeats the Ammonites

10Some time after this, King Nahash

of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king.H310H4428H1121H5983H4191H2586H1121H44272David said, "I am going to show loyalty to Hanun just as his father, Nahash, was always loyal to me." So David sent ambassadors to express sympathy to Hanun about his father's death. But when David's ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon,H559H1732H6213H2617H2586H1121H5176H1H6213H2617H1732H7971H5162H3027H5650H1H1732H5650H935H776H1121H59833the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, their master, "Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the city so they can come in and conquer it!"H8269H1121H5983H559H2586H113H5869H1732H3513H1H7971H5162H1732H7971H5650H5668H2713H5892H7270H20154So Hanun seized David's ambassadors and shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame.H2586H3947H1732H5650H1548H2677H2206H3772H4063H2677H8357H79715When David heard what had happened, he sent messengers to tell the men, "Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out, and then come back." For they felt deep shame because of their appearance.H5046H1732H7971H7125H582H3966H3637H4428H559H3427H3405H2206H6779H77256When the people of Ammon realized how seriously they had angered David, they sent and hired 20,000 Aramean foot soldiers from the lands of Beth-rehob and Zobah, 1,000 from the king of Maacah, and 12,000 from the land of Tob.H1121H5983H7200H887H1732H1121H5983H7971H7936H758H1050H758H6678H6242H505H7273H4428H4601H505H376H382H6240H8147H505H3767When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all his warriors to fight them.H1732H8085H7971H3097H6635H13688The Ammonite troops came out and drew up their battle lines at the entrance of the city gate, while the Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the men from Tob and Maacah positioned themselves to fight in the open fields.H1121H5983H3318H4421H6186H6607H8179H758H6678H7340H382H4601H905H77049When Joab saw that he would have to fight on both the front and the rear, he chose some of Israel's elite troops and placed them under his personal command to fight the Arameans in the fields.H3097H7200H6440H4421H6440H268H977H977H3478H6186H7125H75810He left the rest of the army under the command of his brother Abishai, who was to attack the Ammonites.H3499H5971H5414H3027H52H251H6186H7125H1121H598311"If the Arameans are too strong for me, then come over and help me," Joab told his brother. "And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you.H559H758H2388H3444H1121H5983H2388H1980H346712Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the LORD's will be done."H2388H2388H5971H5892H430H3068H6213H5869H289613When Joab and his troops attacked, the Arameans began to run away.H3097H5066H5971H4421H758H5127H644014And when the Ammonites saw the Arameans running, they ran from Abishai and retreated into the city. After the battle was over, Joab returned to Jerusalem.H1121H5983H7200H758H5127H5127H6440H52H935H5892H3097H7725H1121H5983H935H338915The Arameans now realized that they were no match for Israel. So when they regrouped,H758H7200H5062H6440H3478H622H316216they were joined by additional Aramean troops summoned by Hadadezer from the other side of the Euphrates River

. These troops arrived at Helam under the command of Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer's forces.H1928H7971H3318H758H5676H5104H935H2431H7731H8269H6635H1928H644017When David heard what was happening, he mobilized all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and led the army to Helam. The Arameans positioned themselves in battle formation and fought against David.H5046H1732H622H3478H622H5674H3383H935H2431H758H6186H7125H1732H389818But again the Arameans fled from the Israelites. This time David's forces killed 700 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers

, including Shobach, the commander of their army.H758H5127H6440H3478H1732H2026H7651H3967H7393H758H705H505H6571H5221H7731H8269H6635H419119When all the kings allied with Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they surrendered to Israel and became their subjects. After that, the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites.H4428H5650H1928H7200H5062H6440H3478H7999H3478H5647H758H3372H3467H1121H5983