2 Kings 10
10
1And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanon his son reigned in his stead.
2And David said: I will shew kindness to Hanon the son of Daas, as his father shewed kindness to me. So David sent his servants to comfort him for the death of his father. But when the servants of David were come into the land of the children of Ammon,
3The princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanon their lord: Thinkest thou that for the honour of thy father David hath sent comforters to thee; and hath not David rather sent his servants to thee to search, and spy into the city, and overthrow it?
4Wherefore Hanon took the servants of David, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut away half of their garments even to the buttocks, and sent them away.
5When this was told David, he sent to meet them. For the men were sadly put to confusion, and David commanded them, saying: Stay at Jericho, till your beards be grown, and then return.
6And the children of Ammon, seeing that they had done an injury to David, sent and hired the Syrians of Rohob, and the Syrians of Soba, twenty thousand footmen, and of the king of Maacha a thousand men, and of Istob twelve thousand men.
7And when David heard this, he sent Joab and the whole army of warriors.
8And the children of Ammon came out, and set their men in array at the entering in of the gate: but the Syrians of Soba, and of Rohob, and of Istob, and of Maacha were by themselves in the field.
9Then Joab seeing that the battle was prepared against him, both before and behind, chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.
10And the rest of the people he delivered to Abisai his brother, who set them in array against the children of Ammon.
11And Joab said: If the Syrians are too strong for me, then thou shalt help me. But if the children of Ammon are too strong for thee, then I will help thee.
12Be of good courage, and let us fight for our people, and for the city of our God: and the Lord will do what is good in his sight.
13And Joab and the people that were with him began to fight against the Syrians: and they immediately fled before him.
14And the children of Ammon seeing that the Syrians were fled, they fled also before Abisai, and entered into the city. And Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
15Then the Syrians seeing that they had fallen before Israel gathered themselves together.
16And Adarezer sent and fetched the Syrians, that were beyond the river, and brought over their army. And Sobach, the captain of the host of Adarezer, was their general.
17And when this was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and passed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David and fought against him.
18And the Syrians fled before Israel. And David slew of the Syrians the men of seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen: and smote Sobach the captain of the army, who presently died.
19And all the kings that were auxiliaries of Adarezer, seeing themselves overcome by Israel, were afraid and fled away, eight and fifty thousand men before Israel. And they made peace with Israel: and served them; and all the Syrians were afraid to help the children of Ammon any more.
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2 Kings 10: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
2 Samuel 10
10
Hanun Shames David’s Men
1Later King Nahash of the Ammonites died. His son Hanun became the new king after him. 2David said, “Nahash was kind to me, so I will be kind to his son Hanun.” So David sent his officers to comfort Hanun about his father’s death.
David’s officers went to the land of the Ammonites. 3But the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, their lord, “Do you think that David is trying to honor your father by sending some men to comfort you? No, David sent these men to spy on your city. They plan to make war against you.”
4So Hanun took David’s officers and shaved off one half of their beards. He cut off their clothes at the hips. Then he sent them away.
5When the people told David, he sent messengers to meet his officers. He did this because these men were very ashamed. King David said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards grow again. Then come back home.”
War Against the Ammonites
6The Ammonites saw that they had become David’s enemies, so they hired Arameans from Beth Rehob and Zobah. There were 20,000 Aramean foot soldiers. The Ammonites also hired the king of Maacah with 1000 men and 12,000 men from Tob.
7David heard about this, so he sent Joab and the whole army of powerful men. 8The Ammonites came out and got ready for the battle. They stood at the city gate. The Arameans from Zobah and Rehob and the men from Tob and Maacah did not stand together with the Ammonites in the field.
9Joab saw that there were enemies in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best Israelite soldiers and lined them up for battle against the Arameans. 10Then Joab gave the other men to his brother Abishai to lead against the Ammonites. 11Joab said to Abishai, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, you will help me. If the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you. 12Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and for the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he decides is right.”
13Then Joab and his men attacked the Arameans. The Arameans ran away from Joab and his men. 14The Ammonites saw that the Arameans were running away, so they ran away from Abishai and went back to their city.
So Joab came back from the battle with the Ammonites and went back to Jerusalem.
The Arameans Decide to Fight Again
15When the Arameans saw that the Israelites had defeated them, they came together into one big army. 16Hadadezer#10:16 Hadadezer The ancient Greek version has “Hadarezer.” Also in verse 19. sent messengers to bring the Arameans who lived on the other side of the Euphrates River. These Arameans came to Helam. Their leader was Shobach, the captain of Hadadezer’s army.
17When David heard about this, he gathered all the Israelites together. They crossed over the Jordan River and went to Helam.
There the Arameans prepared for battle and attacked, 18but David defeated them, and they ran from the Israelites. David killed 700 chariot drivers and 40,000 horse soldiers as well as Shobach, the captain of the Aramean army.
19The kings who served Hadadezer saw that the Israelites had defeated them, so they made peace with the Israelites and became their servants. The Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites again.
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