Chronological Plan

¹Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.

²Then David said, “I’ll show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent his emissaries to console Hanun concerning his father. However, when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites,

³the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun their lord, “Just because David has sent men with condolences for you, do you really believe he’s showing respect for your father? Instead, hasn’t David sent his emissaries in order to scout out the city, spy on it, and demolish it?”

⁴So Hanun took David’s emissaries, shaved off half their beards, cut their clothes in half at the hips, and sent them away.

⁵When this was reported to David, he sent someone to meet them, since they were deeply humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back; then return.”

⁶When the Ammonites realized they had become repulsive to David, they hired twenty thousand foot soldiers from the Arameans of Beth-rehob and Zobah, one thousand men from the king of Maacah, and twelve thousand men from Tob.

⁷David heard about it and sent Joab and all the elite troops.

⁸The Ammonites marched out and lined up in battle formation at the entrance to the city gate while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were in the field by themselves.

⁹When Joab saw that there was a battle line in front of him and another behind him, he chose some of Israel’s finest young men and lined up in formation to engage the Arameans.

¹⁰He placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai. They lined up in formation to engage the Ammonites.

¹¹“If the Arameans are too strong for me,” Joab said, “then you will be my help. However, if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I’ll come to help you.

¹²Be strong! Let’s prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD’s will be done.”

¹³Joab and his troops advanced to fight against the Arameans, and they fled before him.

¹⁴When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai and entered the city. So Joab withdrew from the attack against the Ammonites and went to Jerusalem.

¹⁵When the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they regrouped.

¹⁶Hadadezer sent messengers to bring the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to Helam with Shobach, commander of Hadadezer’s army, leading them.

¹⁷When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and went to Helam. Then the Arameans lined up to engage David in battle and fought against him.

¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach commander of their army, who died there.

¹⁹When all the kings who were Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became their subjects. After this, the Arameans were afraid to ever help the Ammonites again.

¹Some time later, King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son became king in his place.

²Then David said, “I’ll show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. However, when David’s emissaries arrived in the land of the Ammonites to console him,

³the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, “Just because David has sent men with condolences for you, do you really believe he’s showing respect for your father? Instead, haven’t his emissaries come in order to scout out, overthrow, and spy on the land?”

⁴So Hanun took David’s emissaries, shaved them, cut their clothes in half at the hips, and sent them away.

⁵It was reported to David about his men, so he sent messengers to meet them, since the men were deeply humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back; then return.”

⁶When the Ammonites realized they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent thirty-eight tons of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.

⁷They hired thirty-two thousand chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and camped near Medeba. The Ammonites also came together from their cities for the battle.

⁸David heard about this and sent Joab and all the elite troops.

⁹The Ammonites marched out and lined up in battle formation at the entrance of the city while the kings who had come were in the field by themselves.

¹⁰When Joab saw that there was a battle line in front of him and another behind him, he chose some of Israel’s finest young men and lined up in formation to engage the Arameans.

¹¹He placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai. They lined up in formation to engage the Ammonites.

¹²“If the Arameans are too strong for me,” Joab said, “then you’ll be my help. However, if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I’ll help you.

¹³Be strong! Let’s prove ourselves strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD’s will be done.”

¹⁴Joab and the people with him approached the Arameans for battle, and they fled before him.

¹⁵When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they likewise fled before Joab’s brother Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab went to Jerusalem.

¹⁶When the Arameans realized that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers to summon the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates River. They were led by Shophach, the commander of Hadadezer’s army.

¹⁷When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan. He came up to the Arameans and lined up against them. When David lined up to engage them, they fought against him.

¹⁸But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed seven thousand of their charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers. He also killed Shophach, commander of the army.

¹⁹When Hadadezer’s subjects saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his subjects. After this, the Arameans were never willing to help the Ammonites again.