Font Size
2 Samuel 10
1599 Geneva Bible
2 Samuel 10
1599 Geneva Bible
10 4 The messengers of David are villainously entreated of the king of Ammon. 7 Joab is sent against the Ammonites.
1 After this, the (A)King of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.
2 Then said David, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father [a]showed kindness unto me. And David sent his servants to comfort him for his father. So David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.
3 And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, [b]Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, that he hath sent comforters to thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, [c]to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?
4 Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the half of their beard, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.
5 ¶ When it was told unto David, he sent to meet them (for the men were exceedingly ashamed) and the king said, Tarry at Jericho, until your beards be grown, then return.
6 ¶ And when the children of Ammon saw that they [d]stank in the sight of David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the [e]Aramites of the house of Rehob, and the Aramites of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and of king Maacah a thousand men, and of Ish-Tob twelve thousand men.
7 And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the strong men.
8 And the children of Ammon came out and put their army in array at the entering in of the gate: and the Aramites of [f]Zoba, and of Rehob, and of Ish-Tob, and of Maacah were by themselves in the field.
9 When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Aramites.
10 And the rest of the people, he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother, that he might put them in array against the children of Ammon.
11 And he said, If the Aramites be stronger than I, thou shalt help me, and if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, I will come and succor thee.
12 Be strong and let us be valiant for [g]our people, and for the cities of our God, and let the Lord do that which is good in his eyes.
13 Then Joab, and the people that was with him, joined in battle with the Aramites, who fled before him.
14 And when the children of Ammon saw that the Aramites fled, they fled also before Abishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
15 ¶ And when the Aramites saw that they were smitten before Israel, they gathered them together.
16 And [h]Hadarezer sent, and brought out the Aramites that were beyond the [i]River: and they came to Helam, and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadadezer went before them.
17 When it was showed David, then he gathered [j]all Israel together, and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam: and the Aramites set themselves in array against David, and fought with him:
18 And the Aramites fled before Israel: and David destroyed [k]seven hundred chariots of the Aramites, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of his host, who died there.
19 And when all the kings, that were servants to Hadadezer, saw that they fell before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them. and the Aramites feared to help the children of Ammon anymore.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 10:2 The children of God are not unmindful of a benefit received.
- 2 Samuel 10:3 Hebrew, in thine eyes doth David.
- 2 Samuel 10:3 Their arrogant malice would not suffer them to see the simplicity of David’s heart: therefore their counsel turned to the destruction of their country.
- 2 Samuel 10:6 That they had deserved David’s displeasure, for the injury done to his ambassadors.
- 2 Samuel 10:6 Or, Syrians.
- 2 Samuel 10:8 These were divers parts of the country of Syria, whereby appeareth that the Syrians served where they might have entertainment, as now the Sweitzers do.
- 2 Samuel 10:12 Here is declared wherefore war ought to be undertaken: of the defense of true religion and God’s people.
- 2 Samuel 10:16 Or, Hadarezer.
- 2 Samuel 10:16 Or, Euphrates.
- 2 Samuel 10:17 Meaning, the greatest part.
- 2 Samuel 10:18 Which were the chiefest and most principal: for in all he destroyed 7000, as 1 Chron. 19:18, or the soldiers which were in 700 chariots.
2 Samuel 10
New International Version
2 Samuel 10
New International Version
David Defeats the Ammonites(A)
10 In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. 2 David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash,(B) just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father.
When David’s men came to the land of the Ammonites, 3 the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out(C) and overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard,(D) cut off their garments at the buttocks,(E) and sent them away.
5 When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.”
6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious(F) to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean(G) foot soldiers from Beth Rehob(H) and Zobah,(I) as well as the king of Maakah(J) with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.(K)
7 On hearing this, David sent Joab(L) out with the entire army of fighting men. 8 The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country.
9 Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. 10 He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai(M) his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites. 11 Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. 12 Be strong,(N) and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.”(O)
13 Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. 14 When the Ammonites(P) realized that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city. So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
15 After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. 16 Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them.
17 When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. 18 But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers.[a] He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject(Q) to them.
So the Arameans(R) were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.
Footnotes
- 2 Samuel 10:18 Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 1 Chron. 19:18); Hebrew horsemen
1599 Geneva Bible (GNV) 
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.