Chapter Ten

David’s wars with the Ammonites and Syrians.

2 Samuel 10:1. After some time the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun reigned in his place. The king of the Ammonites – Nahash (cf. verse 2), who was defeated by Saul at Jabesh-gilead (1 Sam 11:1).

2 Samuel 10:2. And David said: I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me. So David sent his servants to comfort Hanun concerning his father. And David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites. “As his father showed kindness to me.” Perhaps some help is meant that Nahash rendered to David during his persecution by Saul.

2 Samuel 10:3. But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord: Do you think David has sent comforters to you out of respect for your father? Did not David send his servants to you to search out the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it? David’s successful wars (2 Sam 8:1-15) had inspired fear in his neighbors and caused them to fear David even where he posed no danger to them.

2 Samuel 10:6. And when the Ammonites saw that they had become hateful to David, they sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob twelve thousand. Beth-rehob – a Syrian region in the northern confines of Palestine, not far from the sources of the Jordan River. Zobah – northeast of Damascus, between the rivers Orontes and Euphrates. “The king of Maacah.” In the Hebrew text and some Greek manuscripts there is no addition of “Amalekite.” Maacah – a Syrian region at the foot of Mount Hermon the Great, neighboring Geshur. Tob – a region of eastern Transjordan northeast of Perea.

2 Samuel 10:8. And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance to the gate, while the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and of Maacah were by themselves in the field. At the gate of one of their cities.

2 Samuel 10:16. And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were on the other side of the river [Halakmon], and they came to Helam; and Shobach the commander of Hadadezer’s army led them. The Helam mentioned here – an unknown region of Syria at present.

2 Samuel 10:17. When it was told to David, he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians deployed against David and fought with him. “All Israel”, that is, all the people’s militia of Israel. “The people’s militia under David (288,000 men) consisted of twelve corps (24,000 men in each), obligated to assemble in full only at moments of military danger to the state, by special order of the king; in peacetime, however, only one of the corps was on active duty, serving for one month and then handing over its obligations to the next corps for the following month. Thus, David’s military force represented a middle ground between a standing army and a militia in the strict sense of the word: the militia men had military training and were better warriors than soldiers who had never held anything but the plow and the spade; on the other hand, being on actual service only one month per year, they continued their peaceful occupations and did not neglect their farms” (Y. Bogorodsky, “Hebrew Kings”, 177).