Some time later, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king in his place.
Then 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,
the 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? ”
So Hanun took David’s emissaries, shaved off half their beards, cut their clothes in half at the hips, and sent them away.
When 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.”
When 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.
The 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.
When 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.
He placed the rest of the forces under the command of his brother Abishai. They lined up in formation to engage the Ammonites.
“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.
Joab and his troops advanced to fight against the Arameans, and they fled before him.
When 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.
Hadadezer 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.
When 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.
Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017, 2020 by Holman Bible Publishers.
Additional information is provided here.
For more information on this translation, see the CSB Preface.