Text -- 2 Samuel 10:1-11 (NET)

David and the Ammonites

10:1 Later the king of the Ammonites died and his son Hanun succeeded him. 10:2 David said, “I will express my loyalty to Hanun son of Nahash just as his father was loyal to me.” So David sent his servants with a message expressing sympathy over his father’s death. When David’s servants entered the land of the Ammonites, 10:3 the Ammonite officials said to their lord Hanun, “Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? No, David has sent his servants to you to get information about the city and spy on it so they can overthrow it!” 10:4 So Hanun seized David’s servants and shaved off half of each one’s beard. He cut the lower part of their robes off so that their buttocks were exposed, and then sent them away. 10:5 Messengers told David what had happened, so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown again; then you may come back.” 10:6 When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, they sent and hired 20,000 foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, in addition to 1,000 men from the king of Maacah and 12,000 men from Ish-tob. 10:7 When David heard the news, he sent Joab and the entire army to meet them. 10:8 The Ammonites marched out and were deployed for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the men from Aram Zobah, Rehob, Ish-tob, and Maacah were by themselves in the field. 10:9 When Joab saw that the battle would be fought on two fronts, he chose some of Israel’s best men and deployed them against the Arameans. 10:10 He put his brother Abishai in charge of the rest of the army and they were deployed against the Ammonites. 10:11 Joab said, “If the Arameans start to overpower me, you come to my rescue. If the Ammonites start to overpower you, I will come to your rescue.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Sa 10:1

¹ tn Heb “reigned in his place.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 10:2

¹ tn Heb “do loyalty.”

² tn Heb “did loyalty.”

³ tn Heb “and David sent to console him by the hand of his servants concerning his father.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 10:3

¹ tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”

² tn Heb “Is it not to explore the city and to spy on it and to overthrow it [that] David has sent his servants to you?”

NET Notes: 2Sa 10:4

¹ tn Heb “and he cut their robes in the middle unto their buttocks.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 10:5

¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The words “what had happened” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

NET Notes: 2Sa 10:6

¹ tn Heb “that they were a stench [i.e., disgusting] with David.”

² tn Heb “the Ammonites.”

³ tn Or “Arameans of Beth Rehob and Arameans of Zobah.”

⁴ tn Or perhaps “the men of Tob.” The ancient versions (the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) understand the name to be “Ish-tob.” It is possible that “Ish” is dittographic and that we should read simply “Tob,” a reading adopted by a number of recent English versions.

NET Notes: 2Sa 10:7

¹ tn The words “the news” and “to meet them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.

NET Notes: 2Sa 10:9

¹ tn Heb “and Joab saw that the face of the battle was to him before and behind and he chose from all the best in Israel and arranged to meet Aram.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 10:10

¹ tn Heb “people.”

² tn Heb “he arranged.”

NET Notes: 2Sa 10:11

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “if Aram is stronger than me.”

³ tn Heb “if the sons of Ammon are stronger than you.”