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II Samuel
Chapter
10
1~~And
it came to pass after this, {change of subject}
{after David manufactures grace toward Jonathan's son}
that
the king {Nahash} of the people of Ammon died.
And Hanun his son ruled in his place.
{Note: Nahash was the greatest king the Ammonites ever had. He was most successful king . . . the wisest . . . on and on. RBT says he died as a believer and possibly a mature believer. His son Hanun was weak. He was arrogant. He had no ability of his own. He was respected because of the greatness of his father.}
{David's
Friendly Gesture to the New King - David's Pure Motivation}
2~~Consequently,
{as a result of the death} David said
{both his thought and the follow-through action of his grace
thought},
"I
will manufacture {`asah - out of doctrine resident in his soul}
grace
{checed} to Hanun, the son of Nahash . . .
{grace here includes the attributes of: courtesy, respect,
thoughtfulness, kindness}
as
his father manufacture
{`asah - out of doctrine resident in his soul}
grace
{checed} to me.
And
David sent to comfort him concerning his father . . .
by
the hand of his ambassadors.
{these would have been high nobles in David's court acting as his
ambassador}
And
David's ambassadors came into the land of the people of Ammon.
{Hanun will assume they are spies because that is what HE would
do if he sent men to Jerusalem}
{Note: Principal: courtesy must never be construed as weakness or cowardness. Principal: Weak people superimpose their weaknesses on others. So, David assumes that since he grieves truly for Nahash, his son would grieve more for his lost father. This is not true. And, the pure motivations of the grace oriented person are not understood by evil and/or arrogant people. Arrogant people should not rule nations. They are too divorced from reality and they can not think under pressure. The Ammonites are tough people physically and mentally. But they need a strong spiritually mature leader to keep them in line. Hanun is not the man his father was.}
{Note: David remembers the kindnesses that Nahash did for him when he was exiled from Israel and Saul was trying to kill him. One sign of a truly humble person is that they never forget a kindness done to them no matter how far they rise in life.}
3~~Consequently,
the chief ministers of the sons/people of Ammon
said
to Hanun . . . their lord,
{the authority resides with Hanun but soon these men will use
Hanun to take the power to themselves - dooming the nation in
the process}
"In
your thinking/'In your viewpoint'/'From your standpoint'
is
David honoring your father,
because
he has sent comforters unto you?
{putting doubt in the thoughts of the young king and appeals to his
pride}
Is
it not for the purpose of making a recognizance of the city,
both
by spying it out . . . and overthrowing it
that
David has sent his embassy to you?"
{Chain
of Violence from Young King with Power Hungry Advisors}
4~~Therefore
Hanun violently seized David's embassy/ambassadors,
and
shaved off the one half of their beards,
{a great insult in this day - like branding someone}
and
cut off their upper garments in the middle above their buttocks
{meaning that they were naked from the waist down
and had to walk back to Jerusalem in this state - a great
indignity},
and
sent them away.
5~~When
they announced it to David,
then
he went out to see/meet them {personally}
{he went out to meet them personally - personal touch
to remove some of the shame},
because
the men {the ambassadors}
were
extremely humiliated/embarrassed.
So
the king said,
"Remain/Tarry
{yashab} at Jericho
until
your beards have grown,
and
then return."
10:6~~And
when the people/citizens of Ammon
saw
that they 'had become malodorous'/stank before David,
then
as a result, the people of Ammon sent
and
hired {mercenaries}
the
Syrians/'Aram of Bethrehob/'Beyth R@chowb',
and
the Syrians/'Aram of Zoba . . .
totally
twenty thousand infantry/footmen . . .
and
also of king Maacah . . . a thousand men,
{one of the smaller Syrian city-states}
and
of 'Iysh-Towb . . . twelve thousand men.
{name means 'people of prosperity/good' - this is another Syrian
city - a very wealthy and prosperous people}
{Note: From the parallel passage at I Chronicles 19:6-8, we see the Ammonites and Syrians concentrated their 33,000 plus army at Medeba. But Joab and part of his army are going to Rabbah and hit them in the rear.}
{Note: The timing of this is about 990BC.}
7~~Consequently
when David heard of it
{a G2 summary report - on Rabah concentration},
he
dispatched Joab, and all the army/host {means the new recruits}
{sent the new recruits to give them experience, with the elite
ranger battalions}
including
the mighty men {the elite forces}.
{from I Chronicles 19:8 we see this is Joab leading all the recruits
plus the 'most experienced troops' -
like the Army rangers today}.
{Verses
8-14: Battle}
8~~Now
the army of Ammon came out {of Rabbah},
and
deployed/'put the battle in array'
in
front of the gate.
While
the Syrians of Zoba { 'Aram Tsowba'}
and
of Rehob {infantry listed first},
including
{the men of} Ishtob, and Maacah . . .
{were}
'alone on the field'/
'maneuvered
independently on the battlefield'.
{'alone on the field' means the Syrians were not tactically linked
with the Syrian army - they were operating independently to close
the trap}
9~~When
Joab 'was caused/forced to see' {from recognizance}
{indicates this is 'his motivation' - he saw he was in a trap and
moved on}
that
the face of the battle
was
toward him from the front
and
toward him from the rear
{in other words he was trapped between two armies -
his answer will be 'to attack!' and he is doing the unexpected -
he will attack the strongest army first (at their weakest point) -
leaving the lessor army for last - He will hit with his crack troops
leaving the recruits to hold off the lessor army for a short time},
he chose of all the choice men of Israel,
and put them in array against the Syrians.
{Verses
9-10: Jewish Deployment and the Order of Battle}
{Estimate
of the Situation}
9~~When
Joab 'was caused/forced to see' {from recognizance}
{indicates this is 'his motivation' - he saw he was in a trap and
moved on}
that
the face of the battle
was
toward him from the front
and
toward him from the rear
{in other words he was trapped between two armies -
his answer will be 'to attack!' and he is doing the unexpected -
he will attack the strongest army first (at their weakest point) -
leaving the lessor army for last - He will hit with his crack troops
leaving the recruits to hold off the lessor army for a short time},
he
selected from all the elite men of Israel,
and
deployed/'put them in array' against the Syrians.
10~~And
the rest of the army/people
he
{Joab} 'gave authority' into the hand of Abishai his brother,
that
he might deploy/'put them in array'
against
the army/sons/citizens of Ammon.
{Note: Joab had to delegate the authority of one part of his army to his brother Abishai. This requires much trust on both ends. Abishai is another great general and Joab trusts him.}
11a~~And
he said,
"If
the Syrians/'Aram overpower me,
then
'you shall come to help me.
{idiom literally: 'you will be to me for my deliverance'}
{Note: Joab is setting up a mobile reserve. So this is a tough job for Abishai - he must 'demonstrate' against Ammon but NOT engage - they have to pretend to be fighting but really hold themselves in reserve.}
11b~~But
if the army/citizens/sons of Ammon overpowers you,
then
'I will march and deliver you."
{setting up the military strategy called 'interior lines' -
concentration of force move to where the enemy is too strong}
{Joab's
General Orders for the Army}
12~~Be
of good courage {chazaq - Qal stem}
{order 1: Battle courage - moral courage - to be able to think
under pressure think instead of emoting - do your job calmly}
and
let us 'guarantee freedom and integrity'/
'play
the man' {chazaq - Hithpael stem}
for
our people . . .
and
for the cities of our 'Elohiym/Godhead.
{order 2: Motivation for Battle - what are you fighting for?
you fight to preserve that which you hold dear -
if you are not a man, then at least act like one!}
And
Jehovah/God manufacture/do
{`asah - manufacture victory out of battle . . . out of His Perfect
Essence}
the
'inherent good' {victory} . . . in His own eyes.
{3rd order - remember Jesus Christ controls history -
if HE wants us to win, no one can defeat us and if the plan
of God is for us to lose, then so be it}
{Verses
13-14: Battle of Medeba - Rabah}
13~~And
Joab advanced near . . .
and
the army that was with him,
unto
the battle against the Syrians/'Aram
and
they 'panicked and ran away'/fled before him.
14~~And
when the army/sons of Ammon
saw
that the Syrians had 'fled in panic',
then
they also retreated/fled before Abishai,
and
entered into the city
{Rabah - city of Amman in trans-Jordania today}.
So
Joab returned from the army/sons of Ammon,
and
came to Jerusalem.
{Note: Joab left a small holding force to trap the army of Ammon in Rabah. Next spring a large army will return and complete the siege of Rabah. But the army of Ammon is now kept on the defensive.}
{Verses
15-19: The Syrian Northern Campaign}
15~~And
when the Syrians saw
{reconnaissance - gathered the facts first before action}
that
they had been 'decisively defeated' by Israel,
{a small Jewish army defeated a large and great Syrian army
and the 'nature of the defeat' really bothered hem -
they think in terms of strategic aggressiveness}
they
gathered themselves together
{mobilization of entire Syrian military forces for a huge attack}.
{Note: The Syrians hired themselves out as mercenaries. So they must recover their honor or their economy will drop to nothing. So the King - Hadadezer - has to march out his nation and put down the Jews.}
16~~And
Hadadezer/Hadarezer sent,
{his name is spelled a little differently in the Hebrew and in the
Syrian language (which came from the Accadian language)
means 'Hadad/Hadar is his help' - Hadad was the Syrian god of the
storm and became their god of war}
sent
and mobilized/'caused to come out' the Syrians
from
the other side of the river
{on the Northern Army on the northern side of the Euphrates River
See also Psalm 60 'Aram of the rivers/ 'Aram `eber nahar}
and
they concentrated at Helam.
{a town thought to be somewhere between the Euphrates River
and the Jordan River north of Damascus}
And
Shobak
{Showbak - erroneously translated 'Shokach' in KJV}
the
Prince/Commander of the army/host of Hadadezer
{called 'of Hadadezer' because the armies were now combined}
'assumed
command of them'
{idiom: literally 'went before their face/them'}.
{Note: Shobak had never been defeated. He was a true winner. Shobak was probably the greatest military genius of the Syrian Army.}
17~~Now
when 'it was reported'/'G2 briefed' David,
he
mobilized all Israel {entire Jewish army},
and
passed over the Jordan {River}
{this is David's Northern most advance base in the valley of
Succoth},
and
came to Helam.
Now
the Syrians deployed/'set themselves in array' against David,
and
fought against him.
{Note: The Semitic races pretty much ruled the civilized world in this day. The Syrians and the Jews were first cousins. The Syrians outnumbered the Jews and chose the battlefield. Their general was a genius maybe as great as David himself. And, they are PRO's! They are mercenaries and fight all the time! Only the spiritual factor was on David's side.
{Great
Jewish Victory}
18~~And
the Syrians/'Aram 'panicked and fled'/retreated {nuwc}
'from
the face of'/'from before' {paniym} Israel.
And
David slaughtered
from
the Syrians seven thousand 'charioteers and cavalry'
plus
forty thousand infantry.
And
mortally wounded
Shobak
. . . the prince/general of their armies/host . . .
who
died there.
{Note: From the grammar of the Hebrew, the loss of Shobak was equivalent to the loss of about 50,000 other Syrians. He was their greatest military genius and his death was devastating to the Syrians.}
19~~Now
when all the kings {Syrian federation} . . .
the
subjects/servants of Hadadezer/ Hadarezer
saw
that they were 'decisively defeated' before Israel,
{the rest of the Syrian's surrendered without firing another shot -
decisive military successes SAVES causalities - recent example:
the atomic bomb dropped on Japan saved many American lives}
they
made peace with Israel, and served them.
Therefore,
the Syrians feared
{because of respect for the Jewish Military strength}
to
give aid to the sons/people of Ammon ever again.
{Note: The Syrians were conqueroring peoples north of Israel. They would not attack Israel again until Israel first broke up into two separate nations. Some nations ONLY repect the military strength of other nations. It is warfare that guarantees peace!}
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