“When all Hadad‘ezer’s vassal kings saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Isra’el and became their subjects. So Aram was afraid to help the people of ‘Amon anymore.”-2 Samuel 10:19 Even though divided, Israel’s army, led by Joab, was HUGE. As soon as the hired Syrian troops saw them, they […]

Before heading into battle, Jo’av stands before the Israelite military and proclaims something we should all take to heart. “Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.”-2 Samuel 10:12 The coming battle was not about personal glory… […]

“The army of ‘Amon came out and went into battle formation at the entrance to the city gate; the men of Aram from Tzovah and Rechov and the men of Tov and Ma‘akhah were by themselves in the open countryside.”-2 Samuel 10:8 After Hanun’s humiliation of David’s diplomats… Any goodwill on David’s part went right […]

“Aware that they were utterly abhorrent to David, the people of ‘Amon sent and hired 20,000 Aram foot soldiers from Beit-Rechov and Tzovah, the king of Ma‘akhah with 1,000 men, and 12,000 soldiers from Tov.”-2 Samuel 10:6 By humiliating King David’s diplomats… There were no two ways about it… The King of Ammon had declared […]

Despite David’s kind gesture toward Hanun… The existing hate was too deep to overcome. Hanun’s men advised the new king that David was up to no good. They said the real purpose of the Hebrew diplomats was to deceive… And most likely to spy on the Ammonite capital city of Rabbah (currently Amman, Jordan). Now […]