1 In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. 2 David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father. When David’s men came to the land of the Ammonites, 3 the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?” 4 So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away.
David’s kindness extended from Israel to other kingdoms. Because Hanun’s father died, David chose to show sympathy and empathy. But this is not well- received. In fact, it is received with suspicion. Why? Because David, showing God’s kindness, or an eternal viewpoint, is now clashing with a world, or self-serving, viewpoint. Hanun, a pagan leader, is well-aware of how king’s operate. Why would a king suddenly show a loving interest in any community that was not his own? So instead of trusting the new king of Israel, he humiliated the envoys and sends them on their way.
5 When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.”
The partial shaving of their beards was a cultural taboo, a humiliation that would be seen when they returned. A clean-shaven face, in this culture, was a sign that you were of the slave class. Instead of subjecting them to this, David has them hide out in Jericho until the hair has regrown, again showing David’s compassion for the men.
6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maakah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob. 7 On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men.
The Ammonites become aware of their self-inflicted opposition to Israel. So what do they do? Instead of correcting the problem, they go to Syria (Aram) and hire 20,000 soldiers and another thousand from the King of Maacah (1 Chronicles 19:6). Instead of making peace they prepare for war.
8 The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country. 9 Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. 10 He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites. 11 Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. 12 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.”
As the Israelites went into battle, they quickly found they were surrounded. He and his brother would come to each other’s aide as needed. One thing Joab knew was this: the battle was in God’s hands. But it wasn’t going to deter he and his men from being courageous.
13 Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. 14 When the Ammonites realized that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city. So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
It doesn’t appear that there was a battle to be had. It seems that the hired armies ran from the battle. Once one of the hired armies did this, the other followed suit.
15 After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. 16 Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the Euphrates River; they went to Helam, with Shobak the commander of Hadadezer’s army leading them. 17 When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. 18 But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobak the commander of their army, and he died there. 19 When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been routed by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.
In short, the Ammonites didn’t put up much of battle against Israel. They tried once again and were routed. The Syrians, the hired army, saw the folly of their allegiance with the Ammonites.