2 Samuel 10:1-5 -- This chapter is paralleled by 1 Chronicles 19. Many scholars connect the events in this chapter with those in chapter 8, from the previous lesson. There's no particular reason for insisting this be a separate event, since so little is known in the first place. Indeed, it would seem that vanquishing the Syrians once and having garrisons in their lands would assure they not be able or willing to rent their troops out for yet another battle with their new master, David. More than likely, this chapter describes the unknown provocation that caused the battles in chapter 8.
It seems David planned only to secure his own border. Thus, we can be sure most of his warfare was aimed at that, though he was quite willing to take advantage of anything that helped his people. We know of this ruler of Ammon, Nahash, as the leader of the attack on Jabesh-gilead, right at the beginning of Saul's reign (1 Samuel 11). How it is he befriended David is not known, but David had not forgotten. Having no official reason to prevent him, David sends a delegation to the capital with appropriate gifts for a funeral. The nobles of Ammon are convinced David has his sights on them, and that this delegation is actually a spying mission before invading.
Their advice to the heir of the Ammonite throne, Hanun (more properly, Chanun, "Favored One"), was to treat them shamefully. The delegation would have been elder noblemen, not soldiers, and they would dress in longer garments than most men. Real men also had full beards, and these had one side shaved off. This was much worse than simply shaving the whole thing, since it would be clear they had one to begin with. This half-shave and exposure of legs by cutting off the outer garment in the back would be as much an indignity as tar and feathers today. Just as hot tar, and subsequently peeling it off, would leave slow-healing wounds, so these men could not appear in public again until their beards had regrown. David kept them secluded in Jericho until they could show their faces in public again.
10:6-8 -- If they had been under pressure from David before, real or imagined, the Ammonites were most certainly in trouble now. They knew they stood no chance against the army of Israel under David, so they hired mercenaries from the previously mentioned Zobah. They also got a few from Maacah, a small kingdom of Canaanites near the new city of Dan, and a few from Tob, the city-state just east of Israel's border near Gilead. These were all natural allies. When they had mobilized and moved down to Ammon, David responded by mustering the Army of Israel.
10:9-14 -- Apparently the battle took place at the capital of Ammon, Rabbah. As the troops of Israel marched to engage, they found the home warriors in front of the city, and the mercenaries out in the field. This was a classic move. Attack the city and be hit from the rear, or take the field army and get hit from the rear? Joab wisely divided his troops under his own and his brother's command, and attacked on two fronts. Noteworthy here is that he didn't seek a miracle, only a fair chance get the most from his soldiers. Whatever the Lord did in response was left to Him.
As with most warfare in ancient times, it was a matter of chasing the enemy from the field. The mercenaries fled Joab, and the Ammonites facing Abishai decided they were out of luck. There was no immediate need to destroy the city or pursue and kill the hired army. Any further actions from David against Ammon would find them hard put to resist. It is almost certain that the battles in chapter 8 followed this. Ammon itself would face David's full wrath later.
10:15-19 -- With the embarrassment of their loss, the ruler of Zobah brought in his own extras from beyond the Euphrates. This bunch assembled at Helam, just north of Tob, on the verge of the desert wilderness to the east. When the armies clashed, it was the enemies of Israel, as usual, who melted. Because of the similarities in the numbers here with chapter 8, we have one more reason to see that this is the same story with a different angle.
We are left seeing that most political conflict had multiple and complex causes, just as today. On the one hand, we know that Zobah had plans to attack Hamath, perhaps as the last area near him that he didn't control. He appeared to have strong influence in Damascus, as well as somewhere beyond the Euphrates, perhaps in Charan. Thus, it makes a sort of sense to try and take Hamath, bulging into his domain at the river. He may have been gathering and equipping an army for this expedition, and rented them out to Ammon as a warm-up. When he saw that he now had to take care of Israel first, his plans for Hamath had to wait a bit longer. With David's victory, all that was forgotten. Hamath would have breathed a sigh of relief and sent the gifts we looked at in the last lesson. It is well to note that Scripture seldom includes every detail that would satisfy our curiosity.
11:1 -- Having finished the business with Zobah and the Syrians, David turned his attention to Ammon. The grave insult was as much against the God of Israel as Israel itself. David's commission was to secure the nation, and Ammon was not yet pacified. Most likely the campaign against Syria consumed the whole of that year's war season. Ancient nations seldom fought in winter, when food would be hard to get, and weather would be a problem. Thus, we see the issue with Ammon waited until that next spring. The armies clashed in the field, but Ammon had no hope of doing more than delaying the inevitable. The siege of Rabbah began. David himself stayed in the royal capital.
11:2-5 -- Besieging a city was seldom quickly done. David would keep the messengers running back and forth to the front, but would otherwise have little more than the organization of support to occupy him. While it is certain his commanders encouraged him to stay out of the battlefields for safety's sake, this was not something David liked. It's likely he tried to keep busy, but his heart was with his troops. Unable to sleep one evening, he went up on the roof. While we might expect he would have gone to pray, he didn't get to that. Instead, he spied a woman taking advantage of the cool evening and washing herself in the open court of her home, obviously close to the palace.
Here we see most clearly that David was what we today would call a "skirt-chaser" -- with all his harem, he never had enough women. Taken with her beauty, he decided to find out who she was. His servants informed him her name was Bathsheba ("Daughter of an Oath"), daughter of the man who had sheltered Meribaal, and married to Uriah, a noble Hittite warrior on David's military staff.
While it's unlikely Bathsheba intended to expose herself, since it was not full daylight, we note she offered no resistance to David's invitation. The most likely explanation is that David was quite the man, both in appearance and charm, with great power to boot. The affair got her pregnant, and we note the timing for her fertility cycle. She was willing to lie with David, and the only reason she might have had for not doing so was just past. She duly notified David, as the only hope to protect her from shame. David's motives are not obvious. He would probably want to prevent her being stoned as an adulteress because he genuinely cared about her. Whether he was worried about his own skin is not so certain, given his character, though it would seem natural.
11:6-13 -- Laying siege to a city might not involve fighting daily to gain entrance, but it could. It usually involved camping a large force outside the city, blocking all traffic in and out. The residents inside would slowly starve to death. When it appeared the folks inside were growing desperate, attacks on the gates and other weak points would begin. Giving honored individuals a break during the long wait was not unheard of, so David's message would raise no eyebrows.
The Hittite warrior class were intensely proud, and held to a high standard that would compare favorably to the Medieval code of chivalry. Uriah gave a full report of the siege activity. David dismissed him by telling him to spend the night in his own bed at home. Uriah's ethics forbade this, and he stayed in the guardhouse. Even with feasting and getting drunk, Uriah refused to violate his code of honor.
11:14-17 -- Having taken it this far, David saw only one way out of the mess. Uriah must die. It was not uncommon for even a nobleman to be illiterate, so sending Uriah's death warrant in his own hand was probably quite safe. Whatever else the letter said, it indicated to Joab he should, if necessary, make an assault just so that there would be an opportunity to get Uriah killed. The best of the city defenders came out to engage and Uriah died with several others. Joab's loyalty to David was sufficient reason for him to carry out an execution under cover of battle.
11:18-21 -- Joab prepared the usual battle report, but added a footnote that supposedly only David would understand. Knowing how David talked, he briefed the runner on what he might hear, adding that if David had a harsh rebuke for Joab's work, he should remark on the demise of Uriah. Only a man mentally unfit to serve as runner would not grasp something of the intent.
11:22-25 -- The messenger did his duty, reporting to David the events of battle. While the trapped residents of Rabbah might be running low on food, it was sure they had amassed plenty of weapons before the siege. Archers would be used to prevent the attackers from beating down the gates too soon. There would be a wide kill-zone around the city walls as long as the arrows lasted. When things were getting tight, before everyone began to faint from hunger, the troops inside the wall might rush out now and then to try and break through the lines, or perhaps just whittle down the odds against them. One such rush was beaten back, and the Israeli soldiers nearest that gate pursued them back inside. When the pursuit got too close to the wall, archers would stop them from following the fleeing defenders inside. It was this sort of thing that killed Uriah. David's response was to let Joab know he had done well, and added a typical encouragement to finish the job soon.
11:26-27 -- To all appearances, the whole mess was now covered and life could go on as normal. While covering David's sin had cost the lives of more than just Uriah, he was prepared to accept that. They might have been as easily lost in battle anyway. Bathsheba received the official notice of her husband's "honorable" demise, and went through the standard period of mourning. When that was done, David took her into his harem. This would appear quite honorable, as the best means of supporting a good man's widow. She now had the best compensation a soldier's widow could get.
For all the appearances of honor, nothing could be hidden from God.
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Ed Hurst
07 August 2004
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