Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(2 Samuel 9:1) And David said, "Is there yet any who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?"
When Saul and his sons had been killed, David was not aware of any other descendants of Saul. However, he had promised his dear friend Jonathan, one of Saul's sons, that he would not cut off his kindness from Jonathan's (Saul's) house forever (1 Samuel 20:15). He wondered now if there was anyone left in the house of Saul to whom he could show kindness for the sake of his vow to Jonathan.
(2) And of the house of Saul there was a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called him to David, the king said to him, "Are you Ziba?" And he said, "Your servant." (3) And the king said, "Is there not yet any of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God to him?" And Ziba said to the king, "Jonathan has yet a son, lame of feet."
There was a servant who had been in the house of Saul named Ziba. David called for him and asked if he knew of anyone left in the house of Saul to whom he might show kindness. Ziba told him about Jonathan's son who had been crippled in his feet.
(4) And the king said to him, "Where is he?" And Ziba said to the king, "Behold, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, in Lodebar."
David asked Ziba where this son of Jonathan was, to which Ziba replied that he was in the house of a man named Machir, the son of a man named Ammiel, in a place called Lodebar.
(5) Then King David sent and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. (6) Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and did reverence. And David said, "Mephibosheth." And he answered, "Behold your servant!"
David sent for Mephibosheth and brought him out of the house of Machir to himself. When Mephibosheth came to David, he fell on his face in reverence to the king. When David acknowledged him, he called himself the king's servant.
(7) And David said to him, "Fear not, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father's sake and will restore you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat bread at my table continually."
David told Mephibosheth not to be afraid for he only meant to show kindness to him for the sake of his father, Jonathan. He told him he would restore to him all the land of his grandfather Saul and that he would be David's personal guest at his table for as long as he lived.
(8) And he bowed himself and said, "What is your servant that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?"
Mephibosheth bowed himself in humility and gratitude and asked David how it was that he could show such favor to someone as lowly as himself.
(9) Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, "I have given to your master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house. (10) You therefore, and your sons, and your servants, shall till the land for him, and you shall bring in the fruits that your master's son may have food to eat, but Mephibosheth your master's son shall eat bread always at my table." Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
David then called Ziba, Saul's servant, and told him that he had given Mephibosheth all that had belonged to Saul. He put him, his fifteen sons, and his twenty servants, all back to work tilling and harvesting Saul's land for Mephibosheth and his household. However, Mephibosheth would always be a guest at David's own table.
(11) Then Ziba said to the king, "According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so shall your servant do." As for Mephibosheth, "he shall eat at my table, as one of the king's sons."
Ziba agreed to do all that David had commanded of him. Then he either quoted the words of David, or perhaps they were again the words of David, repeating that Mephibosheth would always eat at his own table as if he was one of his sons.
(12) And Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. (13) So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he was lame in both his feet.
Mephibosheth had a young son named Micha. Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, observed that, "Mephibosheth was five years old at Saul’s death. He may have been thirteen at David’s accession to the throne of Israel. In the eighth year of David’s reign over all Israel he would have been twenty-one. His having a son at this time indicates that we are about the 10th year of David’s reign."
All who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants to Mephibosheth. However, he dwelt in Jerusalem, at or near the king's palace, as he ate continually at the king's table. It is added again that Mephibosheth was lame in both feet, possibly to note that even though he was unable to perform any public office because of his disability, he was still treated by the king with the utmost respect and affection.
(2 Samuel 10:1) And it came to pass after this that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. (2) Then David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me." And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.
Sometime after this, the king of the Ammonites died. His son Hanun then reigned in his stead. David decided to show kindness to Hanun because of the kindness his father had shown him. The Bible does not record any instance of Nahash’s kindness to David, but the enmity of the house of Nahash against Saul may have disposed him favorably toward Saul’s enemy David. When David was persecuted by Saul, he may have sent him aid and invited him into his country for protection, although it would not have been out of real love and friendship to David but in enmity to Saul. Regardless, David sent his servants into the land of the Ammonites to comfort Hanun for the death of his father.
(3) And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David honors your father that he has sent comforters to you? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city to spy it out and to overthrow it?"
However, the princes of the Ammonites could not believe that David was sincere and told Hanun they rather believed he was sending the "comforters" as spies to spy out their city in order to overthrow it.
(4) Therefore Hanun took David's servants and shaved off one half of their beards and cut off their garments in the middle to their buttocks and sent them away.
Hanun accepted the word of his princes as true and had half the beards of David's servants shaved off, which was shameful enough as the Israelites' beards were highly respected, but he then went on to have their garments cut off at their buttocks. Because their garments were so long, they were not accustomed to wearing pants under them, so that act exposed them to much embarrassment and ridicule as they were sent away like that.
(5) When they told it to David, he sent to meet them because the men were greatly ashamed, and the king said, "Tarry at Jericho until your beards are grown, and then return."
When David heard what had happened to his servants, he went out to meet them because they were too ashamed to come into his court. He surely took them new garments, and he told them they could wait at Jericho for their beards to grow back and then they could return.
(6) And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and of the king of Maacah a thousand men, and of Ish Tob twelve thousand men.
When the Ammonites realized they had made themselves repulsive to David and that he was incensed against them, they enlisted the help of the Syrians of Beth Rehob and Zobah, receiving twenty thousand foot soldiers. He also received help in the form of another thirteen thousand men from Maacah and Ish Tob.
(7) And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men.
When David heard of the preparations the Ammonites were making to fight the Israelites, he sent Joab out with his army of mighty men.
(8) And the children of Ammon came out and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and Ish Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the field.
The Ammonites came out and arrayed themselves for battle at the gate of their city, and the Syrians who were helping them were outside the city in a field.
(9) When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel and put them in array against the Syrians.
Whatever way the Ammonites and the Syrians were arrayed, it seems they had positioned themselves so that they were both in front of and behind Joab's army. Joab then put his choicest soldiers in array against the Syrians.
(10) And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother, that he might put them in array against the children of Ammon.
The rest of Joab's soldiers he put under the command of his brother Abishai that they might be put in array against the Ammonites. Thus, as his enemy had two armies, he divided his army into two parts that he might better attack them.
(11) And he said, "If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. (12) Be of good courage and let us play the men for our people and for the cities of our God, and the Lord do that which seems Him good."
Joab told Abishai that if the Syrians were too strong for him and his men, then Abishai and his men should come and help him, but if the Ammonites were too strong for Abishai, then Joab would go and help him. Joab then gave words of encouragement to Abishai and both their armies that they were fighting a worthy battle for their people and for the cities of God, and the battle was the Lord's to do as He saw right and good.
(13) And Joab drew near, and the people who were with him, into the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him.
When Joab and his army advanced toward the Syrians, they fled from before them.
(14) And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians had fled, then they fled also before Abishai and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.
Then when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians had fled, they too fled before Abishai's army, and went back into their city. Thus Joab returned to Jerusalem in victory without having to engage with the Ammonites.
(1 Chronicles 19:1) Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.
1 Chronicles 19 also told of the events of 2 Samuel 10. Nahash, the king of the Ammonites had died, and his son, Hanun (2 Samuel 10:1), reigned in his stead.
(2) And David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun, the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me." And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun to comfort him.
David sent messengers to comfort Hanun for the death of his father because he felt his father had shown kindness to him in the past.
(3) But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, "Do you think that David does honor your father that he has sent comforters to you? Are not his servants come to you for to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?"
The Ammonite princes convinced Hanun that David was deceiving him and that his intention was to have his servants spy out their land to overthrow them.
(4) Therefore Hanun took David's servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks and sent them away.
Hanun took David's servants and shaved just half their beards according to the account in 2 Samuel 10, no doubt vertically down the middle, and cut off their long garments at their buttocks and sent them away in disgrace and shame.
(5) Then there went some and told David how the men were served. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, "Tarry at Jericho until your beards are grown and then return."
When David heard how his servants had been treated, he went out to meet them to save them the embarrassment of having to come into his court in their condition. He told them they could wait in Jericho until their beards had grown out, and then they could return.
(6) And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia and out of Syria Maachah and out of Zobah. (7) So they hired thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people, who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities and came to battle.
When the Ammonites realized they had made David angry, they hired chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, Syria Maachah, and Zobah. They paid a thousand talents of silver to them which had not been recorded in the account in 2 Samuel 10. That was an enormous amount of money, a talent weighing about 75 pounds. I don't believe they got their money's worth! Also this account says that they hired 32,000 chariots; the account in 2 Samuel 10 just mentioned men or soldiers. With the thousand men of Maachah (2 Samuel 10:6), the number of soldiers does agree, at 33,000. We are told in this account that the Ammonite army pitched before the city of Medeba.
(8) And when David heard, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men. (9) And the children of Ammon came out and put the battle in array before the gate of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.
When David heard how the Ammonites were preparing themselves for battle, he sent Joab and his army of mighty men. The Ammonites positioned themselves for battle before the gate of Medeba, and the kings of the other nations positioned their troops in the field.
(10) Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel and put them in array against the Syrians. (11) And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in array against the children of Ammon. (12) And he said, "If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you. (13) Be of good courage and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people and for the cities of our God, and let the Lord do good in His sight."
When Joab saw that there were two different troops set against him, he divided his men into two troops, setting one against the Syrians in the field, and the other with Abishai against the Ammonites. He instructed Abishai to help him if the Syrians proved too strong for him, and he would likewise help Abishai if the Ammonites were too strong for him. He gave words of encouragement and called on the Lord's will to be done.
(14) So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians to the battle, and they fled before him. (15) And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians had fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.
When Joab and his army advanced toward the Syrians, they fled; and when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians had fled, they too fled into the city; and Joab went back to Jerusalem.
(2 Samuel 10:15) And when the Syrians saw that they were defeated before Israel, they gathered themselves together.
It seems that when the Syrians realized how easily they had been defeated by David, they gathered themselves together to try again.
(16) And Hadarezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the river, and they came to Helam; and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.
It appears that the same Hadarezer whom David struck in 2 Samuel 8, from whom he had taken chariots and men, brought out Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates River, and they came to an unknown place called Helam. Shobach, the captain of Hadarezer's army went before all of them of the combined armies.
(17) And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and passed over Jordan and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David and fought with him.
When David heard that the Syrians gathered against Israel, he gathered his vast army and crossed over the Jordan River to Helam. The Syrians set themselves in array against David's army and attacked them.
(18) And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred charioteers of the Syrians and forty thousand horsemen and struck Shobach the captain of their host who died there.
The Syrians again wound up fleeing from Israel, but not before David and his army had killed 700 charioteers and 40,000 men, including Shobach, the captain of the armies.
(19) And when all the kings who were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were defeated before Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon anymore.
When the kings of the other Syrians who gathered to help Hadarezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became tributaries. They were afraid to help the Ammonites any further.
(1 Chronicles 19:16) And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river; and Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.
1 Chronicles 19 also tells of the Syrians regrouping to fight Israel. This account calls the captain of the army Shophach instead of Shobach.
(17) And it was told David, and he gathered all Israel and passed over Jordan and came upon them and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. (18) But the Syrians fled before Israel, and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand charioteers, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host. (19) And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David and became his servants; neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon anymore.
David again defeated the Syrians, as told in 2 Samuel 10, except that this account stated he killed 7000 charioteers, whereas 2 Samuel 10:18 said it was 700. The Syrians wound up making peace with David and becoming his tributaries.
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