Useful Bible Studies > 2 Samuel Commentary > chapter 10
Ammon’s leaders had greatly offended David by the terrible way that they had insulted the men from Israel. Still, it seems that David did not want to go to war against Ammon. While he delayed, the situation became more serious. Ammon’s leaders paid for a large army of soldiers from other countries to gather, so that they could fight Israel together.
Ammon was a country on the east side of Israel. Its capital was Rabbah (11:1). The soldiers from other countries made their camp a short distance away from that city.
Most of those soldiers came from Aram (also called Syria) and Zobah. These countries were far to the north of Israel. They had marched for 100 miles (160 kilometres) or more to reach Rabbah. However, 12,000 men came from Tob, on the east side of Israel, and north of Ammon. They came about 50 miles (80 kilometres).
When David heard about all these soldiers, he could no longer delay. Clearly, it was impossible to avoid a war. So David ordered Joab, his most powerful military commander, to gather Israel’s army and to attack.
This would be one of the most difficult and dangerous battles that David’s army fought. The armies from several nations had joined to oppose Israel - and they were strong and powerful armies.
Next part: Joab's plan for the battle (2 Samuel 10:8-11)
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© 2023, Keith Simons.