2 Samuel 10

2 Samuel 10 is the tenth chapter of the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the second part of Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible.[1] According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan,[2] but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE.[3][4] This chapter contains the account of David's reign in Jerusalem.[5][6] This is within a section comprising 2 Samuel 9–20 and continued to 1 Kings 1–2 which deal with the power struggles among David's sons to succeed David's throne until 'the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon' (1 Kings 2:46).[5]

2 Samuel 10
The pages containing the Books of Samuel (1 & 2 Samuel) Leningrad Codex (1008 CE).
BookFirst book of Samuel
Hebrew Bible partNevi'im
Order in the Hebrew part3
CategoryFormer Prophets
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part10

Text

This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 19 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).[7] Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q51 (4QSama; 100–50 BCE) with extant verses 4–7, 18–19.[8][9][10][11]

Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).[12][lower-alpha 1]

Old Testament references

Analysis

The historic wars with Ammon and Aram are recorded in 2 Samuel 10–12 in connection with the David-Bathsheba affair and the succession narrative thereafter.[5]

This chapter comprises 3 parts:[16]

  1. Humiliation of David's envoys by the Ammonites (10:1–5)
  2. Joab's victory over the Ammonites (10:6–14)
  3. David's victory over the Arameans (10:15–19)

At the center of the chapter, Joab, David's commander, prayed for divine assistance: "may the Lord do what seems good to him" (verse 12) and God heard his prayer, confirming that God helps David (and his army) "wherever he went" (2 Samuel 8:6, 14).[16]

Humiliation of David's envoys by the Ammonites (10:1–5)

The section begins with a Hebrew clause "wayehî ’a-ḥă-rê-ḵên", "and-happened after this" ("after this" or "and it came to pass"),[17] indicating an indeterminate period of time since the events of the last chapter.[18][lower-alpha 2] The death of Nahash the king of the Ammonites, an ally of David, prompted David to send a mourning delegate to pay his respects and to maintain a good relationship with Hanun, Nahash's son and successor, but Hanun who suspected David's motives, humiliated the envoys.[20] It was not uncommon in the region that during the transition of power a neighboring kingdom would attack an inexperienced king, just as the Philistines tried to attack David upon his anointing in Hebron (2 Samuel 2:1), or the Moabites rebelled against Ahaziah the new king of Israel, when Ahab, his father, was dead (2 Kings 1:1; 3:5).[18]

The structure of this section is as follows:[18]

Setting (10:1)
A. David sends envoys (10:2)
B. Hanun hears accusations against the envoys (10:3a)
C. The accusations (10:3b)
B'. Hanun believes the accusations and humuliates the envoys (10:4)
A'. David's sends word to the envoys (9:5)

The episode begins and ends in David's court, while the central event happens in Hanun's court.[18]

Verse 2
Then David said, "I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness to me."
So David sent by the hand of his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the people of Ammon.[21]
  • "Show kindness": in Hebrew "khesed", which can be rendered as "do loyalty" (twice in this verse; cf. 2 Samuel 9:1).[18][22]
  • Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was Saul's enemy in 1 Samuel 11, so it is reasonable that he favored David.[19] Nahash attacked Jabesh-Gilead in c. 1049 BCE, so until his death in c. 998 BCE, he must have reigned at least 51 years.[19]

Joab's victory over the Ammonites (10:6–14)

Facing imminent retaliation from David for the humiliation of Israelite envoys, the Ammonites asked help from the Arameans (verse 6), which turned attention to four Aramean states: Zobah and Beth-rehob to the south, Maacah (Aram-Maacah in 1 Chronicles 19:6) north of Manasseh in Transjordan, and Tob, further south.[23] Comparing with the narrative in 2 Samuel 8:3–5, the course of the Aramean conflict could be reconstructed as follows:

  • a first battle outside the gate of Rabbah (10:6–14);
  • a second battle in the region of Helem in northern Gilead (10:15–19);
  • a final and decisive battle in which Hadadezer's coalition was conquered (8:3–8).[23]

Joab successfully fought battle in Rabbah on two fronts, but was not in a position to take more advantage, so he returned to Jerusalem (verse 14).[23]

Verse 14
When the Ammonites saw the Arameans flee, they fled before his brother Abishai and went into the city. Joab withdrew from fighting the Ammonites and returned to Jerusalem.[24]
  • "Joab withdrew from fighting the Ammonites and returned to Jerusalem": in Hebrew: "“and Joab returned from against the sons of Ammon and entered Jerusalem.”[25]

David's victory over the Arameans (10:15–19)

The fight under the leadership of David himself gave a much better result: the Syrians fled before David, who killed many of them, including Shobach, Hadadezer's commander (verse 18), effectively neutralizing the power of Aram.[26] After this defeat Hadadezer's vassals transferred their allegiance to David (verse 19). [23]

Verse 19
And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.[27]

There is a Hebrew wordplay in this verse: Hadarezer's servants "see" (wayyir'u) that they are defeated, so the Syrians (Arameans) "fear" (wayyire'u) to help the Ammonites again.[28]

See also

Notes
  1. The whole book of 2 Samuel is missing from the extant Codex Sinaiticus.[13]
  2. The clause "wayehî ’a-ḥă-rê-ḵên", "and-happened after this", occurs 10 times in the Hebrew Bible, six times in the Books of Samuel (1 Samuel 24:5; 2 Samuel 2:1; 8:1; 10:1; 13:1; 21:18) and twice in the parallel passages in the Books of Chronicles (1 Chronicles 18:1; 19:1), with twice in the Book of Judges[19]

References
  1. Halley 1965, p. 184.
  2. Hirsch, Emil G. "SAMUEL, BOOKS OF". www.jewishencyclopedia.com.
  3. Knight 1995, p. 62.
  4. Jones 2007, p. 197.
  5. Jones 2007, p. 220.
  6. Coogan 2007, p. 459 Hebrew Bible.
  7. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.
  8. Ulrich 2010, pp. 300–301.
  9. Dead sea scrolls - 2 Samuel
  10. Fitzmyer 2008, p. 35.
  11. 4Q51 at the Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library
  12. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
  13.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Codex Sinaiticus". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  14. 2 Samuel 10, Berean Study Bible
  15. Steinmann 2017, pp. 185–187.
  16. Morrison 2013, p. 126.
  17. 2 Samuel 10:1 Hebrew Text Analysis. Biblehub
  18. Morrison 2013, p. 127.
  19. Steinmann 2017, p. 185.
  20. Jones 2007, pp. 220–221.
  21. 2 Samuel 10:2 NKJV
  22. Note on 2 Samuel 10:2 in NET Bible
  23. Jones 2007, p. 221.
  24. 2 Samuel 10:14 NET Bible
  25. Note on 2 Samuel 10:14 in NET Bible
  26. Steinmann 2017, p. 187.
  27. 2 Samuel 10:19 ESV
  28. Morrison 2013, pp. 126, 133.

Sources

Commentaries on Samuel
  • Auld, Graeme (2003). "1 & 2 Samuel". In James D. G. Dunn and John William Rogerson (ed.). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802837110.
  • Bergen, David T. (1996). 1, 2 Samuel. B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 9780805401073.
  • Chapman, Stephen B. (2016). 1 Samuel as Christian Scripture: A Theological Commentary. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1467445160.
  • Collins, John J. (2014). "Chapter 14: 1 Samuel 12 – 2 Samuel 25". Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures. Fortress Press. pp. 277–296. ISBN 978-1451469233.
  • Evans, Paul (2018). Longman, Tremper (ed.). 1-2 Samuel. The Story of God Bible Commentary. Zondervan Academic. ISBN 978-0310490944.
  • Gordon, Robert (1986). I & II Samuel, A Commentary. Paternoster Press. ISBN 9780310230229.
  • Hertzberg, Hans Wilhelm (1964). I & II Samuel, A Commentary (trans. from German 2nd edition 1960 ed.). Westminster John Knox Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0664223182.
  • Morrison, Craig E. (2013). Berit Olam: 2 Samuel. Liturgical Press. ISBN 978-0814682913.
  • Steinmann, Andrew (2017). 2 Samuel. Concordia commentary: a theological exposition of sacred scripture. Concordia Publishing House. ISBN 9780758650061.

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