God gave David victory wherever he went (2 Sam 8-10)

Episode 121: God gave David victory wherever he went

2 Samuel 8-10

8 ¹ David smote the Philistines (again) and subdued them.

² He also smote Moab, casting them to the ground, using a rope to measure two groups: two lengths of rope for those to be killed, one length for those to be enslaved.

^3-4 He smote king Hadadezer, mutilated the horses, and took 700 horsemen.

⁵ He killed 22,000 Syrians.

¹² He also plundered Syria, Moab, Ammon, the Philistines, Amalekites, and Zobah.

¹³ But David really made a name for himself when he killed 18,000 Syrians at the valley of salt.

¹⁴ And he made the Edomites his servants.

God gave him victory wherever he went.

David finds someone in Saul's family to be kind to (for Jonathan's sake)

9 David said, "Is there anyone in Saul's family that hasn't been killed?"

² So a servant named Ziba from Saul's household was called to David.

³ He said to David,

Yes, one of Jonathan's sons is still alive. Both of his feet are lame.

⁴ So they fetched Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth, and he fell on his face before David.

⁷ David said to him, "Don't be afraid. I'll be kind to you for Jonathan's sake."

⁸ He said, "Why should you be kind to a dead dog like me?"

⁹ David said to Ziba,

I have given Mephibosheth everything that belonged to Saul.

¹⁰ He will eat at my table.

¹³ So Mephibosheth moved to Jerusalem and ate at David's table.

Hanun embarrasses David's messengers (by exposing their buttocks)

10 ^1-2 When the king of Ammon died, his son, Hanun, became king. David said,

I'll be kind to Hanun, since his father, Nahash, was kind to me.

So David sent messengers to comfort Hanun.

³ But the princes of Ammon said to Hanun,

Do you really think David honors your father?

His messengers aren't here to comfort you. They're here to spy on us and overthrow your kingdom.

⁴ So Hanun took David's messengers and shaved off half of their beards, cut their clothes in half, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.

⁵ David told them to stay in Jericho until their beards grew back.

David fights Ammon and Syria (and kills 40,700 of them)

⁶ The Ammonites hired 33,000 Syrians to help them fight against David.

⁷ When David heard about it, he sent Joab and all his mighty men.

^9-10 As the Ammonites and the Syrians gathered for war, Joab came up with a plan. He told his brother Abishai:

¹¹ If the Syrians are too much for me, come help me.

If the Ammonites are too much for you, I'll help you.

¹² And let God do whatever he wants.

¹³ So the battle began. And the Syrians fled from Joab, and the Ammonites fled from Abishai.

¹⁸ David killed 700 chariot men and 40,000 horsemen.

¹⁹ After the battle, the Syrians made peace with Israel, and were afraid to help the Ammonites again.

A few more words about this episode

He also smote Moab. (8:2)

In 1 Samuel 22:3-4 while David was an outlaw, David asked the king of Moab to protect his mother and father and allow them to live in Moab. I guess now he's paying them back for their kindness.

Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth (9:4)

Mephibosheth's feet were permanently injured when he was five years old (2 Samuel 4:4) so he would be one of "the lame and blind" that are hated by David's soul (2 Samuel 5:8). So it's somewhat ironic that David would be kind to him now.

But maybe since Mephibosheth was the last surviving male descendant of Saul, and therefore had a claim to the throne, David wanted to keep an eye on him.

I'll be kind to Hanun, since his father, Nahash, was kind to me. (10:2)

Nahash was the Ammonite king who gave the people of Jabesh-Giliead that strange deal: I'll make a treaty with you if you let me poke out your right eyes. (Episode 105, 1 Samuel 11) That's all we know about him. But I guess because Nahash was an enemy of Saul that was enough for David to say Nahash was kind to him. (The enemy of my enemy is my friend.)