Chapter 10 of Shmuel B opens with an act of gratitude and closes on a battlefield. King David wishes to repay a kindness done to him by the king of the people of Ammon, who treated him well during his flight from Shaul. He sends a delegation of consolation to the king's son, and the delegation is received with terrible disgrace. From this unfolds a great war against Ammon and against the four Aramean kingdoms that hired themselves out to assist them. In this lesson we will follow the order of the pesukim, examine the explanations of the Malbim, and bring the words of Chazal and the commentators that illuminate the passage and the moral lesson that emerges from it.
וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי־כֵן וַיָּמׇת מֶלֶךְ בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן וַיִּמְלֹךְ חָנוּן בְּנוֹ תַּחְתָּיו׃ - And it came to pass after this that the king of the people of Ammon died, and Chanun his son reigned in his place.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶעֱשֶׂה־חֶסֶד עִם־חָנוּן בֶּן־נָחָשׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה אָבִיו עִמָּדִי חֶסֶד וַיִּשְׁלַח דָּוִד לְנַחֲמוֹ בְּיַד־עֲבָדָיו אֶל־אָבִיו וַיָּבֹאוּ עַבְדֵי דָוִד אֶרֶץ בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן׃ - And David said: I will show kindness to Chanun the son of Nachash, just as his father showed kindness to me. And David sent to console him by the hand of his servants concerning his father, and the servants of David came to the land of the people of Ammon.
The king of the people of Ammon, whose name was Nachash, died, and his son Chanun reigned in his place. David wishes to show kindness to Chanun the son of Nachash, and the reason is stated explicitly in the pasuk: "just as his father showed kindness to me." Therefore he sends a delegation to console him over the death of his father.
The Yalkut Shimoni (remez 147) asks: what kindness did Nachash do for David? Rabbi Berechya said in the name of Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat: when David was fleeing from Shaul, he and his entire father's household went to the people of Moav, and he said to them, take in my father's household, as it says "And he pleaded before the king of Moav and said: Let my father and my mother stay with you." They took them in. And once David departed, the king of Moav rose and killed David's father, his mother, and his brothers. The king of Moav was a great wicked man. Not one of them remained except one, who fled from the king of Moav and went to Nachash king of the people of Ammon. The king of Moav sent to Nachash and said to him: perhaps one of David's brothers came to you? The king of Moav continued to pursue David's family. Nachash said to him: no. And he guarded him until David came. Nachash was a king of kindness, for he protected David's brother. That is why David said, "I will show kindness to Chanun the son of Nachash."
וַיֹּאמְרוּ שָׂרֵי בְנֵי־עַמּוֹן אֶל־חָנוּן אֲדֹנֵיהֶם הַמְכַבֵּד דָּוִד אֶת־אָבִיךָ בְּעֵינֶיךָ כִּי־שָׁלַח לְךָ מְנַחֲמִים הֲלוֹא בַּעֲבוּר חֲקֹר אֶת־הָעִיר וּלְרַגְּלָהּ וּלְהׇפְכָהּ שָׁלַח דָּוִד אֶת־עֲבָדָיו אֵלֶיךָ׃ - And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Chanun their lord: Do you think that David is honoring your father in your eyes, that he has sent you consolers? Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search out the city, to spy on it and to overthrow it?
The princes of Ammon say to Chanun: do not be naive, do not be seduced by the honor that David supposedly comes to bestow upon you. Know that his entire purpose is to spy out the city. And what is the source of their suspicion? The Yalkut Shimoni continues: they said to him, the Holy One, blessed be He, wrote in His Torah "An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter the congregation of Hashem," and it is written "You shall not seek their peace or their welfare all your days." Would David, for our sake, nullify the words of his God? David is known as a righteous man, so would he suddenly become wicked and nullify the words of his God? Of necessity, "has he not sent his servants in order to search out the city." And immediately - "And Chanun took David's servants."
The Radak brings the Midrash: "Do not seek their peace and their welfare" - you find that anyone who approaches them with the trait of mercy ultimately comes to disgrace. Whoever thinks to deal with them in a human way, in a way of mercy and kindness, ultimately comes to disgrace. And who is this? As it says, "I will show kindness to Chanun" - and in the end he came to disgrace, for Chanun took David's servants and shaved off half their beards and cut off their garments, and in the end David was compelled to wage war against four nations: the Children of Ammon, Aram Tzova, Ish Tov, and the king of Maacha. And who caused David all this? That he sought to do good with one about whom the Holy One, blessed be He, had said, "Do not seek their peace and their welfare." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to David: I wrote "Do not seek their peace and their welfare," and you do kindness with them? "Do not be overly righteous." And what is "overly righteous"? To be righteous beyond what the Torah commanded. From here, says the Midrash, that a person should not be lenient concerning the Torah.
It is still difficult: how could David do such a thing? He must have had room for error, some reasoning. The Malbim explains in the name of the Hagahot Maimoniyot in the name of the Ra'em (Rabbi Eliezer of Metz, one of the Rishonim): to seek the welfare of a private individual who did you a favor, in order to repay him with a favor, is permitted. The prohibition of "Do not seek their peace and their welfare" was said regarding the community, the nation as a whole, the kingdom and the land, but toward a private individual there is no prohibition in this.
From here we also understand why David did not send words of thanks to Nachash himself during his lifetime: had he sent a delegation while Nachash was still alive, it would necessarily have been perceived as extending peace to the entire kingdom, since a delegation to the king is a delegation to the kingdom, and that is forbidden. Therefore David waited until the king died, and then sent to comfort Chanun over the death of his father, a personal and private matter, the repaying of one person's kindness to another, and not a political peace treaty. This was David's reasoning, and therefore he did not understand that there was any prohibition in it.
And by the way, this very point served as proof in the mouths of the officers of the Children of Ammon: if David is so full of kindness and gratitude, why did he not thank your father during his lifetime? Why specifically now? The whole matter is a deception, he is merely seeking a pretext to spy out the city, and he found himself an excuse that once your father did him a kindness.
And why, then, was David punished after all? The Malbim is precise in the language of the verse: "And the servants of David came to the land of the Children of Ammon." It does not say that they came to Chanun son of Nachash, but rather "the land of the Children of Ammon" - they appeared as coming to the land as a whole. Everyone who saw them saw a governmental delegation coming to the kingdom of the Children of Ammon, and consequently the matter was perceived as a general peace treaty with the land. Even though the main purpose of the mission was to comfort Chanun in a private manner, in any case that is how it was perceived in the eyes of the kingdom and in the eyes of onlookers, and for this David was punished.
וַיִּקַּח חָנוּן אֶת־עַבְדֵי דָוִד וַיְגַלַּח אֶת־חֲצִי זְקָנָם וַיִּכְרֹת אֶת־מַדְוֵיהֶם בַּחֵצִי עַד שְׁתוֹתֵיהֶם וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם׃ - And Chanun took David's servants and shaved off half their beards and cut off their garments in the middle, up to their buttocks, and sent them away.
"Madveihem" means their garments, from the word "mad," a person's clothing. "Up to their buttocks" (shetoteihem) means up to their backsides, as in the phrase "with buttocks exposed," that their backsides were uncovered. And why specifically half? The Abarbanel explains, as brought by the Malbim: the act of the messengers was in their eyes composed of something good and something bad - good in terms of the comforting itself, and bad in terms of the suspicion that they came to spy out the land. And since this was so, the response too was split in half: half a beard to leave and half to remove, half a garment to leave and half to cut off.
וַיַּגִּדוּ לְדָוִד וַיִּשְׁלַח לִקְרָאתָם כִּי־הָיוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים נִכְלָמִים מְאֹד וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁבוּ בִירֵחוֹ עַד־יְצַמַּח זְקַנְכֶם וְשַׁבְתֶּם׃ - And they told David, and he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said: Stay in Yericho until your beards grow, and then return.
David sends men to meet them, to receive them, to conceal them, and to give them clothing. And the Radak asks: what was the great shame, such that they had to remain in Yericho until their beards grew? Surely they could have shaved off the other half as well and thereby prevented the shame! From here you learn, says the Radak, that it was not their custom to shave the beard, not even with scissors. Only mourners would shave their beards, as it is written "with beards shaved and garments torn," and shaving the beard was a disgrace, exactly the opposite of today, "except that they practice thus in these lands where we are," as he wrote hundreds of years ago. And so too the Ralbag: "And he shaved off half their beards" in order to disgrace them, and this is a sign that it was not their custom to shave their beards, for if it had been their custom to shave, they could have removed their shame by shaving off what remained. And not only did the majority practice thus (for then he could have said, I am among the minority), but rather all of them practiced thus, an absolute custom.
וַיִּרְאוּ בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן כִּי נִבְאֲשׁוּ בְּדָוִד וַיִּשְׁלְחוּ בְנֵי־עַמּוֹן וַיִּשְׂכְּרוּ אֶת־אֲרַם בֵּית־רְחוֹב וְאֶת־אֲרַם צוֹבָא עֶשְׂרִים אֶלֶף רַגְלִי וְאֶת־מֶלֶךְ מַעֲכָה אֶלֶף אִישׁ וְאִישׁ טוֹב שְׁנֵים־עָשָׂר אֶלֶף אִישׁ׃ - The children of Ammon saw that they had become odious to David, and the children of Ammon sent and hired Aram of Beit Rechov and Aram of Tzova, twenty thousand foot soldiers, and the king of Maachah, one thousand men, and Ish Tov, twelve thousand men.
"They had become odious" means they had fallen into conflict with David. They understood that David was now seeking a way to take revenge on them for the humiliating act. This was in effect a declaration of war, an insult that a rival nation cannot simply let pass. So they hired forces: Aram of Beit Rechov and Aram of Tzova, twenty thousand foot soldiers; the king of Maachah, one thousand men - that is twenty one thousand; and Ish Tov, twelve thousand - in all, thirty three thousand men. "Ish Tov" is the king, the lord of the land named "Tov," as it is said, "and he dwelt in the land of Tov," which was called so after its master.
וַיִּשְׁמַע דָּוִד וַיִּשְׁלַח אֶת־יוֹאָב וְאֵת כׇּל־הַצָּבָא הַגִּבֹּרִים׃ - David heard, and he sent Yoav and all the army, the mighty men.
"The mighty men" - the Metzudat Tziyon says this is as if written "and the mighty men."
וַיֵּצְאוּ בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן וַיַּעַרְכוּ מִלְחָמָה פֶּתַח הַשָּׁעַר וַאֲרַם צוֹבָא וּרְחוֹב וְאִישׁ־טוֹב וּמַעֲכָה לְבַדָּם בַּשָּׂדֶה׃ - The children of Ammon came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of the gate, and Aram of Tzova and Rechov and Ish Tov and Maachah were by themselves in the field.
The children of Ammon were afraid to go out to open battle, for they knew that the main grievance was aimed at them and that the enemy would try to strike specifically against them. So they stationed themselves "at the entrance of the gate": behind them was a great city, a wall, doors and a bolt, and if they saw the army approaching they could immediately go inside and shut the doors. From this you learn how mighty the children of Ammon were, and that is why they needed hired soldiers to fight in their place. Perhaps they also reasoned logically: since we have already paid the mercenaries, let them do the fighting. They remained at the entrance of the gate, and sent the rest out to the field.
וַיַּרְא יוֹאָב כִּי־הָיְתָה אֵלָיו פְּנֵי הַמִּלְחָמָה מִפָּנִים וּמֵאָחוֹר וַיִּבְחַר מִכֹּל בְּחוּרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּעֲרֹךְ לִקְרַאת אֲרָם׃ - Yoav saw that the battle was set against him from the front and from behind, and he chose from all the choice men of Israel and drew up in formation against Aram.
וְאֵת יֶתֶר הָעָם נָתַן בְּיַד אַבְשַׁי אָחִיו וַיַּעֲרֹךְ לִקְרַאת בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן׃ - And the rest of the people he placed in the hand of Avshai his brother, and he drew up in formation against the children of Ammon.
Yoav sees that the battle is coming against him from the front and from behind. The main fight is against the children of Ammon, but if he approaches the city to fight them, the four kings will remain behind him in the field - Aram of Beit Rechov, Aram of Tzova, the king of Maachah, and Ish Tov - and they will attack him from behind in a pincer movement. So he decided that first he must fight those in the field, and only after subduing them could he approach the city. To this end he divided the army in two: the large and elite division went out against Aram, and the rest of the people were placed in the hand of Avshai his brother as a reserve force, so that if the children of Ammon came out of the city to interfere in the battle against Aram, they would be neutralized.
וַיֹּאמֶר אִם־תֶּחֱזַק אֲרָם מִמֶּנִּי וְהָיִתָה לִּי לִישׁוּעָה וְאִם־בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן יֶחֶזְקוּ מִמְּךָ וְהָלַכְתִּי לְהוֹשִׁיעַ לָךְ׃ - And he said: If Aram proves too strong for me, then you shall come to my aid, and if the children of Ammon prove too strong for you, then I will come to save you.
Two forces coordinating with one another: we against Aram, you against the children of Ammon. If we find ourselves in difficulty, you come to our aid, and if you find yourselves in difficulty, we come to your aid.
The Minchat Shai brings from the Mesorah: in Divrei HaYamim the name "Avishai" is not mentioned at all, but throughout the entire book it is written "Avshai." The reason: Avishai was the son of Tzeruyah, David's sister, and his brothers were Yoav and Asahel. Why were they called by their mother's name? As we explained in earlier lessons, because Tzeruyah was of the royal line, sister of King David, and when they wished to state their lineage they would say: we are the sons of Tzeruyah, David's sister. It turns out that Avishai is the grandson of Yishai, and since the entire book of Divrei HaYamim was written for the honor and lineage of David, it would not be fitting that the grandson be called "Avishai," which is like the letters "Avi Yishai" (Yishai is my father), as if to say: Yishai is not only David's father but mine as well. And even though in fact he is his grandfather, we have already seen that there is no difference, as we find with Yitro who called the grandfather "father." Consequently there would be, as it were, a blemish upon David's honor, and therefore throughout Divrei HaYamim it is written "Avshai." And here, on a one time basis, it is written in Shmuel too as "Avshai" and not "Avishai."
חֲזַק וְנִתְחַזַּק בְּעַד־עַמֵּנוּ וּבְעַד עָרֵי אֱלֹהֵינוּ וַיהֹוָה יַעֲשֶׂה הַטּוֹב בְּעֵינָיו׃ - Be strong, and let us be strong, for our people and for the cities of our God, and may Hashem do what is good in His eyes.
"Be strong" - you and the people who are with you, "and let us be strong" - us too and the people who are with us. And for what purpose shall we be strong? "For our people" - that they not be led into captivity, "and for the cities of our God" - that the enemy not conquer them. And if even so we do not succeed - "and may Hashem do what is good in His eyes," for in the end it is the will of Hashem that prevails. There is no need here to inquire of the Urim veTumim, for all the inquiries of the Urim veTumim were made either when coming to attack, or in order to know in which way to defend; but here the enemy is coming to attack, and one must certainly defend.
Chazal say: four things require strengthening - Torah and good deeds, prayer and the way of the land. And from where do we know that the way of the land requires strengthening? As it is said, "Be strong and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God." And "the way of the land" here refers to war on behalf of the Land of Israel, which is also among the things that require strengthening. The Midrash there proves each of the four from a verse containing an expression of strengthening, such as regarding Torah - from Yehoshua, "only be strong and very courageous... that you turn not aside" from the Torah.
וַיִּגַּשׁ יוֹאָב וְהָעָם אֲשֶׁר עִמּוֹ לַמִּלְחָמָה בַּאֲרָם וַיָּנֻסוּ מִפָּנָיו׃ - And Yoav and the people who were with him drew near for battle against Aram, and they fled before him.
וּבְנֵי עַמּוֹן רָאוּ כִּי־נָס אֲרָם וַיָּנֻסוּ מִפְּנֵי אֲבִישַׁי וַיָּבֹאוּ הָעִיר וַיָּשׇׁב יוֹאָב מֵעַל בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן וַיָּבֹא יְרוּשָׁלִָם׃ - And the children of Ammon saw that Aram had fled, and they fled before Avishai and entered the city, and Yoav returned from the children of Ammon and came to Jerusalem.
Yoav draws near and succeeds in subduing the kings who were in the field, and the flight of Aram draws along with it a further flight: the children of Ammon see and flee before Avishai into the city. And since Yoav saw that they had fled into the city, he saw no need to continue fighting them, for as far as he was concerned he had already subdued them.
וַיַּרְא אֲרָם כִּי נִגַּף לִפְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֵּאָסְפוּ יָחַד׃ - And when Aram saw that they were defeated before Israel, they gathered together.
They said to themselves: now, when we are united, we will succeed.
וַיִּשְׁלַח הֲדַדְעֶזֶר וַיֹּצֵא אֶת־אֲרָם אֲשֶׁר מֵעֵבֶר הַנָּהָר וַיָּבֹאוּ חֵילָם וְשׁוֹבַךְ שַׂר־צְבָא הֲדַדְעֶזֶר לִפְנֵיהֶם׃ - And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Aram that was beyond the river, and they came to Chelam, with Shovach the commander of Hadadezer's army at their head.
Hadadezer sends and gathers even the Aram from beyond the river, and all their host comes. When Scripture mentions separately "Shovach the commander of Hadadezer's army," you already understand that they brought with them a sort of secret weapon, an especially powerful force in which they hoped to prevail: for if he is singled out on his own, it is a sign that there is something special about him. Rashi says that he was a mighty and very tyrannical man.
The Gemara in Tractate Sotah (42) says: the children of Ammon came relying on the victory of Shovach. And the Gemara asks: in one place it is written "Shovach" and in another it is written "Shofach" - elsewhere his name is mentioned with a peh rather than a beit. Rav and Shmuel: one said his name was Shofach, and why was he called Shovach? Because he was built like a dovecote (shovach), his size and stature being like a dovecote. And the other said his name was Shovach - that is how it was written on his identity card - and why was he called Shofach? Because anyone who saw him would spill (nishpach) before him like a jug, like a person who pours out a cup; anyone who saw such a man, a mountain of a man, would melt before him.
Likewise in Midrash Tehillim: why was he called Shovach? Because his stature was like this dovecote, which is tall. And why was he called Shofach? Because he would spill blood - woe to whoever fell into his hands. This man was a professional killer, a professional shedder of blood.
וַיֻּגַּד לְדָוִד וַיֶּאֱסֹף אֶת־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּעֲבֹר אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּן וַיָּבֹא חֵלָאמָה וַיַּעַרְכוּ אֲרָם לִקְרַאת דָּוִד וַיִּלָּחֲמוּ עִמּוֹ׃ - And it was told to David, and he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan and came to Chelam, and Aram arrayed itself against David and fought with him.
"Vayavo Chelama" - that is, Chelam, the same place mentioned earlier in "vayavo'u Chelam," the meaning being that they arrived at a city named Chelam, in the same form as "Mitzrayma."
וַיָּנׇס אֲרָם מִפְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּהֲרֹג דָּוִד מֵאֲרָם שְׁבַע מֵאוֹת רֶכֶב וְאַרְבָּעִים אֶלֶף פָּרָשִׁים וְאֵת שׁוֹבַךְ שַׂר־צְבָאוֹ הִכָּה וַיָּמׇת שָׁם׃ - And Aram fled before Israel, and David killed of Aram seven hundred chariots and forty thousand horsemen, and he struck down Shovach the commander of its army, and he died there.
Even the "secret weapon" buckled and fell before David's army.
וַיִּרְאוּ כׇל־הַמְּלָכִים עַבְדֵי הֲדַדְעֶזֶר כִּי נִגְּפוּ לִפְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּשְׁלִמוּ אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּעַבְדוּם וַיִּרְאוּ אֲרָם לְהוֹשִׁיעַ עוֹד אֶת־בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן׃ - And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated before Israel, they made peace with Israel and served them; and Aram was afraid to help the children of Ammon anymore.
Aram no longer entered into ventures of this kind. They saw that the "help" they had extended to the children of Ammon not only failed to accomplish anything, but caused enormous harm to themselves, and therefore they preferred to make peace with Israel and pay tribute to them.
The chapter opens with David's good intention to repay kindness to the son of his benefactor, and ends with a twofold war against the children of Ammon and Aram. The Malbim teaches that David relied on the permission to repay a favor to a private individual, and therefore he waited for the death of Nachash and sent personal condolences to Chanun; but because the matter appeared as the entry of a delegation into the entire "land of the children of Ammon," it was regarded as inquiring after the welfare of the kingdom, and for this he was punished. From here comes the lesson of Chazal: "Do not be overly righteous," and a person should not forgo the Torah out of a measure of kindness that is out of place. On the other hand, we learn from Yoav the way of faith in war: dividing the forces wisely, mutual responsibility among the fighters, "Be strong, and let us strengthen ourselves for our people and for the cities of our God" - and alongside all the planning, "and Hashem will do what is good in His eyes." In the end both the mighty warrior Shovach and all his allies fall, and Aram understands that there is no point in provoking Israel.