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2 Samuel 10:17

in 2 Samuel 10

When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, and went to Helam. Then the Arameans arrayed themselves against David and fought against him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel together, and passed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him.

KJV

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.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 10

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
And when it was told David,.... What preparations the Syrians were making to fight him, and where they were: he gathered all Israel together; all the fighting men in the country: and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam: which, according to Bunting (b), was twenty miles from Jerusalem.

This site's exposition

passed over Jordan, and came to Helam

on 2 Samuel 10:17-19

This time David takes the field himself, gathers all Israel, crosses the Jordan, and meets the Syrians at Helam, where they break before Israel a second time and their commander Shobach dies in the rout. Every king who had served Hadarezer now makes peace with Israel and serves David instead, and the coalition that hired itself out to Ammon at the chapter's opening will not help them again. Wesley reads the outcome as the promise of the Euphrates border made to Abraham and repeated to Joshua reaching further than it had before, so a war that began over a shaved beard ends with Israel's border pressed toward where the covenant had said it would stand.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

David - gathered all Israel together - He thought that such a war required his own presence.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Shovach the commander of Hadarezer's aray. Because he was very mighty and powerful, he is mentioned by name.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Samuel 10:16:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

17 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֻּגַּ֣דand it was told

    vaiyugadH5046 →370 times

  • לְדָוִ֗ד סto David

    ledavidH1732 →999 times

  • וַיֶּאֱסֹ֤ףand he gathered

    vaiyeesofH622 →200 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וַיַּעֲבֹ֣רand he passed over

    vaiyaavorH5674 →556 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ןthe Jordan

    haiyardenH3383 →182 times

  • וַיָּבֹ֖אand he came

    vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times

  • חֵלָ֑אמָהHelam towards

    chelamahH2431 →

  • וַיַּעַרְכ֤וּand they deployed

    vaiyaarkhuH6186 →74 times

  • אֲרָם֙Aram

    ʾaramH758 →143 times

  • לִקְרַ֣אתto meet

    likratH7122 →139 times

  • דָּוִ֔דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • וַיִּלָּחֲמ֖וּand they did battle

    vaiyilachamuH3898 →177 times

  • עִמּֽוֹ׃with him

    imoH5973 →1050 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

1 in all, six open

The walk

2 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Chronicles 19:17

    When this was reported to David, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan, advanced toward the Arameans, and arrayed for battle against them. When David lined up to engage them in battle, they fought…

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 19:9

      The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance to the city, while the kings who had come stayed by themselves in the open country.

    • Isaiah 22:6–7

      Elam takes up a quiver, with chariots and horsemen, and Kir uncovers the shield.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

David Attacks the Ammonites — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
David Attacks the Ammonites — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 10 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.

Read on in 2 Samuel 10 →