2 Samuel 12:26
in 2 Samuel 12Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
KJV
And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 12
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd took the royal city - How can this be, when Joab sent to David to come to take the city, in consequence of which David did come and take that city? The explanation seems to be this: Rabbah was composed of a city and citadel; the former, in which was the king’s residence, Joab had taken, and supposed he could soon render himself master of the latter, and therefore sends to David to come and take it, lest, he taking the whole, the city should be called after his name.
This site's exposition
took the royal city
on 2 Samuel 12:26-28
While the household drama of the chapter's first half plays out, the siege of Rabbah has been running in the background since chapter eleven opened with kings going out to battle and David staying home. Joab takes the city of waters, the lower town built on its stream, and sends word to David rather than finishing the conquest himself. John Wesley and Matthew Henry both read Joab's restraint as deference to his king's honour, calling David to the field so that the victory is counted to his name and not to his general's. The request also quietly restores David to the field he had avoided at the start of chapter eleven, the very absence that opened the door to Bathsheba.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the L ORD . And Nathan said unto David, The L ORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the L ORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:90%@v13-14
Royal city - That is, that part of the city where was the king's palace; though now it seems he was retired to a strong fort.
And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon,....
Herein he showed himself a faithful servant, that sought his master's honour, and his own only in subordination to his, and left an example to the servants of the Lord Jesus, in every thing they do, to consult his honour. Not unto us, but to thy name, give glory.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Joab fought against Rabbah--The time during which this siege lasted, since the intercourse with Bath-sheba, and the birth of at least one child, if not two, occurred during the progress of it, probably extended over two years.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּלָּ֣חֶם | vaiyilachem | and he fought | H3898 → | 177 times |
| יוֹאָ֔ב | yoav | Joab | H3097 → | 144 times |
| בְּרַבַּ֖ת | berabat | against Rabbah of | H7237 → | 15 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עַמּ֑וֹן | amon | Ammon | H5983 → | 106 times |
| וַיִּלְכֹּ֖ד | vaiyilkod | and he captured | H3920 → | 121 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עִ֥יר | ʾir | [the] city of | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| הַמְּלוּכָֽה׃ | hamelukhah | <the> royalty | H4410 → |
וַיִּלָּ֣חֶםand he fought
vaiyilachemH3898 →177 times
יוֹאָ֔בJoab
yoavH3097 →144 times
בְּרַבַּ֖תagainst Rabbah of
berabatH7237 →15 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
עַמּ֑וֹןAmmon
amonH5983 →106 times
וַיִּלְכֹּ֖דand he captured
vaiyilkodH3920 →121 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עִ֥יר[the] city of
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
הַמְּלוּכָֽה׃<the> royalty
hamelukhahH4410 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Deuteronomy 3:11(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
it leads to
- Genesis 14:5
In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
- Jeremiah 49:2
Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned.…
- 1 Samuel 17:4
Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,
- Amos 2:9
Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and…
- Deuteronomy 2:11
Like the Anakites, they were also regarded as Rephaim, though the Moabites called them Emites.
- Genesis 14:5
Through
2 Samuel 11:25Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’…
it leads to
- Joshua 7:8–9
O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies?
- Ecclesiastes 9:1–3
So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or…
- 1 Samuel 6:9
but keep watching it. If it goes up the road to its homeland, toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has brought on us this great disaster. But if it does not, then we…
- Joshua 7:8–9
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Samuel
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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.