Guerra contra los amonitas
19:1-19 – 2S 10:1-19
1Pasado algún tiempo, murió Najás, rey de los amonitas, y su hijo lo sucedió en el trono. 2Entonces David pensó: «Debo ser leal con Janún, hijo de Najás, pues su padre lo fue conmigo». Así que envió a unos mensajeros para darle el pésame por la muerte de su padre.
Cuando los mensajeros de David llegaron al país de los amonitas para darle el pésame a Janún, 3los comandantes de ese pueblo le aconsejaron: «¿Y acaso cree usted que David ha enviado a estos mensajeros solo para darle el pésame y porque quiere honrar a su padre? ¿No será más bien que han venido a espiar y explorar el país para luego destruirlo?». 4Entonces Janún mandó que apresaran a los mensajeros de David y que les afeitaran media barba y cortaran su ropa por la mitad, dejándolos desnudos de la cintura hacia abajo. Y así los despidió.
5Los hombres de David se sentían muy avergonzados. Cuando David se enteró de lo que les había pasado, mandó que los recibieran y les dieran este mensaje de su parte: «Quédense en Jericó y no regresen hasta que les crezca la barba».
6Al darse cuenta Janún y los amonitas de que habían ofendido a David, enviaron mil talentos19:6 Es decir, aprox. 34 t. de plata para contratar carros y jinetes en Aram Najarayin,19:6 Aram Najarayin. Es decir, el noroeste de Mesopotamia. en Aram de Macá y en Sobá. 7Contrataron treinta y dos mil carros y al rey de Macá con su ejército, que acampó frente a Medeba. Por su parte, los amonitas salieron de sus ciudades y se dispusieron para el combate.
8Cuando David lo supo, despachó a Joab con todos los soldados del ejército. 9Los amonitas avanzaron hasta la entrada de su ciudad, pero los reyes que habían venido a reforzarlos se quedaron aparte, en campo abierto.
10Joab se vio amenazado por el frente y por la retaguardia, así que escogió a las mejores tropas israelitas para pelear contra los arameos. 11El resto de las tropas las puso al mando de su hermano Abisay, para que enfrentaran a los amonitas. 12A Abisay le ordenó: «Si los arameos pueden más que yo, tú vendrás a rescatarme; y si los amonitas pueden más que tú, yo te rescataré. 13¡Ánimo! Luchemos con valor por nuestro pueblo y por las ciudades de nuestro Dios. ¡Y que el Señor haga lo que bien le parezca!».
14Enseguida Joab y sus tropas avanzaron contra los arameos y estos huyeron de él. 15Al ver que los arameos se daban a la fuga, también los amonitas huyeron de Abisay y se refugiaron en la ciudad. Entonces Joab regresó a Jerusalén.
16Los arameos, al verse derrotados por Israel, enviaron mensajeros para pedir ayuda a los arameos que estaban al otro lado del río Éufrates. Sofac, comandante del ejército de Hadad Ezer, tomó el mando.
17Cuando David se enteró de esto, reunió a todo Israel, cruzó el Jordán y tomó posición de batalla contra los arameos. Estos lo atacaron, 18pero tuvieron que huir ante los israelitas. David mató a siete mil soldados que guiaban los carros de guerra y a cuarenta mil de infantería. También mató a Sofac, comandante del ejército arameo.
19Al ver que los arameos habían sido derrotados por los israelitas, todos los vasallos de Hadad Ezer hicieron la paz con David y se sometieron a él.
A partir de entonces, los arameos se negaron a ir en auxilio de los amonitas.
David Wins the Battle Over the Ammonites
1Nahash was king of Ammon. After he died, his son became the next king after him. 2David thought, “I’m going to be kind to Hanun. His father Nahash was kind to me.” So David sent messengers to Hanun. He wanted them to tell Hanun how sad he was that Hanun’s father had died. David’s messengers went to the land of Ammon. They told Hanun how sad David was.
3The Ammonite commanders spoke to Hanun. They said, “David has sent messengers to tell you he is sad. They say he wants to honor your father. But the real reason they’ve come is to look the land over. They want to destroy it.” 4So Hanun grabbed David’s messengers. He shaved them. He cut off their clothes just below the waist and left them half naked. Then he sent them away.
5Someone came and told David what had happened to his men. So David sent messengers to them because they were filled with shame. King David said to them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out again. Then come back here.”
6The Ammonites realized that what they had done had made David very angry with them. So Hanun and the Ammonites got 38 tons of silver. They used it to hire chariots and chariot riders from Aram Naharaim, Aram Maakah and Zobah. 7They hired 32,000 chariots and riders. They also hired the king of Maakah and his troops. All of them came out and camped near Medeba. At the same time the Ammonites brought their troops together from their towns. Then they marched out to fight.
8David heard about it. So he sent Joab out with the entire army of Israel’s fighting men. 9The Ammonites marched out. They took up their battle positions at the entrance to their city. The kings who came to help them gathered their troops together in the open country.
10Joab saw that there were lines of soldiers in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best troops in Israel. He sent them to march out against the Arameans. 11He put the rest of the men under the command of his brother Abishai. They were sent to march out against the Ammonites. 12Joab said, “Suppose the Arameans are too strong for me. Then you must come and help me. But suppose the Ammonites are too strong for you. Then I’ll come and help you. 13Be strong. Let’s be brave as we fight for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what he thinks is best.”
14Then Joab and the troops with him marched out to attack the Arameans. They ran away from him. 15The Ammonites realized that the Arameans were running away. So they also ran away from Joab’s brother Abishai. They went inside the city. Then Joab went back to Jerusalem.
16The Arameans saw that they had been driven away by Israel. So they sent messengers to get some Arameans from east of the Euphrates River. The Arameans were under the command of Shophak. He was the commander of Hadadezer’s army.
17David was told about it. So he gathered together the whole army of Israel. They went across the Jordan River. David marched out against the Arameans. He lined up his soldiers opposite them. He lined them up to meet the Arameans in battle. The Arameans began to fight against him. 18But then they ran away from Israel. David killed 7,000 of their chariot riders. He killed 40,000 of their soldiers who were on foot. He also killed Shophak, the commander of their army.
19The people who were under the rule of Hadadezer saw that Israel had won the battle over them. So they made a peace treaty with David. They were brought under his rule.
After that, the Arameans wouldn’t help the Ammonites anymore.
