And Hadarezer sent, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river; and they came to Helam; and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer [went] before them.
Hadadezer has lost to David once, but he will not accept the result. He sends across the Euphrates for fresh Syrian troops and puts Shobach, his army commander, at their head. Why does a beaten power keep coming back? And what does it take to end a war, instead of just winning a round of it?
This is not Syria's first clash with David. One writer reads the new army as a try at settling an old score:
Syria was still not willing to admit total defeat. Hadadezer was the Syrian king of Zobah. We have read in Chapter 8:3-8 how David soundly defeated him. He was clearly thirsting for revenge, so he mustered a larger army. He enlisted Syrians from east of the Euphrates River to add to his own large company.
The king's name is spelled two ways in Scripture. One writer takes that difference as deliberate:
Hadad-ezer (elsewhere Hadarezer) is a notable king of Zobah. The difference is slight in Hebrew: drop the small shoulder on a "d" and it becomes an "r." Still, I cannot help believing it was designed. Hadar means "glory, honour," and is the more common form; but Hadad is "shouting, noise": sound, and nothing else. This kind of satire is often found in the changes of Hebrew names. Hadarezer means "glory is help," the first word being perhaps the name of their sun-god.
Ammon started the quarrel, yet the fighting is now decided elsewhere. One writer sees in the Syrian alliance a picture of something broader than one nation's ambition:
The Ammonites turn to their natural allies. The Syrians picture the pride of the world in its various forms. That pride goes hand in hand with the twisting of the truth we recognise in the Ammonite. In all error you will find some link with a heart that is not subject to God.
Helam, the place they gather, has a meaning of its own. One writer reads the scene forward to a final conflict:
The final victory waits for David in person — that is, for Christ in the day of His appearing. The pride of the world will not be truly struck down until He comes. When He comes, the day of Armageddon will find it in Helam, the place of "their strength," banded together in opposition against Him. Human pride will then reach its full height, and the opposition in man's heart will come fully out... Then Shobach, the "shedder" of blood, the commander of Hadarezer's ("Glory-help's") army, shall himself be slain, and war between man and man shall end.
Joab had already driven the Syrians off once. One writer counts that win as worth nothing, because it left the work undone:
Joab wins the victory, but it is a useless victory. The children of Ammon and the Syrians flee; the Ammonites go back into their city. They are simply beaten back rather than conquered or taken prisoner. There is no fruit from this battle; it must all be begun again. David had handed over to another man's hands the responsibility God had entrusted to him personally. This lesson is brought home to him gently, for David does not suffer a defeat; but the Lord's instruction makes him return to the true path.
Shobach's march to Helam shows the work was not finished.
Behind the massed chariots and horsemen stands a small act of contempt toward David's messengers. Writers see a settled principle running through the chapter:
When grace is despised by those to whom it is shown, the king's judgment follows. Opposition and rebellion only serve to establish his authority in the very place where resistance is attempted. It is useless to strive against the power of God's chosen king.
- Grace refused. The campaign starts with grace despised. Refused grace does not end the story; it begins the judgment.
- Strength gathered. Hadadezer has lost once, so he reaches beyond the Euphrates for more troops. A beaten enemy will not admit defeat.
- Strength named. The king's name means "glory is help." His commander's name means "shedder of blood." Helam is the place of their strength — human pride gathering all it has.
- King in person. Joab's earlier win only pushed the enemy back, and the work had to be done again. The final victory waits for David in person.
- Strength broken. Shobach falls, and war between man and man ends — a picture, one writer suggests, of the day when Christ appears.
And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over the Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him.
Joab's earlier win had driven the Syrians back but had not broken them. The Ammonites now called in more Syrians from beyond the river. This time David went out himself, and the commentators treat that one fact as the turning point of the chapter.
Joab fought the first battle of this chapter while David stayed in Jerusalem. One writer reads the outcome as a quiet correction rather than a defeat.
Joab wins the victory but it is a useless victory. The children of Ammon and the Syrians flee; the former go back into their city. They are simply beaten back rather than conquered or taken prisoner. There is no fruit from this battle; it must all be begun again. David had given another man the responsibility God entrusted to him personally. The Lord teaches him this lesson very gently, for David does not suffer a defeat. But the Lord's instruction brings him back to the true path.
Why was Joab's success incomplete? One writer answers that the issue was never troop strength but who led them.
David hears of their alliance and sends Joab against them, and with him all the army of mighty men. The Lord did not want Joab and his mighty men, He wanted David. He gave them victory. But He did not show His presence and power as He did when David overcame the Philistines, when the tops of the mulberry trees announced that the Lord of hosts was there. Is there not in this absence of David a forgetfulness of the special place God had given him? He was anointed to be the leader of the people. Even Abner could say that God would save His people from all their enemies by the hand of David (2 Sam. 3:18). "By the hand of David" is certainly more than sending Joab to lead Israel in the fight. It is David's presence that God wants, so that no one else can claim the victory.
David's timing matters as much as his presence.
When David received news of this gathering, he did not wait for the Syrians to cross the Jordan and attack Israel. He gathered all Israel to cross the Jordan going eastward, to meet the enemy before they came near Jerusalem (v.17). This gave them no time to plot any special strategy. The battle was evidently not very long. The Syrians again fled. David's men killed 700 charioteers and 40,000 horsemen. That was an enormous loss for an army that had never claimed that many before (v.6).
The difference between the two battles shows in what happened afterwards.
No doubt they hired chariots, but it was useless! And further, they called in the Syrians, but they were no help. Israel beat them. Then they tried the Syrians beyond the river. Perhaps they would do better. The Syrians fled before Israel, so completely that the slaughter was total. "And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore."
The chapter closes with a gain that is not military.
David must have received instruction from such an event. He had shirked his responsibility, but now in the school of God he had learned the danger of this holding back.
One writer reads the names in this battle as a picture of a battle still to come.
But the final victory waits for David in person, that is, for Christ in the day of His appearing. The pride of the world will not be struck down for good until He comes. When He comes, the day of Armageddon will find it in Helam, the place of "their strength," banded together in opposition against Him... This is when the beast and the kings of the earth "will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them." Then Shobach, the "shedder" of blood, the commander of Hadadezer's ("Glory-help's") army, will himself be killed, and war between man and man will end.
- Absence. David sent Joab and stayed behind. The victory that followed bore no fruit: it pushed the enemy back but did not break him.
- Presence. God was not short of soldiers; He wanted the anointed king at the head of them, so no one else could claim the win.
- Initiative. David acts himself. He gathers all Israel, crosses the Jordan, and strikes before the enemy can reach Jerusalem or make a plan.
- Submission. Retreat turns into surrender. Hadadezer's servants make peace with David and stop helping Ammon.
- Appearing. The king coming out in person points to Christ. At His appearing He will break the world's gathered strength.