And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
This chapter records David's sin, Nathan's rebuke and God's forgiveness. It ends by going back to the battlefield David had left to other men. Joab is still at Rabbah, and his success raises a plain question: what does a restored man do next?
The siege had been running since chapter 11 — the very campaign David stayed home from. One writer points back to the war David should have been fighting, and notes that the victory was not yet complete.
Verse 26 brings us back to the conquest of the Ammonites. This was the work that should have taken up David's energy at the time he stayed idle at home — the idleness that led to his sad fall. Joab and the army kept fighting and took possession of Rabbah, the royal city of Ammon. His victory seems to have been only partial at that point. He had clearly got inside the city, but there was still mopping up to do.
Those months of siege were also months of silence in David.
Some time passed after David committed this sin. The war against Ammon still went on. It began in the previous chapter, which covers nearly a year. The siege of Rabbah had not ended, and in those days a city could be under siege for years. Through that whole time David's conscience was silent, though his sin weighed on him and the fruit of his wrongdoing was in plain sight.
Rabbah was Ammon's capital, and the next verse gives it a second name — the city of waters.
The fortified capital of the Ammonites... Joab attacked it, and during the siege Uriah lost his life, because David arranged it... A stream rises in the middle of the city. That, and the fact that it was the last place to get water before crossing the desert, is surely why it was called "the city of waters."
So the wall Joab was now storming is the same wall where David had Uriah left to die.
Joab does not finish the job. He sends for the king — and commentators read his reason differently. One takes it as a nudge to David's conscience: "Joab would probably not have minded such honor, but he clearly wanted to stir David up to a sense of his own responsibility" (Leslie M. Grant). Another reads the same message as a bid to become necessary again.
Rabbah was already cut off from its water supply. When it fell, Joab sent this message to David: "Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name." What unselfishness! But is this not the way for him to win back control of the king's heart? David obeys... Joab has now made himself necessary again, and has regained the control he had lost.
Ammon's king in David's day was Nahash, and his name opens up what this nation pictures.
The king of Ammon is Nahash, a name that first of all means "serpent." It points to sorcery, divination and other satanic practices. So we see plainly how false teaching is tied to its author... It is the cunning of Satan that has mixed some outward forms of truth with the deadly poison of error.
Read that way, Joab's refusal to finish alone becomes instructive. "As a picture, this was a victory over satanic doctrine, and God meant the whole army to share in it, for it is no light matter to Him. All the people of God are to be fully united in such a conquest" (Leslie M. Grant).
David goes. That, in itself, is the mark of a soul set right.
At the close of this twelfth chapter (2 Sam. 12), we find David again in conflict with the enemy — his proper place. "So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah and fought against it and took it."
Yet the campaign also shows what the fall had cost him.
Everything was already right between his soul and God when he went to lay siege to Rabbah in 2 Samuel 12:26-31. The judgment on the children of Ammon was righteous and according to God's mind. Yet David seems to have mixed his own feelings into both his victory and his vengeance. His spiritual discernment no longer had the sharpness it once had. He takes the king's crown and sets it on his own head. In earlier days he had dedicated all the treasures of the nations to the Lord.
- Neglect — The battle David skipped is the battle still unfinished. The campaign he handed to others is where his fall began, and where the chapter ends.
- Rabbah — Ammon's fortified capital, the "city of waters," and the very place where David had Uriah left to die.
- Summons — Joab breaks in but stops short and calls the king. Commentators differ on whether he was prodding David's conscience or rebuilding his own hold on him.
- Enemy — Ammon's king was named serpent. The nation pictures error mixed with truth — an enemy God means all His people to face together, not a few.
- Restoration — Forgiveness puts David back in the field, his proper place. But the crown he sets on his own head shows that a forgiven man may still lack his old discernment.
And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters.
Joab has been battering the Ammonite capital while David stayed home in Jerusalem. Now he holds the city's water supply, and he sends word to the king instead of finishing the job. Why hand a victory back to an absent king? And why does the story of David's sin end with a call to the battlefield he avoided?
Rabbah was Ammon's fortified capital. Its other name in this verse comes from its water.
The fortified capital of the Ammonites… Joab attacked it, and during the siege Uriah lost his life because David arranged it. In the end the city was taken and destroyed… A stream rises in the middle of the city. That, and the fact that it was the last place to get water before crossing the desert, is no doubt why it was called "the city of waters."
This message comes at the end of a long campaign. It is the same siege during which Uriah died.
Some time passed after David committed this sin. The war against Ammon still went on. The siege of Rabbah was not yet finished, and we know that in those days a siege could last for years. Through that whole time David's conscience stayed silent, although his sin weighed on him and its fruit was plain before his eyes.
Joab's own words show the work is not done. He holds the water city, not the whole city. So he asks the king to bring up the rest of the army.
Verse 26 brings us back to the conquest of the Ammonites. This was work that should have taken David's energy at the time he was idle at home, which led to his sad fall. Joab and the army fought on and took Rabbah, the royal city of Ammon. His victory seems to have been only partial: he got inside the city, but there was still mopping up to do. So Joab sent to David, asking him to bring the rest of his army and finish taking the city.
Commentators differ on Joab's motive. Grant reads the message as a nudge to a king who had dropped his duty: Joab "evidently wanted to stir up David to a sense of his own responsibility." Rossier reads it as the move of a man who had lost his hold on David and needed a new way to matter.
He can no longer control his master through his secret crime. He must find another way to regain his influence. Rabbah had already lost its water supply, and when it fell Joab sent word to David: gather the rest of the people, camp against the city and take it, or I will take it and it will be called by my name. What unselfishness! But is this not the way he wins back control of the king's heart? David obeys… Now Joab is needed again, and has regained the control he had lost.
David does come. The delay cost him something, and the call to arms teaches who belongs in such a fight.
David accepted the rebuke, perhaps because his own honour was at stake, and went to battle. He clearly had no trouble subduing the city. If he had gone with Joab in the first place, the victory may have come more quickly, for David was a capable man of war. As a picture, this was a victory over satanic doctrine, and God meant the whole army to share in it, for it is no light matter to Him. All the people of God are to be fully united in such a conquest.
Joab feared the city would carry his name. Chronicles tells David's reign again, and there this scene stands with the fall left out.
Chronicles passes over the account of David and Bathsheba. It keeps only the first step down that steep slope: "But David remained at Jerusalem." Sovereign grace moves straight on to David taking the crown from the head of the king of Rabbah, a crown of gold set with precious stones, and it is set on David's head. This is not the restoration of the soul of a failing saint. It is God restoring David to his official position, as a picture of the One who is yet to come.
- Absence. David's fall began when he stayed home from a war he should have led. The siege of Rabbah drags on behind the whole story, while his conscience stays silent.
- Summons. Joab holds only the water city — a partial win — and calls the king to bring up the rest of the people and finish it.
- Motive. Commentators differ. One sees Joab prodding David back to his duty. Another sees a general rebuilding his own hold on the king.
- Return. David comes and the city falls with ease. Had he come at first, the win might have been quicker. God meant the whole army in it, not a part.
- Restoration. Grace puts the king back in the field and the crown on his head. Chronicles drops the fall and keeps the crown: God restoring him to his place, as a picture of the One who is yet to come.
And now gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city and take it lest I take the city and it be called by my name.
Joab has broken into Rabbah, the fortified capital of Ammon. The siege had dragged on while David stayed home and fell into sin. Now Joab is one push from the end, and instead of taking the honour himself he sends for the king. Commentators read that move in more than one way.
Joab's message pulls the story back to the battlefield David had left to others.
Verse 26 brings us back to the conquest of the Ammonites. This should have taken David's energies at the time. Instead he was idle at home, and that led to his sad fall. Joab and the army continued their fight and took possession of Rabbah, the royal city of Ammon. His triumph at the time seems to have been only partial. He had got into the city, but there was still clearing-up work to do. Joab therefore sent to David, asking him to bring the rest of his army and finish the taking of the city. He tells David that if Joab took the city, it might bear Joab's own name. Joab was probably not unwilling to have such honour himself. But he plainly wanted to wake David up to his own responsibility.
Commentators differ over what lay behind Joab's offer. One hears a calculated move behind the generous-sounding words.
When Rabbah fell, already cut off from its water supply, Joab sent this message to David… What selflessness! But is not this the means by which he may regain control of the king's heart? David obeys… Now Joab again has become indispensable and has regained the control that he had lost.
Another writer sets it inside Joab's lifelong policy. He removed rivals for second place, but never reached for the first.
He was content to be second in the kingdom. His worldly wisdom told him he could hold that place in safety, but he knew he could not reach for more without danger. He could get both Abner and Amasa out of his way when he thought they were moving into the place he had eyed for himself. But the first place he would leave with David. So he never plots against him. He is always watchful of David's interest, and always ready to let David take the chief post of honour.
The phrase Joab uses for what he has captured is not decoration. It points to what made the place worth holding.
The fortified capital of the Ammonites… A stream rises in the middle of the city, and this fact, together with its being the last place to get water before crossing the desert, was doubtless the reason it was called "the city of waters."
David answered this summons soon after burying his child. One writer sees God's discipline bearing fruit in him.
While the child lived, he pleaded with the Lord for it. He did not despise the Lord's chastening; he plainly felt it very deeply. But when the child is dead, he accepts God's will in perfect submission… We next find him at war against Rabbah, in the full tide of victory. He takes up the right path again, and honour and blessing come back to him. God shows him this: however unbending He is in righteousness, His love and His interest in him have not changed.
David was back in his place, but not unchanged. One writer weighs what he does with the captured crown against his earlier practice.
Everything was already in order between his soul and God when he went to lay siege to Rabbah. The judgment of the Ammonites was righteous and in line with God's mind. But David seems to have mixed his own feelings into his victory and his vengeance. His spiritual discernment no longer had the same sharpness as before. He takes the king's crown and sets it on his own head. In earlier days he had dedicated all the treasures of the nations to the Lord.
David came, and the city fell. One writer finds meaning in the call for the whole army.
David accepted the rebuke, perhaps because his own honour was at stake. He went to battle and took the city without difficulty. If he had gone with Joab at the start, he might have won sooner, for David was a capable man of war. As a picture, this was a victory over satanic teaching, and God meant the whole army to share in it, for it is no light matter to Him. All God's people are to stand fully united in such a conquest.
- Absence — David stayed home while the army besieged Rabbah, and that idleness led to his fall. The unfinished siege was the debt his sin left standing.
- Summons — Joab's word about the city bearing his name calls David back to a responsibility that was his own to carry.
- Motive — commentators differ. One sees a push toward duty. Another sees a bid to regain influence. A third sees a lifelong policy of leaving first place to the king.
- Return — David's march to Rabbah shows chastening bearing fruit. He takes up the right path again, and God's love and interest in him are unchanged.
- Residue — forgiveness restored him, yet the crown on his own head shows his discernment had dulled. Recovery is real, but it does not erase the cost.
And David gathered all the people, and went to Rabbah, and fought against it and took it.
David has just buried the child, confessed his sin, and heard that the Lord had put it away. Now he leaves Jerusalem for the siege at Rabbah — the campaign he had skipped the year before. What does a forgiven man look like once he is back on his feet?
The account turns from David's sin back to the siege it had left hanging. One writer explains why Joab sent word to the king:
Verse 26 brings us back to the conquest of the Ammonites. This was the work that should have taken up David's energy while he was idle at home — and that idleness led to his sad fall. Joab and the army continued their fight and took possession of Rabbah, the royal city of Ammon. But his triumph seems to have been only partial. He had got inside the city, but there was still mopping up to do. Joab therefore sent to David, asking him to bring the rest of his army and finish the taking of the city. He tells David that if he, Joab, took the city, it might be called by Joab's own name. Joab would hardly have objected to such honour, but he clearly wanted to stir David to a sense of his own responsibility.
Commentators differ on what lay behind Joab's message. One sees a general prodding his king back to duty. Another sees a calculated move by a man who had just lost his hold over David:
So all Joab's plans fail and all his selfish interests suffer. He can no longer dominate his master through his secret crime. He must find another way to regain his influence. Rabbah had already been cut off from its water supply. When the city fell, Joab sent this message to David: "Now then gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called by my name." What unselfishness! But is not this the means by which he may regain control of the king's heart? David obeys.
David did not go alone. He gathered everyone, and one writer sees why that mattered:
David accepted the rebuke — perhaps because his own honour was now at stake — and went to battle. He had no difficulty in subduing the city. If he had gone with Joab in the first place, the victory might have come sooner, for David was a capable man of war. As a picture, this was a victory over satanic doctrine. God intended the whole army to share in it, for such a thing is no light matter to Him. All the people of God are to be united in a conquest like this.
One writer notes where the close of the chapter leaves David:
At the close of this twelfth chapter, we find David again in conflict with the enemy — his proper place.
Another writer looks at what follows God's discipline:
We may come out of God's chastening with renewed strength and power, as David did. We next find him warring against Rabbah in the full tide of victory. He returns to the right path, and God grants him honour and blessing again. God shows him that, however unbending He is in righteousness, His love and interest in him are unchanged.
One writer notices a change in how David handled this victory:
Everything was already right between his soul and God when he went to lay siege to Rabbah in 2 Samuel 12:26-31. The judgment of the children of Ammon was righteous and according to God's mind. But David seems to have mixed his own feelings into both his victory and his vengeance. His spiritual discernment no longer had the sharpness it once had. He takes the king's crown and puts it on his own head. In earlier days he had dedicated all the treasures of the nations to the Lord.
The same writer applies this to anyone who has fallen and been restored:
When a believer falls by giving in to his own self-will, his soul loses a certain spiritual sharpness, even though it is restored. If he has come to despise fellowship with the Lord or to set little value on it, it takes him time to recover the spiritual understanding that goes with that fellowship. It is as though the fall had stopped his spiritual growth.
- Idleness — Rabbah was the work David should have been doing when he stayed home. That idleness led to his fall.
- Summons — Joab's message called the king back to his own duty. Commentators differ on whether Joab was also serving himself.
- Return — Fighting the enemy is David's proper place, and he comes out of God's discipline with renewed strength.
- Unity — He gathers all the people. God wants the whole army in a conquest He does not treat lightly.
- Scar — God's love is unchanged, yet the crown on his own head shows discernment that is no longer as sharp.
And he took the crown of their king from off his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold with [the] precious stones; and it was [set] on David's head; and he brought forth the spoil of the city in great abundance.
The child has died, and David is right with God again. The story now returns to the unfinished siege of Rabbah, Ammon's royal city — the war David stayed home from when he fell. There he takes the enemy king's crown and wears it. Is that the mark of a restored king, or a sign that his discernment had dulled? Commentators read it both ways.
The crown reaches David only because he leaves Jerusalem for the fight he had avoided. One writer sees a purpose behind Joab's push:
It is not likely that Joab was averse to such honor, but he evidently wanted to stir up David to a sense of his own responsibility.
Another writer marks where this leaves David:
At the close of this twelfth chapter (2 Sam. 12), we find David again in conflict with the enemy — his proper place.
How heavy was this crown? One writer weighs the figures, and then David's motive for wearing it:
The crown of the king of Ammon, weighing one talent of gold set with precious stones, was taken from his head and placed on David's head (v.30). Smith's Bible dictionary reckons a golden talent to weigh almost 200 pounds, though David's Dictionary lowers this to 131 pounds. It seems incredible that a man's head could carry this. Perhaps it is what we call "an exceeding weight of glory!" We might well wonder that David wanted honor so much that he would wear such a thing.
The name of Ammon, and the name of its king, both carry meaning:
Ammon means "peoplish," and its king was called Nahash (2 Sam. 10:2), which means "serpent." So Ammon stands for a party-minded religion that puts the emphasis on the people, but Satan is the energy behind it.
So the same writer sees more at stake in taking Rabbah than land:
As a picture, this was a victory over satanic doctrine, and God intended the whole army to take part in it, for it is no light matter to Him. All the people of God are to be fully united in such a conquest.
Commentators differ on whether David's wearing this crown is a good sign. One reads it against David's earlier habit with captured treasure:
Everything was already in order between David's soul and God when he went to lay siege to Rabbah in 2 Samuel 12:26-31. The judgment on the children of Ammon was righteous and in line with God's mind. But David seems to have mixed his own feelings into both his victory and his vengeance. His spiritual discernment was no longer as sharp as it had been. He takes the king's crown and sets it on his head, while in earlier days (2 Sam. 8:11; cf. 1 Chr. 20:2) he had dedicated all the treasures of the nations to the Lord.
The verse also records a huge haul of spoil. Earlier, David had handled spoil like this:
David dedicates to the Lord all the spoil from the victory over the enemy (vv. 11-12), and Toi's freewill offerings as well. He claims none of it for himself.
One writer notices what the parallel account in Chronicles does with this moment:
The account of David and Bathsheba fills two chapters in Samuel (2 Sam. 11-12). Chronicles passes it over, apart from the first step down that steep slope: "But David remained at Jerusalem." Sovereign grace moves straight on to David taking the crown from the head of the king of Rabbah, a crown of gold set with precious stones, and it is placed on David's head. This is not the restoring of the soul of a saint who has failed. It is God restoring David to his official position, as a picture of the One who is yet to come.
The reason offered for that silence is not that the sin was small:
Why is the sin not recorded? Was it not terrible? (Job 26:9-11). Yes, it was. But the Holy Spirit is showing here how useless Satan's attempt was: he tried to use David's failure to ruin the kingdom through him. To Satan, David was the expression of the kingdom of God.
- Restored. Before the siege began, everything was already in order between David's soul and God.
- Recalled. Joab's message pulled David out of the palace and back to the fight he had skipped. Facing the enemy is his proper place.
- Crowned. Ammon's gold crown ends up on David's head. Seen from God's side, this is grace restoring him to his official position, a picture of the King still to come.
- Guarded. Satan tried to ruin the kingdom through David's fall. The record shows how useless that attempt was.
- Warned. The man who once kept none of the spoil for himself now wears the enemy's crown. Restored standing and sharp discernment are not the same thing.
And he brought out the people that were in it, and put them under the saw, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkilns. And so did he to all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
Rabbah has fallen, and David wears the Ammonite king's crown. The captured people are then put to hard labour with saws, iron tools and kilns, in a scene that raises two questions: what did David do, and was it justice or private revenge?
Commentators do not agree on what the verse describes. One writer calls the act cruel. He then notes a doubt over the translation, and points to Ammon's own crimes.
What verse 31 records was cruel and savage. (However, there is a doubt about the translation. One translation reads: "And he set them to saws and iron picks and iron axes and made them labour at the brick kiln.") Ammon did horrible things to the women of Israel. (See Amos 1:13.) A fearful retribution came upon them.
Another writer reads it as forced labour, and finds a lesson in what Ammon pictures.
David took the people of the city out and gave them manual work with saws, sharp iron tools (such as harrows, or perhaps picks and axes), and in making bricks. This was fitting. The Ammonites picture proud, clever people who think themselves religiously superior. Such people need good, practical work to bring them down to a proper level. David did the same with the people of all the Ammonite cities. When this work was finished, he returned to Jerusalem with the army.
One reference work suggests the punishment matched what Ammon had done to the captives it took.
The inhabitants of Rabbah, when conquered by David, were "cut with saws and harrows of iron and axes." 1 Chronicles 20:3. They had perhaps treated their own captives in this way, and this was God's judgement upon them.
David has been forgiven by this point in the chapter. Yet one writer sees his spiritual discernment dulled — in the crown he keeps, and in the punishment he gives.
The judgment of the children of Ammon was righteous and according to God's mind. But David seems to have mixed his personal feelings into both his victory and his vengeance. His spiritual discernment no longer had the same sharpness as it did earlier. He takes the king's crown and sets it on his head. Earlier (2 Samuel 8:11; compare 1 Chronicles 20:2) he had dedicated all the treasures of the nations to the Lord. He carries out cruel vengeance on the people… David had never done such things at other times.
One writer turns this into a warning about how forgiven people treat others. He recalls David's own choice: God's hand rather than man's.
Our fellow believers are not always as merciful in their dealings with us as our gracious God. After his proud blunder in numbering the people without asking God, David had to choose between three forms of chastisement. He said, "I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of Jehovah; for very great are His mercies; but let me not fall into the hand of man" (1 Chronicles 21:13). The "hired razor" can be very cruel (Isaiah 7:20). And was not David himself needlessly cruel when he cut the Ammonites "with saws and with harrows of iron, and with axes"?
(These writers quote an older translation; the ESV uses "the LORD" where they write "Jehovah," and reads "saws and iron picks and axes" in 1 Chronicles 20:3.)
Ammon had insulted the king God set up, the king who had shown it kindness. One writer holds two things together here. Ammon was ripe for judgment, yet he still questions David's own state.
It is possible that the children of Ammon deserved severe judgment, and that this was the time for it. They were the insolent enemies of the king whom God had set up, a king who had shown them real kindness. But as to his personal condition, I am not sure David would have treated his enemies this way while he walked in the narrow path of faith. As a picture, this judgment brings to mind the righteous judgment of the Messiah. It shows the dreadful results of despising and insulting Him, even in His glory. We also learn this: when a people are ripe for judgment, God will bring it on them, even though others may seek to act in grace.
1 Chronicles 20 records the fall of Rabbah, but leaves out Bathsheba, Amnon, Absalom and David's flight. One writer explains why.
This omission is one of countless proofs of a divine plan in the various books of the Bible. Chronicles does not show us the responsible king under test. It shows us the king established in grace and blessing, according to the counsels of God.
- Judgment deserved. Ammon insulted the king who had shown it kindness, and had done horrors of its own. Commentators read the punishment as payment in kind. They differ on whether the verse means execution or forced labour.
- Judgment retold. Chronicles keeps the fall of Rabbah but leaves out David's fall. It shows the king established in grace, not the king under test.
- Judgment mishandled. The sentence on Ammon matched God's mind. But David's dulled discernment mixed personal feeling into it. The crown he once would have dedicated to the Lord now sits on his own head.
- Judgment misapplied. A man just shown mercy deals out needless cruelty. He had begged to fall into God's hands rather than man's. Here he becomes the hard hand others fall into.
- Judgment foreshadowed. The scene points on to the righteous judgment of the Messiah on those who insult Him in His glory. When a people is ripe for judgment, God brings it, even where others try to act in grace.