What does 2 Samuel 12:26 mean?
ESV: Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and took the royal city.
NIV: Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel.
NASB: Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captured the royal city.
CSB: Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.
NLT: Meanwhile, Joab was fighting against Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, and he captured the royal fortifications.
KJV: And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
NKJV: Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal city.
Verse Commentary:
The year before, King Nahash of the Ammonites had died. He had always been good to David, so David sent messengers with condolences to Nahash's son Hanun. Hanun foolishly believed advisors who warned that David's true purpose was to send spies to consider how to take the city. Hanun ordered his men to take David's messengers, shave off half their beards, and cut their robes to a disgraceful length (2 Samuel 10:1–5).
Before David could send his general Joab to war, the Ammonites hired Syrians and others to back them up. Joab battled the Syrians, and his brother Abishai took on the Ammonites. The Syrians quickly fled, and the Ammonites hid in their walled city. When the Syrians returned with reinforcements, David came with more warriors. The Syrians learned not to get in David's way and retreated (2 Samuel 10:6–19).
The next spring, David sent Joab to decisively take care of the Ammonites. David stayed home, which wasn't a sin: a king needs to rule. But while the fighting raged, David slept with Bathsheba, wife of one of his mighty men, Uriah (2 Samuel 11).
We don't know the exact timeline of the events in 2 Samuel 12. Ancient writers typically tell one story to completion, even if another story was happening simultaneously. So, we don't know if Nathan confronted Dave before or after this final battle, or where in the sequence the baby died (2 Samuel 12:1–23). We can be certain that Solomon wasn't born until years later, especially if the three brothers mentioned in the genealogies were older (1 Chronicles 3:5).
Joab and his army have all but defeated Rabbah. In loyalty to his king, he sends for David to take the final stroke and lay claim to the spoils. By the time the battle is over, they'll have conquered several Ammonite cities and left with their riches and their people (2 Samuel 12:27–31).
Verse Context:
Second Samuel 12:26–31 explains how David finishes what Hanun started. The Ammonite king disgraced David's messengers, and David sent Joab to war (2 Samuel 10). They fought to a stalemate until the spring, when Joab returned while David sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah. The walled city of Rabbah is set to fall, and Joab calls David to finish the fight. First Chronicles 20:4 gives a shortened version of 2 Samuel 10 and this passage.
Chapter Summary:
In 2 Samuel 12, David learns the consequences of his sins against Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Samuel 11). David thought no one of consequence knew what he'd done. Nathan the prophet reveals that God knows; the Lord demands justice for David's victims. David's household will rebel, and Bathsheba's son will die. David humbly repents, and Bathsheba later conceives Solomon, the future king. Joab, about to defeat the Ammonites, calls David to finish the fight. In 2 Samuel 13, the seeds of the promised rebellion are sown. Psalm 51 is David's expression of remorse for his sins.
Chapter Context:
David begins to lose control of his seemingly perfect situation. While the respected soldier Uriah was fighting Ammonites with Joab (2 Samuel 10), David slept with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. To cover her pregnancy, David arranged for Uriah to die in battle (2 Samuel 11). Nathan, the prophet, confronts David over his crimes. God takes the child's life and will allow David's household to rebel against him. This begins when David's son rapes his own half-sister, Tamar (2 Samuel 13), starting a series of events that will result in another son, Absalom, taking the throne from his father (2 Samuel 14—16).
Book Summary:
Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.
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