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1 Samuel 11 1-1 Samuel 11 3
About a month later, King Nahash of Ammon led his army against the Israelite town of Jabesh gilead. But all the citizens of Jabesh asked for peace.“ Make a treaty with us, and we will be your servants,” they pleaded.“ All right,” Nahash said,“ but only on one condition. I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you as a disgrace to all Israel!”“ Give us seven days to send messengers throughout Israel!” replied the elders of Jabesh.“ If no one comes to save us, we will agree to your terms.”
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Judges 10:7-9
So the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites,who began to oppress them that year. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites east of the Jordan River in the land of the Amorites( that is, in Gilead).The Ammonites also crossed to the west side of the Jordan and attacked Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. The Israelites were in great distress.
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1 Chronicles 19 1-1 Chronicles 19 19
Some time after this, King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king.David said,“ I am going to show loyalty to Hanun because his father, Nahash, was always loyal to me.” So David sent messengers to express sympathy to Hanun about his father’s death. But when David’s ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon,the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun,“ Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the land so they can come in and conquer it!”So Hanun seized David’s ambassadors and shaved them, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame.When David heard what had happened to the men, he sent messengers to tell them,“ Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out, and then come back.” For they felt deep shame because of their appearance.When the people of Ammon realized how seriously they had angered David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 75,000 pounds of silver to hire chariots and charioteers from Aram naharaim, Aram maacah, and Zobah.They also hired 32,000 chariots and secured the support of the king of Maacah and his army. These forces camped at Medeba, where they were joined by the Ammonite troops that Hanun had recruited from his own towns.When David heard about this, he sent Joab and all his warriors to fight them.The Ammonite troops came out and drew up their battle lines at the entrance of the city, while the other kings positioned themselves to fight in the open fields.When Joab saw that he would have to fight on both the front and the rear, he chose some of Israel’s elite troops and placed them under his personal command to fight the Arameans in the fields.He left the rest of the army under the command of his brother Abishai, who was to attack the Ammonites.“ If the Arameans are too strong for me, then come over and help me,” Joab told his brother.“ And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will help you.Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.”When Joab and his troops attacked, the Arameans began to run away.And when the Ammonites saw the Arameans running, they also ran from Abishai and retreated into the city. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem.The Arameans now realized that they were no match for Israel, so they sent messengers and summoned additional Aramean troops from the other side of the Euphrates River. These troops were under the command of Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer’s forces.When David heard what was happening, he mobilized all Israel, crossed the Jordan River, and positioned his troops in battle formation. Then David engaged the Arameans in battle, and they fought against him.But again the Arameans fled from the Israelites. This time David’s forces killed 7,000 charioteers and 40,000 foot soldiers, including Shobach, the commander of their army.When Hadadezer’s allies saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they surrendered to David and became his subjects. After that, the Arameans were no longer willing to help the Ammonites.
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Judges 11:12-28
Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon, asking,“ Why have you come out to fight against my land?”The king of Ammon answered Jephthah’s messengers,“ When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and all the way to the Jordan. Now then, give back the land peaceably.”Jephthah sent this message back to the Ammonite king:“ This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not steal any land from Moab or Ammon.When the people of Israel arrived at Kadesh on their journey from Egypt after crossing the Red Sea,they sent messengers to the king of Edom asking for permission to pass through his land. But their request was denied. Then they asked the king of Moab for similar permission, but he wouldn’t let them pass through either. So the people of Israel stayed in Kadesh.“ Finally, they went around Edom and Moab through the wilderness. They traveled along Moab’s eastern border and camped on the other side of the Arnon River. But they never once crossed the Arnon River into Moab, for the Arnon was the border of Moab.“ Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled from Heshbon, asking for permission to cross through his land to get to their destination.But King Sihon didn’t trust Israel to pass through his land. Instead, he mobilized his army at Jahaz and attacked them.But the Lord, the God of Israel, gave his people victory over King Sihon. So Israel took control of all the land of the Amorites, who lived in that region,from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River, and from the eastern wilderness to the Jordan.“ So you see, it was the Lord, the God of Israel, who took away the land from the Amorites and gave it to Israel. Why, then, should we give it back to you?You keep whatever your god Chemosh gives you, and we will keep whatever the Lord our God gives us.Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he try to make a case against Israel for disputed land? Did he go to war against them?“ Israel has been living here for 300 years, inhabiting Heshbon and its surrounding settlements, all the way to Aroer and its settlements, and in all the towns along the Arnon River. Why have you made no effort to recover it before now?Therefore, I have not sinned against you. Rather, you have wronged me by attacking me. Let the Lord, who is judge, decide today which of us is right— Israel or Ammon.”But the king of Ammon paid no attention to Jephthah’s message.
