Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Samuel 10:6

"And when the children of Ammon saw that they were become odious to David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and the men of Tob twelve thousand men." — 2 Samuel 10:6 (ASV)

Saw that they stank. —The Hebrew, translated literally, shows that they were conscious that this was by their own fault—“that they had made themselves stink,” and is so rendered in 1 Chronicles 19:6.

Hired. —Chronicles gives the amount of the subsidy, 1,000 talents of silver, a sum variously estimated at from £125,000 to twice that amount. It shows at once the wealth of Ammon, the importance of the auxiliaries, and the grave character of the war.

Syrians of Beth-rehob. —This place is called simply Rehob in 2 Samuel 10:8 and has been understood to refer to several different locations. It can hardly have been the Rehob (or Beth-rehob) of Numbers 13:21; Judges 18:28, since that was near Laish and within the territory of the Israelites. Some identify it with “Ruhaibeh,” twenty-five miles N.E. of Damascus; however, it is more likely to have been “Rehoboth by the river” (i.e., near the Euphrates) of Genesis 36:37, as this corresponds with out of Mesopotamia in the parallel passage 1 Chronicles 19:6, the situation of which is not more definitely known.

Zoba. —See Note on 2 Samuel 8:3.

King Maacah. —Read, King of Maacah, as in Chronicles. For the situation of the country, see Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 12:5. It furnished only one thousand auxiliaries.

Ish-tob. —This is translated, men of Tob, the first syllable not being a part of the proper name. Jephthah found refuge here when exiled by his countrymen (Judges 11:3; Judges 11:5). It was probably just east of Gilead, between Syria and the land of Ammon; it is not mentioned in Chronicles.

The total number of auxiliaries mentioned in 1 Chronicles 19:7, thirty-two thousand, is the same as given here, Maacah being omitted from the number; but the composition of the force is different. Here only infantry are mentioned; there, only chariots and cavalry. It is plain from the result of the battle (2 Samuel 10:18 in both places) that all three arms of the service were employed; either, therefore, some words have dropped out from both texts, or else the writer in each case did not care to go into details.

Chronicles mentions that the allies mustered in Medeba, a place on a hill in the Belka plain, about four miles south-east of Heshbon, and well fitted strategically to repel an attack upon Rabbah. It had been originally assigned to the tribe of Reuben (Joshua 13:9).