Of most of D. '8 wors wo possess but a short summary In 2 S S ; 111.- Atniiionltc war, on account of its connexion witli Bntli- slu-Nn's liiftory, is related at Ion<rtli. The complete victory over tlif Phtli.stines C^'t has been already name<l. For some un- i-\plaine<l reas«ni l>. made war on Muab, where his parents hat\ furrnerlv tjiken refupe. and. on contiuerintr the country, treated it with" preat severitv, puttinp to death two-thirds of the prisoners. The exploits of Beuaiah (2 S •Jii") may be referred to this campaign. Moab now became tributary. The next war was provoked liv tlie neiKhbouriiii; Ammonites. Their kinj;, Nahnsh. Saul's enemy (I S 11), had shown himself friendly to 1>.. ami on liis death" 1>. sent an emilassy of condolence to his successor llanun. liut llanun, suspicious of D.'s intentions, and perhaps alarmed by the subjus^ation of Moab. dismissed the messeiisers with i,'niss"insults. The Ammonites knew that they must now prepare for war, and sou(?ht for alliances among the small .\ramiean kincdoms of Zobah. lieth-reliob, Maacah, and Tob. which were united in a common interest to check the rlsintj power of Israel. Joab, «ith the Isr. army, marched out to Kabbah, the .Vmmonite capital, and, linding an enemy opposlnir him on both sides, divided his forces. With the ].lcked troops he prepared to meet the Araiuiean allies, .SS.duO stront'. while the rest of the army he placed under the com- mand of his brother Abishai, to confront the Ammonites. The rout of the ^^vrians by Joab was the siu'nal for the Hipht of the Ammonites within tlie walls of their ca[iitjil. and thus ended the tirst campait:n. The next year Iladadezer, kint: of Zobah, summoned to Ills assistance allies from beyond the Kuj)hrates. Tile whole Aramiean force, under his general Shobach. was encamped at llelam, where D. himself, having crossed vho .)or<lan at the lie:ul of the whole Isr. army, attacked them, and delealed tlu-in with ffreat slaufrhtcr. Shobach beint; ainonj; the slain. All the cluiriot-horses which were captured were dis- atileii, with tlie exception of suHlcient for a hundred chariots. Tlie summar>- (s=) seems to speak of another frreat victory won bv I)., when'the Svrians of Damascus came to the assistance of llmladezer. Zobafi now made peace with Israel ; prefects were ajipointed in Damascus and elsewhere, and. in addition to Dumerous jiresents, D. brought back to .lerus. thegoltlen shields of Ila4la4le/er's guard, and large quantities of brass from two of his treasure cities. An alliance was made between I), and Tou (v."- LX.K, 1 Ch ls«-), king of llamath. and liadoram (I t'h Is'") the son of Tou was sent with presents and greetings to David. Tliese and other treasures, including spoil taken from the .■\ malekltes, D. is said to have dedicAle*! to .1 " (2 S &'"). Ammon remained unsubdued, but in a third cjimpalgn ,Ioab besieged Kabbah, and at last succeeded In capturing the part known as ' the city of waters,' As the fall of tlie whole city was now assured,' Joab summoned D. from .Jerus., that the king himself might have the glory of the conquest. I), a/lvanced with a fresh armv. and coiiiplctod the capture of Kabl>ah. A largo amount of spoil fell into ills hands, Inclinling the costly gold crown of the Idol Mllcoin (ilVm, see 2 S l-J^*-"'). The [irisoners, acconling to the ordinary translation of 12'*, were tortured and treated with great cruelty. There are. however, ditticulties about the rendering of the verse ; a slight change of read- ing tT*3y'T for T*?!?^, see RVm) would give the meaning that the peojdo were reduce<l to servitude (so Ilotrmann, Kautzsch, Itriver rdoul>tfully] ; Stado regards the verse as cornijit). The last of D.'s foreign conquests was tliat of Kdom, but we have only a few disconnected allusions to the war. It appears that D. gainecl a great victory in the Valley of Salt alter his Syrian campaign (2 S S'"- LXX. 1 Ch Isu'-. !>» (11) Utle). Ity this conquest he obtained command of the ports on the Ked Sea. Prelects were appointed throughout the country, and for six miuiths .loab remaineil in Kdom, to destrov the male population tl K ll'«).
It now remains to relate certain events in D.'s own family which troubled the later years of his rei'.'ii. During the Aniiiinnile war, D., who had remaini-d in .lerus., coniniilted adultery with Batlisheba, the wife of one of his officers then serviiif; before Kabbah. In hopes of concealing his puilt lie sent for I'riali ; but the latter, who had perha))s heard rumours of what had tjiken place, refiused. on the plea of niililary duty, to see his wife. Thcreupnn I), sent orders to .loab to place Uriali in a post of danger, and ensure his death. When the husband was dead, and the time of mourning past, IJathsheba was taken into the royal harem. The story was doubtless not un- known in Jerus. ; the moral sense of the people found expression through Nathan the iirophet, who by means of a parable boldly relinked David ; and tlinu','h on the king's confessing his guilt tlie
DAVID
5t5'J
prophet assured him of forgiveness, he predicted the death of Bathsheba's newly-bom child. (2 S 1210-iJ ate perha|is a later edition, a true comment on the subsequent history ; for it has been pointed out that with the old Ileb. ideas of guilt and penalty it is hardly consistent to regard the sin as forgiven [v.i''J while the curse remains. So Kuenen, Weilh., Stade.) In spite of all D.'s prayers and fastings, the child died ; but in due time a second son was born to Bath.sheba, the future king Solomon (2 S 11. 12i-^).