And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syriamaachah, and out of Zobah.
When the Ammonites realized they had made David their enemy, Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire chariots and cavalry from Mesopotamia, Syria-maachah, and Zobah.
The Ammonites knew they had angered King David, so they spent a huge amount of money hiring foreign armies to help them fight against Israel.
📚 Historical Context
This follows the incident where Hanun, king of Ammon, humiliated David's ambassadors who had come to offer condolences, wrongly suspecting they were spies. A thousand talents of silver was an enormous sum—equivalent to millions of dollars today—showing how desperate the Ammonites were to defend themselves against David's expected retaliation. They hired mercenaries from several Aramean kingdoms north of Israel.
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