David’s Battle of Honor

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People. 00:00:03 Speaker 2: Behold! 00:00:05 Speaker 3: We are your kin, your blood and your bone. When Saul was king, it was you who led us to war. You who slew giants. You who delivered us from the Philistines. It was not Saul's spear we. 00:00:27 Speaker 1: Followed, but your voice. Your courage. 00:00:33 Speaker 4: And now the Lord has spoken. You shall be shepherd of my people Israel. You shall be prince over this nation. 00:00:44 Speaker 5: This great city, once a stronghold for the wicked, shall be a fortress for righteousness. No longer shall it be the bastion of our shame. From this day forth, let it be known as Zion, the city of David. 00:01:01 Speaker 1: The Lord was with David, and his reign stretched wider with each passing moon. 00:01:08 Speaker 6: I've never shined away from a battle against our. 00:01:10 Speaker 1: Enemies, but I intend to rule our people with mercy. East of Jerusalem, beyond the River Jordan, where the highlands burn in the noonday sun, An old king lay dying. Nahash of Ammon, once an enemy of Israel and later its uneasy ally, succumbed to sickness and died. His death left the nation of Ammon in uneasy tension. In Jerusalem, David mourned. Though there had once been blood between them, time and tributes had forged a brittle peace. Nahash had bent the knee, and in the end, there was a profitable peace for both of them. David sat in the court with Joab and Jashabim. 00:02:09 Speaker 6: The man showed me loyalty when he might have chosen vengeance. Now that he's gone, I want to repay his kindness. 00:02:18 Speaker 1: Joab shifted in place. Are you concerned that may seem opportunistic? Prince Hanun may see our gifts as insulting. And if we do nothing? What message does that send? 00:02:32 Speaker 6: We beat Amon by the sword, but we kept peace with him through kindness. 00:02:37 Speaker 1: Nahash was reasonable. 00:02:38 Speaker 7: I fear his son Hanun is much less so. 00:02:41 Speaker 1: We'll find out. David turned to a company of messengers and added. 00:02:47 Speaker 6: Go, bring gifts. Show honor to the son of Nahash. Let him know that should he need a friend or a sword, Israel stands with him. 00:02:58 Speaker 1: The emissaries departed, bearing wine from the hill country, gold-threaded cloaks, and spices from Geshur. But when they reached Rabbah, the capital of Ammon, they found no mourning, only stone and silence. The streets were dry, and the people were gaunt. It had been a hard season for the Ammonites, and their new king bore the weight of failure poorly. Hanun, son of Nahash, sat uneasily on his throne. He was not his father's son in wisdom or in strength. When the emissaries came before him, they bowed low, presenting the gifts as custom demanded. Hanun said nothing. His fingers drummed on the arm of his chair. Around him sat his council, old men with crooked backs and snake-bitten tongues. One leaned in and whispered through yellow teeth. 00:03:59 Speaker 8: You see how they bow, my king? Spies, wearing the masks of mortars. If David meant to honor you, he'd have stayed far from our gates. He sends these dogs to sniff our walls and weigh our weaknesses. 00:04:17 Speaker 1: Hanun's frown deepened. Spies! 00:04:21 Speaker 2: You think me blind? 00:04:24 Speaker 1: My lord, we mean no harm. We come in peace. 00:04:29 Speaker 2: Silence! 00:04:30 Speaker 1: Hanun snapped. He rose from his throne with the jerky rage of a child denied a toy. 00:04:37 Speaker 9: You wear fine cloaks and bare silver tongues, but I see through them. 00:04:43 Speaker 2: You've come to mock me? 00:04:46 Speaker 9: To measure my coffers and map my walls, I'll not be made a fool in my own hall. 00:04:51 Speaker 1: He clapped his hands. The guards came swiftly, swords drawn. David's men turned to flee, but they were seized before they could reach the doors. Hanun descended the steps of his throne. His eyes gleamed with cruelty. 00:05:06 Speaker 8: Strip them. 00:05:10 Speaker 1: The guards forced the emissaries to their knees. Before the court of Amun, the men were held down. With vicious glee, the guards carved through the right half of each beard, leaving the left untouched. A beard was more than hair. It was honor. To mutilate it was to brand a man a slave. But Hanun was not finished. 00:05:36 Speaker 2: Cut their robes from waist to knee. 00:05:39 Speaker 1: Steel meant cloth. The men's robes were slashed, bearing their nakedness. Bloodied and exposed, they were paraded through the streets of Rabah. Stones were thrown, rotten food, laughter. Hanun followed behind them, shouting so all might hear. Tell your dog, Cain, that the days of tribute are over? 00:06:06 Speaker 2: I owe him nothing. 00:06:08 Speaker 9: And when I come for his crown, I shall shave his beard too. 00:06:14 Speaker 1: He spat in the dirt and the gates of the city were thrown open. The messengers, half shorn and humiliated, were cast out into the dust. But they didn't return to Jerusalem. Too ashamed to show their faces, they hid in Jericho, nursing wounds deeper than flesh. The cottage near Jericho was small, tucked beneath the shadow of trees. It was twilight. Inside the hovel, David's four servants sat cloaked in shame. They had traded their torn garments for plain tunics, but nothing could cover the wound of humiliation. A man's beard was his dignity, and theirs had been sheared like sheep. Then came the knock, quiet at first, then firmer. The men froze. The door creaked open. They each drew their blades. A hooded figure stepped into the flickering firelight and pushed back his cowl. 00:07:21 Speaker 6: Hello, my brothers. 00:07:23 Speaker 1: It was David. The blades dropped to the floor as the four men collapsed to their knees, eyes brimming. My king, forgive us. We've failed you. David shook his head, stepping forward with a face carved from sorrow. 00:07:42 Speaker 6: You did nothing wrong. They mocked my name through you. This shame is not yours to carry. 00:07:51 Speaker 1: The men wept openly now, clutching at his robe. Then one spoke through clenched teeth. Hanun has raised a host, my lord. He says he will do to you what he did to us. David's mouth curled slightly, though no joy touched his eyes. Did he now? The king of Israel stood in silence for a long time. Then he turned back to the door. 00:08:20 Speaker 2: Rest. 00:08:21 Speaker 6: Remain here until your beards grow back. None in Jerusalem shall see you dishonored. But know this, I have not forgotten, and neither has the Lord. 00:08:33 Speaker 1: He turned to the door. Joab stood waiting beyond it, arms folded, sword on his hip, his wolfish grin faint beneath his beard. Told you. 00:08:46 Speaker 2: You did? 00:08:47 Speaker 1: What do we do now? 00:08:49 Speaker 6: I will not suffer the Ammonites a day longer. 00:08:53 Speaker 1: Gather the men. 00:08:54 Speaker 6: You and Abishai will march at the front. I'll pay my visit once you've breached. 00:09:00 Speaker 1: Joab bowed his head low, a satisfied glint in his eye. It will be done. Joab and Abishai rode at the head of Israel's army. David watched them ride out from the eastern battlements. He said nothing. He had suffered much in his days. He had been the son no one counted, the bard whose songs were silenced. The warrior dismissed. The anointed hunted like prey. He had endured the scorn of giants, the wrath of madmen, and the loneliness of caves. But he had never, never tolerated harm to his own. Hanun, son of Nahash, had not merely insulted a king. He had laid hands on the sheep of the shepherd. And there is no fury like that of a shepherd. when wolves come near. It was not yet dawn, and the eastern wind blew dry and hot across the valley of Medabar. In the grey light before the sun, Joab stood atop the ridge with six hundred of David's finest. These were not boys who played at war. These were David's mighty men. Down below, the Syrians waited. They were mercenaries, paid in gold and blood. But gold buys only so much courage. Joab turned to his captains. We move on the horn. No quarter, no prisoners. 00:10:38 Speaker 2: Let them taste what David's hounds are made of. 00:10:42 Speaker 1: The ram's horn sounded and the line surged forward. 00:10:46 Speaker 2: Forward! Forward! 00:10:49 Speaker 1: The mighty men galloped into the valley, roaring as one. It was a storm, wild and screaming. The Syrians braced for it, but they weren't ready for what came. 00:11:02 Speaker 2: Spears and shields! 00:11:06 Speaker 1: The line shifted, drawing into a triangular wedge, the sharpest point of it where Joab himself ran, first into the storm. They crashed into the mercenary line with such fury that the earth itself seemed to groan. Steel clanged against bronze, wood splintered, and men screamed. The Syrians began to break. Joab's triangle formation stabbed through the line like a knife through wet parchment. 00:11:36 Speaker 2: Drop spears! Swords out! 00:11:40 Speaker 1: In unison, the spears were buried in bellies and throats. Then, Swords were drawn, short, curved, and eager for work. The formation opened into a half-circle, surrounding the enemy like a ring of wolves. 00:11:57 Speaker 2: Forward slash! 00:11:59 Speaker 1: Each man advanced as one, slashing through the soldiers' wall. Then, stepping back, their shield wall blocked any retaliation. 00:12:10 Speaker 2: Second break! 00:12:12 Speaker 1: The men slashed again as one, failing more than 400 in one burst. Then they were back again. Each man stood shoulder to shoulder and pressed forward against the enemy, stabbing under and over as they advanced. It was a calculated, gory, beautiful sight to behold. David's mighty men, under the command of Joab, were a unified weapon of slaughter. When nearly half the enemy had been cut down, Joab released them. 00:12:49 Speaker 2: Be free, boys! Attack, and don't hold back your fury! 00:12:54 Speaker 1: It was a brutal and terrifying slaughter. Blood soaked the valley floor. Assyrians tried to hold, but they had no reason to die. Coins had bought them, not cores. They crumbled, and their commanders shouted for retreat. They scattered like leaves in the wind. Not one of Joab's men had fallen. A mile south, nearer the city gates, the earth shook beneath the tread of Ammonite boots. Hanun rode at the head of his host. Tall on a warhorse draped in black, his armor shone like oil. 00:13:37 Speaker 9: I want more than victory! I want shame! Drag them by their beards! Strip them of their pride! Break them! 00:13:50 Speaker 1: And then slay them! Tens of thousands followed him, well-armed, well-fed, and overconfident. They thought the Syrians would press from the north. They thought the hammer would crush David's mighty men. Instead, Abishai came. From the shadow of the hill, Abishai's company fell on them like fire in dry wheat. No horns, no warning. The blades of Israel sang as they struck. The Ammonites reeled. They fought back, but without momentum, without unity. Abishai struck fast and hard. The Ammonites faltered, clinging to the hope that the Syrians would turn the tide. But when Haran looked north and saw the mercenaries retreating in disgrace, his heart turned to ice. 00:14:45 Speaker 2: Retreat! 00:14:46 Speaker 1: Back to the city! 00:14:48 Speaker 2: Into the gates! Run! 00:14:50 Speaker 1: Panic spread. The Ammonites fled in droves, throwing down spears and trampling each other to escape. Hanun disappeared behind the walls of Rabah, his voice lost among the screams. When Joab and Abishai returned to Jerusalem, they were bloodied, but with smiles. David met them in the Hall of Stone. 00:15:17 Speaker 7: Report. 00:15:18 Speaker 1: The Ammonites ran. 00:15:20 Speaker 7: Not one of us fell. 00:15:23 Speaker 6: The Lord has shown favor. Let the records show. Israel does not take humiliation lightly. 00:15:32 Speaker 7: Hanun hired the Syrians to fight alongside him. They ran, but only because they didn't expect such a showing from us. We've received word that King Hadassah of Syria has mobilized now against us. 00:15:47 Speaker 6: The full force of Syria's army is not to be underestimated. 00:15:51 Speaker 7: Their commander, Shobak, is the most feared warrior in the East. 00:15:56 Speaker 1: He seemed to be a giant. like a lion. 00:16:00 Speaker 7: I guess it's good that the giant's lair will be marching with us into battle. 00:16:06 Speaker 1: David stepped forward into the shallows of the Jordan. The river took him to the waist. It bearded his skin like steel, but he welcomed the cold. His ancestors had crossed the Jordan to win the Holy Land, but now David was crossing to keep it. The entire army had crossed, and there Beyond the plain lay Helam and the Syrian army. They were not scattered like the bands of Amalekites or drunken Philistine levies. No, the army of Hadadaza had come prepared for war. Rows of chariots stretched like a sea of iron across the field. Horsemen mounted on beasts clad in bronze. Drums beat slowly from within their ranks, the rhythm of a war machine too large to be turned. David and his commanders sat atop their horses at the crest of the hill. They looked down at the enemy below. A host twice, thrice their size. Uriah shifted in his saddle. So many. It's as if every sword across the Euphrates has come to meet us. And it looks like a storm is approaching. David's eyes were fixed on the horizon, his face unreadable. The breeze toyed with his curls and rustled the hem of his cloak. We are the storm. He turned his horse, rising high in the saddle. 00:17:36 Speaker 2: Take heart, my brothers. 00:17:37 Speaker 1: David's voice cried, his voice carrying across the plain like thunder. 00:17:43 Speaker 6: We do not fight for gold or land, but for the name of. 00:17:46 Speaker 2: The living God. We fight for his people. 00:17:50 Speaker 6: And he fights for us. 00:17:53 Speaker 1: A roar rose behind him. Swords ran against shields, hearts swelled with fire. And without another word, David drove his heels into his melt and surged forward, headlong, straight into the teeth of the enemy. He rolled like a storm, his war cry ripping through the ranks. Behind him came the fury of Israel. The Syrians ran with voracity to meet them in the middle. The earth groaned beneath them as 40,000 Syrian horsemen surged toward them. David drew a deep breath, the world slowing for a moment. He was the king now. He didn't fight for survival but for the pride of Israel. 00:18:41 Speaker 2: Charge! 00:18:44 Speaker 1: The king was the first to strike, his sword slashing through the skull of a Syrian horseman. He swung through the battle like a fire through dry brush. 00:18:56 Speaker 2: Don't relent! Not until you've secured the future of your children! Fight, my brothers! Fight! 00:19:03 Speaker 1: Uriah was beside him, protecting David's flank. The enemy surged on every side. 00:19:10 Speaker 2: YAAH! 00:19:30 Speaker 1: David rode furiously, but an arrow hit his horse's thigh, sending David flying through the air. He hit the earth hard, the breath ripped from his lungs. Before David could rise, a boot like a battering ram slammed into his ribs and hurled him like a stone. He spun, tumbled, rolled, and coughed blood. The strike came from Shobach. 00:19:56 Speaker 2: The king of rats! 00:19:59 Speaker 1: Shobach's blade fell like lightning down on David. The king rolled, just barely. The steel buried itself in the dust beside his head. David scrambled to his feet, sword in hand, and faced him. The two circled. 00:20:16 Speaker 2: I'll feed your carcass to my crows! 00:20:22 Speaker 6: I've heard threats like that from giants larger than you. Let's see if you meet the same fate. 00:20:27 Speaker 2: Shall we? 00:20:28 Speaker 1: Schobach charged and struck again. One blow to David's shield, then two, three, each one like a hammer. David parried and dodged, sweat stinging his eyes, his arms trembling from the sheer force of the blows. He couldn't win by strength, so he waited. Schobach kept swinging with the force of ten men behind his arm David parried, rolled, stood back and watched. Schobach came again, sword sweeping wide. David ducked under and rolled behind, eyes searching. Neck, back, side. Armour everywhere. Iron upon iron, but. 00:21:11 Speaker 1: There it is. There's the opening. 00:21:13 Speaker 7: There it is. 00:21:14 Speaker 1: David saw the narrow space just beneath Shobach's helm. David stepped back and pulled his sling from his belt. His fingers were numb and his breathing was ragged. He placed the stone, wound the leather tight and spun. Shobach raised his blade to charge. David cocked his hips, rolled his shoulders back and released the sling. The stone whistled through the air. It struck his cheek with a crack like splitting timber. The commander stumbled, hand to his cheek, dazed. David didn't wait. He was already moving, already leaping, already shouting as he jumped and drove his blade downward into the seam of chain and flesh. The sword sank deep into Shobak's sternum. Shobak gasped, shuddered, then fell. His mouth hit the dust. His helm rolled from his head. David staggered back, panting, blood dripping from his jaw, his blade, his boots. He looked to the skies and let out a cry of victory. A cry like thunder. A cry that sent fear rippling through Syria's ranks. Israel surged around him, emboldened by their king's fury. The Syrians broke, their lines shattered, their will collapsed. They turned and fled, thousands of men abandoning swords, shields and pride as they ran for their lives. By nightfall, the kings of the east had bent the knee. They sent word of peace, trembling before the man who had slain their commander and scattered their armies. David, the shepherd king, returned to Jerusalem, not just as a warrior, but as a legend made flesh. Steve Gatina, Max Bard, Zach Schelleberger and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald, Sylvia Zaradoc, Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher and Mitch Lashinsky. Music by Andrew Morgan Smith. written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely, and Chris Baig. You can hear more Prey.com productions on the Prey.com app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People, please rate and leave a review.