שמואל ב, פרק י׳, פסוק ו׳

Realizing the gravity of their actions after officially and blatantly insulting David, the Ammonites understand they have provoked a severe crisis. Their behavior makes them utterly detestable in David's eyes, evoking the profound disgust one feels toward something that has rotted and turned foul [רד״ק, מצודת ציון]. Fearing a swift military retaliation, King Hanun of Ammon decides to take preemptive action by hiring mercenary armies to wage war against David [אברבנאל, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

To prepare for the impending conflict, the Ammonites recruit forces from several small neighboring nations. They hire twenty thousand soldiers from Aram Beth-rehob and Aram-zobah, two Aramean kingdoms situated in the Syrian region, along with one thousand men from the king of Maacah [ביאור שטיינזלץ]. Furthermore, they secure an additional twelve thousand soldiers from Tob. Rather than referring to a single individual, this group consists of the people of the land of Tob, or the men belonging to the lord of that territory [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

A comparison of this event with the parallel account in the Book of Chronicles reveals a notable difference. The Book of Samuel mentions twenty thousand foot soldiers alongside the twelve thousand men from Tob, totaling thirty-two thousand troops. However, the Book of Chronicles states that thirty-two thousand chariots were hired. This gap is resolved by understanding the structure of the mercenary army. The military force was organized so that the number of infantrymen perfectly matched the number of chariots. The Book of Samuel chooses to highlight the foot soldiers, whereas the Book of Chronicles focuses on detailing the vast formation of chariots [מלבי״ם].