Lives of Scripture

A nation east of the Jordan descended from Lot's younger son Ben-ammi (Genesis 19:36-38), frequently hostile to Israel. Jephthah defeated Ammonite forces oppressing Israel (Judges 10-11), and Ammon's king Hanun's humiliation of David's envoys sparked a war (2 Samuel 10). Ammonite officials like Tobiah later opposed Nehemiah's rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls (Nehemiah 2:19; 4:3).

The Ammonites

The Ammonites traced their descent to Ben-ammi, the son born to Lot by his younger daughter (Genesis 19:38). Their capital was Rabbah, east of the Jordan, and their god was Milcom, also called Molech (1 Kings 11:5, 7). Like Moab, Ammon's land was not to be taken by Israel (Deuteronomy 2:19), and the law barred Ammonites from Israel's assembly (Deuteronomy 23:3-4).

Ammon was a near-constant threat. Its king Nahash besieged Jabesh-gilead and offered peace only if every man there would let his right eye be put out. Saul's rescue of the city was his first act as king (1 Samuel 11:1-11). David's war with Nahash's son Hanun led to the siege of Rabbah, where David arranged Uriah's death (2 Samuel 10; 11:1, 14-17; 12:26-31). Solomon married an Ammonite, Naamah, who became the mother of King Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:21). Ammon later joined Moab against Jehoshaphat, and God gave Judah the victory without a fight (2 Chronicles 20:1-30). Amos condemned Ammon for brutality in war (Amos 1:13-15). After Jerusalem fell, Baalis king of Ammon sent Ishmael to murder Gedaliah, the governor Babylon had appointed (Jeremiah 40:14; 41:1-2), and later Tobiah the Ammonite opposed Nehemiah's work and even moved into a room in the temple courts until Nehemiah threw his belongings out (Nehemiah 13:4-8).