The princes ... - Compare Rehoboam’s advisers 1 Kings 12:10-11. It is not improbable that David’s severe treatment of Moab 2 Samuel 8:2 was in part the cause of the fear of the Ammonites that a similar treatment was in store for themselves. read more
2 Samuel 10:2. As his father showed kindness unto me All generous minds are full of gratitude and compassion. David here remembers the ancient benefits which he had received from Nahash, and pitied his son, who had lost such a father. What those benefits were is uncertain. It is probable, however, that, being an enemy to Saul, who had given him a great overthrow, he proved a friend to David when he was persecuted by him, sent him relief and assistance, and perhaps offered him his... read more
2 Samuel 10:3-4. Hath not David sent to search the city? Nothing is so well meant, but it maybe ill interpreted; and is wont to be so by men who love none but themselves. And shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle He must not only have been very credulous, but of a bad and hasty temper; otherwise he would have dismissed them civilly, how much soever his courtiers suspected them; or have kept them in an honourable custody till the truth had been... read more
Remembering former kindnesses (9:1-10:19)Although his power was now great, David did not forget his covenant with Jonathan. Unlike other kings, David would not destroy the family of the king whom he replaced (9:1; see 1 Samuel 20:12-17). David not only spared the life of Jonathan’s sole surviving son, the crippled Mephibosheth, but also restored to him Saul’s family property (2-8; cf. 4:4). David gave Mephibosheth the privilege of free access into the palace, and appointed one of Saul’s former... read more
kindness = lovingkindness, or grace. Compare 2 Samuel 9:1 . as = according as. read more
search = explore. the city . Some codices, with one early printed edition, read "the land". Compare 1 Chronicles 19:3 . read more
2. Then said David, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness unto me—It is probable that this was the Nahash against whom Saul waged war at Jabesh-gilead ( :-). David, on leaving Gath, where his life was exposed to danger, found an asylum with the king of Moab; and as Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was his nearest neighbor, it may be that during the feud between Saul and David, he, through enmity to the former, was kind and hospitable to David. read more
3. the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun—Their suspicion was not warranted either by any overt act or by any cherished design of David: it must have originated in their knowledge of the denunciations of God's law against them (Deuteronomy 23:3-6), and of David's policy in steadfastly adhering to it. read more
B. God’s Faithfulness despite David’s Unfaithfulness chs. 10-12These chapters form a sub-section within the Court History portion of 2 Samuel. [Note: Youngblood, p. 920.] The phrase "Now it happened" or "Now it was" (2 Samuel 10:1; 2 Samuel 13:1) always opens a new section. [Note: Wolfgang Roth, "You Are the Man! Structural Interaction in 2 Samuel 10-12." Semeia 8 (1977):4; John I. Lawlor, "Theology and Art in the Narrative of the Ammonite War (2 Samuel 10-12)," Grace Theological Journal 3:2... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 10:2
The history does not record any instance of Nahash’s kindness to David, but the enmity of the house of Nahash against Saul may have disposed him favorably toward Saul’s enemy David, and if there was any family connection between David’s house and Nahash 2 Samuel 17:25 this may have increased the friendship. read more