2 Samuel 10:5. Tarry at Jericho Which was the first place to which they came in the land of Canaan, and then a private village, where they might remain obscure till they were fit to appear in public. Until your beards be grown For though it was well known how they came to be deprived of them, yet it was not fit that persons of their quality should appear unlike all other men. 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
men . Heb 'enosh. App-14 . read more
2 Samuel 10:4. Wherefore Hanum took David's servants, &c.— The wearing of long beards and garments was then, as it still is, the fashion of the East, where they were deemed badges of honour; and, consequently, the cutting off or curtailing of either was regarded as the greatest indignity. Nay, in some places, the cutting off of the beard was not only looked upon as matter of the highest reproach, but also of the severest punishment. So it was anciently among the Indians, and is at this day... read more
2 Samuel 10:5. Tarry at Jericho— As Jericho had not been rebuilt since the day on which it was miraculously overthrown, the king humanely judged that his ambassadors would be glad to conceal themselves to more advantage in the desolations of that city till their beards were grown. It should seem from the text, that the ambassadors had taken refuge there before David sent to them to tarry there. Possibly Jericho might have been then pretty much in the same condition in which Mr. Baumgarten found... 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
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Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 10:3-4
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