2 Samuel 10:1-4

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Samuel 10:1-5

Here is, I. The great respect David paid to his neighbour, the king of the Ammonites, 2 Sam. 10:1, 2. 1. The inducement to it was some kindness he had formerly received from Nahash the deceased king. He showed kindness to me, says David (2 Sam. 10:2), and therefore (having lately had satisfaction in showing kindness to Mephibosheth for his father's sake) he resolves to show kindness to his son, and to keep up a friendly correspondence with him. Thus the pleasure of doing one kind and generous... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 10:1

And it came to pass after this ,.... After the wars with the Moabites, Syrians, and Edomites, being friendly with the children of Ammon, David sent an embassy to their king, after related; by which it appears what is said concerning the spoils of the children of Ammon, 2 Samuel 8:12 , is by anticipation; for these spoils were not taken until the following war with them, the occasion of which is here told: that the king of the children of Ammon died ; whose name was Nahash, as is clear... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 10:2

Then said David, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash ,.... Send him a friendly compliment of condolence on the death of his father: as his father showed kindness unto me ; when David was persecuted by Saul, he sent him aid, and invited him into his country for protection it may be, and some way or other showed respect unto him; though not out of real love and friendship to David, but in enmity to Saul, who had defeated him at Jabeshgilead, and had often wars with him: the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 10:3

And the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun their lord ,.... His nobles and prime ministers, the courtiers that were about him: thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee ? could he imagine that David was sincere, and that he really meant to do honour to the memory of his father, and comfort him under the loss of him, by sending his ambassadors to him on such an errand? there was no reason, they thought, to believe this, since an... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 10:4

Wherefore Hanun took David's servants ,.... His ambassadors: and shaved off one half of their beards ; that is, he ordered them to be shaved off; than which a greater indignity could not have been well done to them and to David, whom they represented, since the Israelites shaved not their beards, and were very careful of preserving them; for had it been the custom to shave, they might have shaved off the other half, and then they would not have appeared so ridiculous; and with other... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Samuel 10:2

I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash - We do not know exactly the nature or extent of the obligation which David was under to the king of the Ammonites; but it is likely that the Nahash here mentioned was the same who had attacked Jabesh-gilead, and whom Saul defeated: as David had taken refuge with the Moabites, ( 1 Samuel 22:3 ;), and this was contiguous to the king of the Ammonites, his hatred to Saul might induce him to show particular kindness to David. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Samuel 10:3

Thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father - It has been a matter of just complaint through all the history of mankind, that there is little sincerity in courts. Courtiers, especially, are suspicious of each other, and often mislead their sovereigns. They feel themselves to be insincere, and suspect others to be so too. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Samuel 10:4

Shaved off the one half of their beards - The beard is held in high respect in the East: the possessor considers it his greatest ornament; often swears by it; and, in matters of great importance, pledges it. Nothing can be more secure than a pledge of this kind; its owner will redeem it at the hazard of his life. The beard was never cut off but in mourning, or as a sign of slavery. Cutting off half of the beard and the clothes rendered the men ridiculous, and made them look... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 10:1

EXPOSITION The king of the children of Ammon died. This war is very briefly referred to in 2 Samuel 8:12 ; but we have now entered upon a narrative, the interest of which is altogether unlike all that has gone before. There we saw David crowned with earthly glory, and made the monarch of a vast empire; he is also a prophet, and, as such, not only restores, but enriches and enlarges, the worship of the sanctuary; and, as prophet and king, he becomes not only the type, but the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 10:1-4

( 1 Chronicles 19:1-4 ). ( RABBAH .) Requiting evil for good. The Ammonites appear to have remained quiet since their defeat by Saul, nearly half a century before ( 1 Samuel 11:1-15 .). Nahash their king (perhaps a son of the former Nahaeh) had rendered friendly service to David. But on the accession of Hanun, his son, the old hostility of the children of Ammon revived, and showed itself in a way that made conflict inevitable. To this the growing power of David and his recent... read more

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