1 Crônicas 19

1 Crônicas 19

Clarke - 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. Cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips is a bit too soft of a translation. The NET is more accurate = "He cut the lower part of their robes off so that their buttocks were exposed." As Adam Clarke says the pagans did this so that "That the shame of their nakedness might appear, and especially that of their circumcision, so derided by the heathen.” Walton - Hanun’s treatment of David’s men. David’s messengers have half their beards shaved (symbolically emasculating them and by extension David) and “their garments [were cut] in the middle at their hips,” leaving them naked like slaves or captives (see Is 20:4). These men were ambassadors and as such were entitled to both respect and diplomatic immunity. What may seem like a “prank” was in fact a direct challenge to David’s power and authority, and precipitated a war between the two nations. David could not allow such an obvious “rape” or symbolic castration of his representatives to go unavenged. A review of Assyrian royal annals (Sargon II, Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal) contains justifications for a declaration of war based on a violation of a sworn agreement or the physical challenging of Assyrian authority. Although the annals are not as graphic as this example, they also serve as a “dropping of the gauntlet” in political terms. (See page 335 in IVP Bible Background Commentary Old Testament) TSK - The beard is held in high respect and greatly valued in the East: the possessor considers it as his greatest ornament; often swears by it; and, in matters of great importance, pledges it; and nothing can be more secure than such a pledge; for 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. It is customary to shave the Ottoman princes, as a mark of their subjection to the reigning emperor. The beard is a mark of authority and liberty among the Mohammedans. The Persians who clip the beard, and shave above the jaw, are reputed heretics. They who serve in the {seraglios} have their beards shaven, as a sign of servitude; nor do they suffer them to grow till the sultan has set them at liberty. Among the Arabians, it is more infamous for anyone to appear with his beard cut off, than among us to be publicly whipped or branded; and many would prefer death to such a punishment. 1 Chronicles 19:5 Then certain persons went and told David about the men. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, "Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return." and told David: Mt 18:31 at Jericho: Jos 6:24-26 1Ki 16:34 your beards: Jdg 16:22 DAVID'S MEN GIVEN LEAVE OF ABSENCE IN JERICHO Then certain persons went and told David about the men. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, "Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return - David did not bring them back to the palace in their humiliated condition but showed compassion and concern for their personal dignity and honor by allowing them to wait in an out of the way city before returning to Jerusalem. This is another mark of a man after God's own heart! Utley on why Jericho - It is one of the most ancient cities in all the ANE. It was rebuilt and destroyed many times. It was not a large city during this period and it was on the border of Israel and Ammon, but on the western side of Jordan. It was a good, quiet, insignificant place for these men to regrow their beards. 1 Chronicles 19:6 When the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah and from Zobah. had made: Lu 10:16 1Th 4:8 odious: Heb. to stink, Ge 34:30 Ex 5:21 1Sa 13:4 27:12 Ps 14:3 *margins a thousand: 2Ch 16:2,3 25:6 27:5 Ps 46:9 Syriamaachah: 2Sa 10:6 Zobah: 2Ch 18:3,5,9 1Sa 14:47 2Sa 8:3 1Ki 11:23,24 Related Passages: 2 Samuel 8:3; 5; 12 (DAVID HAD PREVIOUSLY DEFEATED THE ARAMEANS AND ZOBAH) Then David defeated Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as he went to restore his rule at the River....5 When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David killed 22,000 Arameans. 2 Samuel 10:6 Now when the sons of Ammon saw that they had become odious to David, the sons of Ammon sent and hired the Arameans of Beth-rehob and the Arameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob with 12,000 men. Map of David's Kingdom-ESV Global AMMON FEARFUL AND HIRES MERCENARIES When the sons of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious (baash; Lxx - Kataischuno - put to shame, dishonored, disfigured) to David, Hanun and the sons of Ammon sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots (rekeb) and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah and from Zobah. - Note on the Map above the location of Ammon, which is the center of the conflict and is located just east of the City of David (Jerusalem). Then note to the north of Ammon are the states of Syria (aka Arameans) and north to them Zobah, nations from which Ammon hired mercenaries paying "1,000 talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen." (1Ch 19:6). NET Note - on talents - The Hebrew word כִּכַּר (kikar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or, by extension, to a standard unit of weight. According to the older (Babylonian) standard the “talent” weighed 130 lbs. (58.9 kg), but later this was lowered to 108.3 lbs. (49.1 kg). More recent research suggests the “light” standard talent was 67.3 lbs. (30.6 kg). Using this as the standard for calculation, the Ammonites hired chariots and charioteers for about 33.7 tons (30,600 kg) of silver. Wikipedia tells us a talent was the weight of a man (or roughly 50 kg) in gold. It also states that 6000 talents, which is the bribe paid by king Auletes of Egypt to become king of Egypt to Julius Caesar, was worth $8,400,699,422.80 today. So 1000 talents would be well over a billion dollars today. Ammon was willing to pay a high price, but money would not save them, for God was with David's forces! One is reminded of David's words in Ps 20:7+ "Some boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God." (Amen and amen) Bob Utley on become odious - This VERB (Niphal PERFECT) denotes a bad smell from something rotting (i.e., Qal, Exod. 7:18,21; 8:10; 16:20; Isa. 50:2). The Niphal is also used in (1) Israel odious to the Philistines (2) Ammonites to David (3) Absalom to David What they did to David's representatives would elicit a military response. Martin Selman: The Ammonites realized that they had literally ‘made themselves stink’ (v. 6), a word used for decaying animal or vegetable matter (e.g. Exod. 7:18, 8:10; 16:20; Isa. 50:2) and applied metaphorically where relationships had totally collapsed (e.g. Gen 34:30; I Sam. 27:12; 2 Sam. 16:21). Bob