2 Samuel 10
David Guzik · Citado em PreceptAustin
2 Samuel 10
Guzik - David’s kindness to Mephibosheth in the previous chapter didn’t end his kind works. Here he showed kindness towards a pagan king because he sympathized with the loss of his father. David wasn’t content to feel kindness towards Hanun. He did something to bring the grieving man comfort. But when - This is a costly term of contrast for the Ammonites. It marks a change of direction, for the kind reception of David's ambassadors of kindness is falsely interpreted with malicious suspicion to signify evil intent in David. David's servants came to the land of the Ammonites - Ammon is just to the East of the City of David. Kindness (02617) hesed/chesed/heced is the idea of faithful love in action and often in the OT refers to God's lovingkindness expressed in His covenant relationship with Israel (His "loyal love" to His "Wife" Israel [cp Hos 2:18, 19, 20-see note, Is 54:5, Je 31:32] = His "loyalty to covenant"). God's hesed His denotes persistent and unconditional tenderness, kindness, and mercy, a relationship in which He seeks after man with love and mercy (cp God immediately seeking man Ge 3:9, who was immediately hiding Ge 3:8 trying to cover their shame Ge 3:7 - contrast God's lovingkindness manifest by spilling blood to provide skins to cover their shame! Ge 3:21). Hesed expresses both God’s loyalty to His covenant and His love for His people along with a faithfulness to keep His promises. Vine writes that…In general, one may identify three basic meanings of hesed, and these 3 meanings always interact -- strength, steadfastness, and love. Any understanding of hesed that fails to suggest all three inevitably loses some of its richness. Love by itself easily becomes sentimentalized or universalized apart from the covenant. Yet strength or steadfastness suggests only the fulfillment of a legal (or similar) obligation. Hesed refers primarily to mutual and reciprocal rights and obligations between the parties of a relationship (especially Jehovah and Israel). But hesed is not only a matter of obligation but is also of generosity. It is not only a matter of loyalty, but also of mercy. Hesed implies personal involvement and commitment in a relationship beyond the rule of law. Bob Utley on LOVINGKINDNESS (hesed). This term hesed (BDB 338 I, KB 336 II) has a wide semantic field. Used in connection to human beings kindness to fellow men (e.g., 1 Sam. 20:14; 2 Sam. 16:17; 2 Chr. 24:22; Job 6:14; Ps. 141:5; Pro. 19:22; 20:6) kindness toward the poor and needy (e.g., Micah 6:8) affection of Israel toward YHWH (cf. Jer. 2:2; Hos. 6:4,6) the temporary beauty of a wild flower (cf. Isa. 40:6) Used in connection to God covenant loyalty and love "in redemption from enemies and troubles" (e.g., Gen. 19:19; 39:21; Exod. 15:13; Ps. 31:16; 32:10; 33:18,22; 36:7,10; 42:8; 44:26; 66:20; 85:7; 90:14; 94:18; 107:8,15,21,31; 109:21-22; 143:8,12; Jer. 31:3; Ezra 7:28; 9:9) "in preservation of life from death" (e.g., Job 10:12; Ps. 6:4-5; 86:13) "in quickening of spiritual life" (e.g., Ps. 119:41,76,88,124,149,159) "in redemption from sin" (cf. Ps. 25:7; 51:1; 130:7-8) "in keeping the covenants" (e.g., Deut. 7:9,12; 2 Chr. 6:14; Neh. 1:5; 9:32; Dan. 9:4; Mic. 7:20) describes a divine attribute (e.g., Exod. 34:6; Ps. 86:15; 103:8; Neh. 9:17; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Micah 7:20; see SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL'S GOD, OT) kindness of God "abundant" (e.g., Num. 14:18; Neh. 9:17; Ps. 86:5; 103:8; 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jer. 4:2) "great in extent" (e.g., Exod. 20:6; Deut. 5:10; 7:9) "everlasting" (e.g., 1 Chr. 16:34,41; 2 Chr. 5:13; 7:3,6; 20:21; Ezra 3:11; Ps. 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 118:1,2,3,4,29; 136:1-26; 138:8; Jer. 33:11) like a stronghold (e.g., Ps. 59:17) related to God's power (e.g., Ps. 62:11c-12a) deeds of kindness (e.g., 2 Chr. 6:42; Ps. 89:2; Isa. 55:3; 63:7; Lam. 3:22) This word is translated many ways in English translations. I think the best summary definition would be "God's no-strings-attached covenant loyalty." In this sense, it is parallel to the NT term "love" (agapaō). God is faithful and loving because of who He is! 2 Samuel 10:3 the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent consolers to you? Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?" not: Ge 42:9,16 1Co 13:5,7 search: Ge 42:9-18 Jos 2:1-3 Jdg 1:23,24 Jdg 18:2,8-10 Related Passage: 1 Chronicles 19:3 But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “Do you think that David is honoring your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” 2 Samuel 8:12 from Aram and Moab and the sons of Ammon and the Philistines and Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. DAVID'S KINDNESS QUESTIONED BY MALEFACTORS Malicious malefactors rose up to oppose David's desire to be a benefactor! The princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent consolers to you? Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?" - The princes would be leading men in Ammon who would naturally be counselors to the king. It is ironic that the king's counselors were questioning the other king's consolers! This is a sad passage because it shows that sometimes fallen men cannot even receive kindness from another and even put an evil spin on what was meant for good! In a fallen world acts of kindness were sometimes used as a cover for treachery and that was the approach Hanun's counselor's took.The foolish counselors put doubt in King Hanun's mind. THOUGHT - How you think determines how you act. Be careful from whom you seek counsel! Unwise thoughts they put in your mind can result in foolish acts! David Guzik quips that "It is common for liars to suspect others of lying." 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. BGT 2 Samuel 10:4 καὶ ἔλαβεν Αννων τοὺς παῖδας Δαυιδ καὶ ἐξύρησεν τοὺς πώγωνας αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπέκοψεν τοὺς μανδύας αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ ἡμίσει ἕως τῶν ἰσχίων αὐτῶν καὶ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτούς LXE 2 Samuel 10:4 And Annon took the servants of David, and shaved their beards, and cut off their garments in the midst as far as their haunches, and sent them away. KJV 2 Samuel 10:4 Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. NET 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun seized David's servants and shaved off half of each one's beard. He cut the lower part of their robes off so that their buttocks were exposed, and then sent them away. CSB 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun took David's emissaries, shaved off half their beards, cut their clothes in half at the hips, and sent them away. ESV 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away. NIV 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun seized David's men, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their garments in the middle at the buttocks, and sent them away. NLT 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun seized David's ambassadors and shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame. NRS 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun seized David's envoys, shaved off half the beard of each, cut off their garments in the middle at their hips, and sent them away. NJB 2 Samuel 10:4 Whereupon Hanun seized David's representatives, shaved off half their beards, cut their clothes off halfway up, at their buttocks, and sent them away. NAB 2 Samuel 10:4 Hanun, therefore, seized David's servants and, after shaving off half their beards and cutting away the lower halves of their garments at the buttocks, sent them away. YLT 2 Samuel 10:4 And Hanun taketh the servants of David, and shaveth off the half of their beard, and cutteth off their long robes in the midst -- unto their buttocks, and sendeth them away; GWN 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun took David's men, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away. BBE 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun took David's servants, and after cutting off half the hair on their chins, and cutting off the skirts of their robes up to the middle, he sent them away. RSV 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off half the beard of each, and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away. NKJ 2 Samuel 10:4 Therefore Hanun took David's servants, shaved off half of their beards, cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away. ASV 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. DBY 2 Samuel 10:4 And Hanun took David's servants, and had the one half of their beards shaved off, and their raiment cut off in the midst, as far as their buttocks, and sent them away. BHT 2 Samuel 10:4 wayyiqqaH Hänûn ´et-`abdê däwìd wayügallaH ´et-Hácî züqänäm wayyikröt ´et-madwêhem BaHëºcî `ad šütô|têhem wa|yüšallüHëm NIRV 2 Samuel 10:4 So Hanun grabbed hold of David's men. He shaved off half of each man's beard. He cut their clothes off just below the waist and left them half naked. Then he sent them away. RWB 2 Samuel 10:4 Therefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. WEB 2 Samuel 10:4 Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, {even} to their buttocks, and sent them away. and shaved: Lev 19:27 1Ch 19:3-4 Ps 109:4,5 Isa 15:2 cut off: Isa 20:4 47:2,3 Jer 41:5 Related Passages: 1 Chronicles 19:3-4 But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “Do you think that David is honoring your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” 4 So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. Leviticus 19:27+ ‘You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard. Isaiah 20:4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old, naked and barefoot with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. HANUN'S COSTLY HUMILIATION So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away - Hebrew literally - “and he cut their robes in the middle unto their buttocks.” How embarrassing! It is notable that even today in the middle east to shave off a person's beard is regarded as a great indignity and insult. It is meant to humiliate the person who is shorn! This shaving by Hanun would end up costing him far more than he could have imagined! Sin makes fools out of all of us and Hanun certainly played the fool in listening to his unwise (foolish) counselors! THOUGHT - Let me repeat it as this principle is so important - Be careful who you make your closest counselors! Walton - Beards were a symbol of virility (compare the Assyrian king Shamshi Adad’s taunting of his son Yasmah-Addu, saying “Are you not a man—have you no beard?” in the Mari letters). The physical message conveyed by Hanun’s act is that Israel would be deprived of its strength and thrown into mourning, with garments torn and heads and beards shaved (see Is 15:2). As representatives of the king, these ambassadors were personally embarrassed by their treatment. However, by extension, David was also shamed, and thus he kept them from public view until the “damage” was no longer visible.(See page 336 in IVP Bible Background Commentary Old Testament) Believer's Study Bible - The shameful treatment of David's envoys by Hanun may represent an act of revenge for Saul's victory over the Ammonites in the days of Hanun's father Nahash (cf. 1Sa 11:1-10). More likely, Hanun was trying to provoke an occasion for war early in David's reign, when he thought his chances of success were better. Brian Bell - Their beard was the badge of the dignity of manhood. Thus to tamper with a man’s beard was the greatest insult....This was a declaration of war!...Years later Solomon’s son Rehoboam would make a similar mistake & follow unwise counsel. See 1 Kings 12:6-14. Bergen - Except for the performance of certain religious rituals (cf. Lev 14:9; Num 6:18: Ezek 5:1) or to express profound emotional distress (cf. Ezra 9:3), Israelite men always wore beards. To remove an Israelite male’s beard forcibly was to force him to violate the Torah (cf. Lev 19:27) and to show contempt for him personally (cf. Isa 50:6). Likewise, the removal of the extremities of a garment made that garment unacceptable by Torah standards (cf. Num 15:38; Deut 22:12) and had the effect of symbolically desecrating the law itself (cf. Num 15:39). Of course, the Ammonites’ actions also dishonored the Israelite men by forcibly exposing their genitals to public view, a humiliating experience to men of that culture. (Borrow 1 & 2 Samuel - New American Commentary) David Guzik - In that culture, many men would rather die than have their beards shaved off. This was because a clean-shaven face was the mark of a slave and free men wore beards. To insult the ambassador is to insult the king. It was just as if they had done this to David himself. The same principle is true with King Jesus and His ambassadors. Jesus reminded His disciples: If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. (John 15:18) Keil and Delitzsch “With the value universally set upon the beard by the Hebrews and other Oriental nations, as being man’s greatest ornament, the cutting off of one-half of it was the greatest insult that could have been offered to the ambassadors, and through them to David their king.” Adam
2 Samuel 10
Guzik comments "It’s important to understand that David was nothing without his mighty men, and they were nothing without him. He was their leader, but a leader is nothing without followers – and David had an army of the mighty men to follow him. These men didn’t necessarily start as mighty men; many were the distressed, indebted, and discontented people who followed David at Adullam Cave (1 Samuel 22:1-2+) (ED: THIS IS ANOTHER MARKER OF DAVID A MAN AFTER GOD'S HEART WHO COULD TAKE DISCARDS AND MAKE THEM INTO MIGHTY MEN!). One of these mighty men was Adino the Eznite – famous for killing 800 men at one time (2 Samuel 23:8). Another was Jashobeam who killed 300 men at one time (1 Chronicles 11:11). Another was Benaiah who killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day and killed a huge Egyptian warrior with his own spear (1 Chronicles 11:22-23). 2 Samuel 10:8 The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the field. at the entrance of the city 1Ch 19:7 Rehob and the men of Tob: 2Sa 10:6 Nu 13:21 Jos 19:28 Jdg 1:31 Related Resources: 1 Chronicles 19:7 So they hired for themselves 32,000 chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and camped before Medeba. And the sons of Ammon gathered together from their cities and came to battle. 8 When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army, the mighty men. 9 The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field. THE ENEMY FORCES SURROUND ISRAELITES The sons of Ammon came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city - this was at the city of Medeba, a city upon the borders of the Ammonites, and in their possession and about 20 miles SW of Amman (present capital of Jordan). They intended to trap David's armies with a two-flank attack and pin his army between the Ammonites on one side and their allies on the other. while the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the field - While the specific location of the forces in the field is not described, from the context it is clearly meant to set a surprise trap and enclose David's forces from the front and the rear. Bell - Joab faced 2 armies who were using the famed military maneuver called The Pincer Movement. [Pincer: like pliers or lobster claw. 1 coming from the north, the other from the south]
2 Samuel 10
Guzik points out that " The chapter ends with unfinished business at Rabbah. The offending Ammonites were still in their city and Joab returned to Jerusalem. In the spring King David sent Joab and the army out again to deal with Rabbah as he waited in Jerusalem. While he waited comfortably in Jerusalem he fell into sin with Bathsheba. Many know about David’s sin with Bathsheba, and how it happened when David waited in Jerusalem when he should have led the battle at Rabbah. 2 Samuel 10 shows that God gave David a warning by showing it was necessary for him to come out against the Syrians. David tried to leave the battle with Joab in 2 Samuel 10, but his army needed him; and God endeavored to show him that by blessing Israel when David did go out to battle. 2 Samuel 10 was God’s gracious warning that David sadly wasted. Walton - served David - It was not uncommon in the ancient Near East for the fortunes of war to lead to political shifts of allegiance. With the defeat of the Aramean army, many of the villages and towns that had formerly sworn allegiance to Hadadezer now offered their support and tribute to David. Parallels to this practice can be found in the Vassal Treaties of Esarhaddon as well as in the campaign lists of most of the Assyrian monarchs. It should not be assumed, however, that David was able to take total, structural command of this region of northern Transjordan. Coerced support, won one day in battle, may disappear at the first sign of weakness. (See page 337 in IVP Bible Background Commentary Old Testament)