2 Samuel 10:1

1 Some time after this, King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king.

2 Samuel 10:1 Meaning and 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 from ( 2 Samuel 10:2 ) , and probably might be the same that came against Jabeshgilead, from whom Saul delivered the inhabitants of that place, ( 1 Samuel 11:1 ) ;

and Hanun his son reigned in his stead;
who, being his son, was heir to his crown, and succeeded him in his kingdom.

2 Samuel 10:1 In-Context

1 Some time after this, King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king.

2 David said, “I am going to show loyalty to Hanun just as his father, Nahash, was always loyal to me.” So David sent ambassadors to express sympathy to Hanun about his father’s death. But when David’s ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon,

3 the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, their master, “Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the city so they can come in and conquer it!”

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.

5 When David heard what had happened, he sent messengers to tell the men, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow out, and then come back.” For they felt deep shame because of their appearance.

Footnotes

• [a]. As in parallel text at 1 Chr 19:1 ; Hebrew reads the king.