1 Chronicles 19:4
in 1 Chronicles 19So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved their beards, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.
KJV
Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.
⋯
This verse in 1 Chronicles 19
Commentary
2 notes on this verseAnd cut off their garments in the midst - Usque ad eorum, pudenda. So the Targum, Jarchi, and others; leaving exposed what nature and decency require to be concealed. See on 2Sa 10:4 (note).
This site's exposition
the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun
on 1 Chronicles 19:3-5
The princes' suspicion and the insult that follows track Samuel's account exactly: beards shaved and robes cut away leave David's servants publicly disgraced, since a shorn beard was a mark of shame through the ancient Near East. Adam Clarke notes the Targum's plainer reading of what the cutting exposed, the deliberate humiliation the princes intended by it. David spares his men the return march in that state, telling them to wait at Jericho until their beards are grown, mercy toward the injured party rather than an order to retaliate yet.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקַּ֨ח | vaiyikach | and he took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| חָנ֜וּן | chanun | Hanun | H2586 → | 11 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַבְדֵ֤י | ʾavdei | [the] servants of | H5650 → | 799 times |
| דָוִיד֙ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וַֽיְגַלְּחֵ֔ם | vaygalechem | and he shaved them | H1548 → | |
| וַיִּכְרֹ֧ת | vaiyikhrot | and he cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מַדְוֵיהֶ֛ם | madveihem | robes their | H4063 → | |
| בַּחֵ֖צִי | bachetzi | in the middle | H2677 → | 125 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַמִּפְשָׂעָ֑ה | hamifsaah | the buttock[s] | H4667 → | |
| וַֽיְשַׁלְּחֵֽם׃ | vayshalechem | and he sent away them | H7971 → | 845 times |
וַיִּקַּ֨חand he took
vaiyikachH3947 →966 times
חָנ֜וּןHanun
chanunH2586 →11 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַבְדֵ֤י[the] servants of
ʾavdeiH5650 →799 times
דָוִיד֙David
davidH1732 →999 times
וַֽיְגַלְּחֵ֔םand he shaved them
vaygalechemH1548 →
וַיִּכְרֹ֧תand he cut off
vaiyikhrotH3772 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מַדְוֵיהֶ֛םrobes their
madveihemH4063 →
בַּחֵ֖צִיin the middle
bachetziH2677 →125 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
הַמִּפְשָׂעָ֑הthe buttock[s]
hamifsaahH4667 →
וַֽיְשַׁלְּחֵֽם׃and he sent away them
vayshalechemH7971 →845 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 48:37For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.
it leads to
- Isaiah 15:2–3
Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
- Jeremiah 41:5
eighty men who had shaved off their beards, torn their garments, and cut themselves came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, carrying grain offerings and frankincense for the house of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 47:5
The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?
- Genesis 37:34
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
- Isaiah 20:2
the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.” And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot.
- Isaiah 15:2–3
Through
Isaiah 15:2Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
it leads to
- Leviticus 21:5
Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies.
- Jeremiah 48:1
Concerning Moab, this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be devastated. Kiriathaim will be captured and disgraced; the fortress will be shattered and…
- Isaiah 3:24
Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.
- Leviticus 21:5
About 1 Chronicles

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.
