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2 Samuel 10:2

in 2 Samuel 10

And David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console Hanun concerning his father. But when they arrived in the land of the Ammonites,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And David said, I will show kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness unto me. So David sent by his servants to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.

KJV

Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.

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This verse in 2 Samuel 10

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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, (1Sa 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.

This site's exposition

the king of the children of Ammon died

on 2 Samuel 10:1-2

Hanun succeeds his father Nahash, and David sends comfort for the kindness the two kings once shared, using the same word he used two chapters earlier when he sought out Mephibosheth to shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake. Wesley notes the earlier friendship recorded at 8:12 stands behind this embassy. One king's kindness is received as covenant loyalty in chapter 9; here it meets suspicion instead.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

David sent - There had hitherto been friendship between David and him: and therefore the spoils of the children of Ammon are mentioned, chap. viii, 12, by way of anticipation, and with respect to the story here following.
Then said David, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The particular instance of respect was sending an embassy to condole with him on his father's death, as is common among princes in alliance with each other: David sent to comfort him. Note, It is a comfort to children, when their parents are dead, to find that their parents' friends are theirs, and that they intend to keep up an acquaintance with them.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

David, on leaving Gath, where his life was exposed to danger, found an asylum with the king of Moab; and as Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was his nearest neighbor, it may be that during the feud between Saul and David, he, through enmity to the former, was kind and hospitable to David.
The history does not record any instance of Nahash’s kindness to David, but the enmity of the house of Nahash against Saul may have disposed him favorably toward Saul’s enemy David, and if there was any family connection between David’s house and Nahash 2Sa 17:25 this may have increased the friendship.

The words behind it

26 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • דָּוִ֜דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • אֶעֱשֶׂה־I will do

    ʾeeseh-H6213 →2628 times

  • חֶ֣סֶד׀covenant loyalty

    chesedH2617 →247 times

  • עִם־with

    ʾim-H5973 →1050 times

  • חָנ֣וּןHanun

    chanunH2586 →11 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • נָחָ֗שׁNahash

    nachashH5176 →10 times

  • כַּאֲשֶׁר֩just as

    kaasherH834 →5497 times

  • עָשָׂ֨הhe did

    ʾasahH6213 →2628 times

  • אָבִ֤יוfather his

    ʾavivH1 →1212 times

  • עִמָּדִי֙with me

    ʾimadiH5978 →

  • חֶ֔סֶדcovenant loyalty

    chesedH2617 →247 times

  • וַיִּשְׁלַ֨חand he sent

    vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times

  • דָּוִ֧דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • לְנַחֲמ֛וֹto comfort him

    lenachamoH5162 →108 times

  • בְּיַד־by [the] hand of

    beyad-H3027 →1618 times

  • עֲבָדָ֖יוservants his

    ʾavadavH5650 →799 times

  • אֶל־concerning

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אָבִ֑יוfather his

    ʾavivH1 →1212 times

  • וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙and they came

    vaiyavouH935 →2568 times

  • עַבְדֵ֣י[the] servants of

    ʾavdeiH5650 →799 times

  • דָוִ֔דDavid

    davidH1732 →999 times

  • אֶ֖רֶץ[the] land of

    ʾeretzH776 →2504 times

  • בְּנֵ֥י[the] people of

    beneiH1121 →4930 times

  • עַמּֽוֹן׃Ammon

    amonH5983 →106 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

10 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Samuel 11:1Soon Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”7 works2 Samuel 2:6Now may the LORD show you loving devotion and faithfulness, and I will also show you the same favor because you have done this.5 worksDeuteronomy 23:3–6No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.4 worksNehemiah 13:1–3At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God,4 works1 Samuel 22:3–4From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab, where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I learn what God will do for me.”3 worksNehemiah 4:3–7Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”3 works
The other 4 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 39:1At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness and recovery.3 works2 Kings 20:12At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness.2 worksJeremiah 37:2But he and his officers and the people of the land refused to obey the words that the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.2 worksJohn 11:19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them in the loss of their brother.2 works

The walk

5 stops

Each 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

    1 Samuel 11:1

    Soon Nahash the Ammonite came up and laid siege to Jabesh-gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

    it leads to

    • 1 Samuel 12:12

      But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we must have a king to rule over us’—even though the LORD your God was…

    • 1 Kings 20:34

      Ben-hadad said to him, “I will restore the cities my father took from your father; you may set up your own marketplaces in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” “By this treaty I…

    • Ezekiel 17:13

      He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land,

    • Genesis 26:28

      “We can plainly see that the LORD has been with you,” they replied. “We recommend that there should now be an oath between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you

    • Judges 21:8

      So they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to come up before the LORD at Mizpah?” And, in fact, no one from Jabesh-gilead had come to the camp for the assembly.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

David Attacks the Ammonites — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
David Attacks the Ammonites — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 10 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Samuel 10 →