2 Samuel 10:4

So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away.

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

▾

KJV

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.

ASV

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.

YLT

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;

DBT

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.

⋯

Commentary voices

loading…

Voices4

On this verse

Wherefore Hanun took David's servants,....

John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed

Related commentary

Shaved off the one half of their beards - 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. The beard was never cut off but in mourning, or as a sign of slavery.

Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical

Besides, a knowledge of the extraordinary respect and value which has always been attached, and the gross insult that is implied in any indignity offered, to the beard in the East, will account for the shame which the deputies felt, and the determined spirit of revenge which burst out in all Israel on learning the outrage.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871reformed

Shaved - To fasten this is a reproach upon them, and to make them ridiculous and contemptible. Cut off, &c. - This was worse than the former, because the Israelites wore no breeches, and so their nakedness was hereby uncovered.

John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765evangelical

Voices on this verse

loading…

Cross-references

8 linked verses

The verses this one reaches8

Isaiah 20:4
so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.
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.
1 Chronicles 19:4
So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved their beards, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away.
1 Chronicles 19:3–4
the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Just because David has sent you comforters, do you really believe he is showing respect for your father? Have not his servants come to you to explore the land, spy it out, and overthrow it?”
Isaiah 15:2
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.
Psalms 109:4–5
In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
Leviticus 19:27
You must not cut off the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.
Isaiah 47:2–3
Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.

Cross-references

loading…

The quotation web

loading…

Around this verse

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

About this book

David Attacks the Ammonites — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866) — public domain

2 Samuel — David's reign in three movements — rise, fall, consequences — with the Davidic covenant (ch. 7) as the vertical spine down the centre. A covenant held through both rise and fall; a throne established for ever.

Canon: Old Testament
Author: Traditional: compilation by Nathan and Gad from Samuel's earlier records (1 Chr 29:29)
Date: Events c. 1010–970 BC; compilation during Solomon's early reign

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
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.
leads to
- 1 Kings 16:24
  He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city there, calling it Samaria after the name of Shemer, who had owned the hill.
- Joshua 18:1
  Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,
- 2 Kings 25:9
  He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
- Deuteronomy 14:1
  You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead,
- Genesis 33:18
  After Jacob had come from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped just outside the city.
Through
Isaiah 20:4
so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.
leads to
- Isaiah 19:4
  I will deliver the Egyptians into the hands of harsh masters, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
Through
Isaiah 15:2
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.
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…

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

loading…

Continue: 2 Samuel 10 →