2 Samuel 10:1 - Meaning and Application

David showed great respect to the king of the Ammonites, Hanun, in two ways, in 2 Samuel 10:1-2. First, his kindness grew out of a kindness he had already received from Nahash, the dead king. David said that Nahash had shown him kindness, and he wanted to return that kindness to his son. David had recently found joy in showing kindness to Mephibosheth for Saul’s sake, and now he wanted to do the same for Nahash’s family. One kind and generous act should lead us to another.

Nahash had once been an enemy of Israel, even a cruel one (1 Samuel 11:2), yet he had shown kindness to David. Maybe he did it only to oppose Saul, who had treated David badly. Still, when David received a kindness, he did not stop to test the giver’s motives. He chose to return the favor with gratitude. If a Pharisee, a strict religious leader, gives alms in pride, God will not reward him, but the person who receives the gift should still give thanks. God knows the heart, but we do not.

The second act of respect was that David sent messengers to comfort Hanun after his father’s death, as rulers often did for one another. It is a comfort to children when they see that their parents’ friends are still their friends too. It also helps mourners to know that others grieve with them and honor the same memory. People who are honoring a dead loved one are encouraged when they find others who value that person too.

Hanun, king of the Ammonites, answered David’s kindness with a great insult. He listened to the suspicious and wicked advice of his princes, who claimed David’s men had come as spies, pretending to comfort him (2 Samuel 10:3). People who are false often think others are false as well. Those who bear ill will toward their neighbors are quick to assume their neighbors mean harm too. Unfounded suspicion shows a wicked heart. As Bishop Patrick noted, nothing is so well meant that bad people cannot twist it, especially those who love nobody but themselves. Even the most honorable and good people should not be surprised if they are misrepresented. Charity thinks no evil.

Hanun then treated David’s ambassadors with shameful cruelty. If he truly suspected them, the wise thing would have been to keep his distance and send them away at once. Instead, he clearly wanted to disgrace them as much as possible, out of hatred for their king and their nation. These men were honorable themselves, and they represented the prince who sent them. By the law of nations, they were under special protection. They trusted the Ammonites and came without weapons, yet Hanun treated them like criminals and vagabonds. He shaved off half their beards and cut their garments in the middle, so his servants could mock them and make them look shameful.

David deeply cared for his servants when he heard how they had been abused. He sent to meet them and let them know that he took their cause seriously and would soon deal with the wrong. He told them to stay at Jericho, a quiet place, until their beards had grown enough to be neatly trimmed and they could appear in public again (2 Samuel 10:5). The Jews wore beards long and saw them as a sign of age and dignity. So these men could not rightly appear at court until their beards had grown back. They may have had other clothes to wear, but their beards would take time to return.

We should learn not to be crushed by unfair insults. In time, such shame often fades on its own, and the harm falls back on the one who caused it. The injured person’s good name can grow again, just as their beards did. God will bring your righteousness into the light, so wait patiently for him (Psalm 37:6-7).

Some have thought David got what he deserved from the king of Ammon because he had tried to court a pagan prince who was an old enemy of Israel. They may also have remembered how Nahash once planned to put out the right eyes of the men of Jabesh-Gilead as a disgrace to all Israel (1 Samuel 11:2). What better treatment could David have expected from such a spiteful family and people? Why should he seek friendship with a nation Israel had so little to do with, when an Ammonite was not allowed to enter the congregation of the Lord even to the tenth generation (Deuteronomy 23:3)?