So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved their beards, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away.
Parallel translations
- WEB So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle at 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.
- NKJV Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away.
- NASB So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them, and cut off their robes in the middle as far as their buttocks, and sent them away.
- NLT So Hanun seized David’s ambassadors and shaved them, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Hanun shames David's servants by shaving them and cutting off their garments. It is a grave public insult that provokes war.
Overview
Hanun humiliates the envoys, an act that in the ancient world was a deliberate provocation and a violation of diplomatic honor. Insulting an ambassador insulted the king who sent him. This rash cruelty sets in motion the conflict that follows and illustrates the folly of despising offered kindness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 2 Sam 10:4–5So Hanun took David’s servants, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the hips, and sent them away.
- Lev 19:27You must not cut off the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.
- Isa 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.
- 2 Chr 36:16But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
- Jer 48:37For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.
- Isa 47:2–3Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams.
- Ps 35:12They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.
- Ps 109:4–5In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
- Isa 20:4so 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.
- Jer 41:5eighty 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.
- Luke 20:10–11At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed.
- Mark 12:4Then he sent them another servant, and they struck him over the head and treated him shamefully.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The genealogies and the everlasting covenant with David trace the single thread of promise running through the generations straight to the Christ in whom the line reaches its goal.
How 1 Chronicles 19:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.