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.
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Commentary
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Gill's Exposition
Wherefore Hanun took David's servants,.... His ambassadors:
and shaved off one half of their beards; that is, he ordered them to be shaved off; than which a greater indignity could not have been…
Barnes' Notes
In 1Ch 19:4, more concisely “shaved.” Cutting off a person’s beard is regarded by the Arabs as an indignity equal to flogging and branding among ourselves. The loss of their long garments, so…
Adam Clarke
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,…
Here is, I. The great respect David paid to his neighbour, the king of the Ammonites, Sa2 10:1, Sa2 10:2. 1. The inducement to it was some kindness he had formerly received from Nahash the deceased…
Cambridge Bible
shaved off the one half of their beards Compare the story in Herodotus of the thief who made some guards drunk, and for an insult shaved their right cheeks (II. 121). No grosser insult could have been…
Cross References
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