CHAPTER 19
. DAVID'S
MESSENGERS, SENT
TO COMFORT HANUN,
ARE DISGRACEFULLY
TREATED.
1. after this—This phrase
seems to indicate that the incident now to be related took place
immediately, or soon after the wars described in the preceding
chapter. But the chronological order is loosely observed, and the
only just inference that can be drawn from the use of this phrase is,
that some farther account is to be given of the wars against the
Syrians.
Nahash the king of the
children of Ammon died—There had subsisted a very friendly
relation between David and him, begun during the exile of the former,
and cemented, doubtless, by their common hostility to Saul.
3. are not his servants come unto
thee for to search?—that is, thy capital, Rabbah ().
4, 5. shaved them—not
completely, but only the half of their face. This disrespect to the
beard, and indecent exposure of their persons by their clothes being
cut off from the girdle downwards, was the grossest indignity to
which Jews, in common with all Orientals, could be subjected. No
wonder that the men were ashamed to appear in public—that the king
recommended them to remain in seclusion on the border till the mark
of their disgrace had disappeared—and then they might, with
propriety, return to the court.
. JOAB AND
ABISHAI OVERCOME
THE AMMONITES.
6. when the children of Ammon saw
that they had made themselves odious to David—One universal
feeling of indignation was roused throughout Israel, and all classes
supported the king in his determination to avenge this unprovoked
insult on the Hebrew nation.
Hanun . . . sent a thousand
talents of silver—a sum equal to £342,100, to procure the
services of foreign mercenaries.
chariots and horsemen out of
Mesopotamia . . . Syria-maachah, and . . . Zobah—The
Mesopotamian troops did not arrive during this campaign (). Syria-maachah lay on the north of the possessions of the
trans-jordanic Israelites, near Gilead.
Zobah—(see on ).
7. So they hired thirty and two
thousand chariots—Hebrew, "riders," or
"cavalry," accustomed to fight either on horseback or in
chariots, and occasionally on foot. Accepting this as the true
rendering, the number of hired auxiliaries mentioned in this passage
agrees exactly with the statement in : twenty thousand (from Syria), twelve thousand (from Tob),
equal to thirty-two thousand, and one thousand with the king of
Maachah.
8. David . . . sent Joab, and all
the host of the mighty men—All the forces of Israel, including
the great military orders, were engaged in this war.
9-15. children of Ammon . . . put
the battle in array before the gate of the city—that is,
outside the walls of Medeba, a frontier town on the Arnon.
the kings that were come were
by themselves in the field—The Israelitish army being thus
beset by the Ammonites in front, and by the Syrian auxiliaries
behind, Joab resolved to attack the latter (the more numerous and
formidable host), while he directed his brother Abishai, with a
suitable detachment, to attack the Ammonites. Joab's address before
the engagement displays the faith and piety that became a commander
of the Hebrew people. The mercenaries being defeated, the courage of
the Ammonites failed; so that, taking flight, they entrenched
themselves within the fortified walls.
. SHOPHACH
SLAIN BY DAVID.
16. And when the Syrians saw that
they were put to the worse before Israel—(See on ).
18. David slew of the Syrians seven
thousand men—(Compare , which has seven hundred chariots). Either the text in one
of the books is corrupt [KEIL,
DAVIDSON], or the accounts
must be combined, giving this result—seven thousand horsemen, seven
thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen [KENNICOTT,
HOUBIGANT, CALMET].
CHAPTER 19
. DAVID'S MESSENGERS, SENT TO COMFORT HANUN, ARE DISGRACEFULLY TREATED.
1. after this—This phrase seems to indicate that the incident now to be related took place immediately, or soon after the wars described in the preceding chapter. But the chronological order is loosely observed, and the only just inference that can be drawn from the use of this phrase is, that some farther account is to be given of the wars against the Syrians.
Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died—There had subsisted a very friendly relation between David and him, begun during the exile of the former, and cemented, doubtless, by their common hostility to Saul.
3. are not his servants come unto thee for to search?—that is, thy capital, Rabbah ().
4, 5. shaved them—not completely, but only the half of their face. This disrespect to the beard, and indecent exposure of their persons by their clothes being cut off from the girdle downwards, was the grossest indignity to which Jews, in common with all Orientals, could be subjected. No wonder that the men were ashamed to appear in public—that the king recommended them to remain in seclusion on the border till the mark of their disgrace had disappeared—and then they might, with propriety, return to the court.
. JOAB AND ABISHAI OVERCOME THE AMMONITES.
6. when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David—One universal feeling of indignation was roused throughout Israel, and all classes supported the king in his determination to avenge this unprovoked insult on the Hebrew nation.
Hanun . . . sent a thousand talents of silver—a sum equal to £342,100, to procure the services of foreign mercenaries.
chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia . . . Syria-maachah, and . . . Zobah—The Mesopotamian troops did not arrive during this campaign (). Syria-maachah lay on the north of the possessions of the trans-jordanic Israelites, near Gilead.
Zobah—(see on ).
7. So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots—Hebrew, "riders," or "cavalry," accustomed to fight either on horseback or in chariots, and occasionally on foot. Accepting this as the true rendering, the number of hired auxiliaries mentioned in this passage agrees exactly with the statement in : twenty thousand (from Syria), twelve thousand (from Tob), equal to thirty-two thousand, and one thousand with the king of Maachah.
8. David . . . sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men—All the forces of Israel, including the great military orders, were engaged in this war.
9-15. children of Ammon . . . put the battle in array before the gate of the city—that is, outside the walls of Medeba, a frontier town on the Arnon.
the kings that were come were by themselves in the field—The Israelitish army being thus beset by the Ammonites in front, and by the Syrian auxiliaries behind, Joab resolved to attack the latter (the more numerous and formidable host), while he directed his brother Abishai, with a suitable detachment, to attack the Ammonites. Joab's address before the engagement displays the faith and piety that became a commander of the Hebrew people. The mercenaries being defeated, the courage of the Ammonites failed; so that, taking flight, they entrenched themselves within the fortified walls.
. SHOPHACH SLAIN BY DAVID.
16. And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel—(See on ).
18. David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men—(Compare , which has seven hundred chariots). Either the text in one of the books is corrupt [KEIL, DAVIDSON], or the accounts must be combined, giving this result—seven thousand horsemen, seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen [KENNICOTT, HOUBIGANT, CALMET].