The Histories · Old Testament

1 Chronicles 19

1 Chronicles 19: Hanun shames David's messengers and the war with Ammon and Syria

General context

Nahash king of Ammon dies and his son Hanun reigns. David resolves to show Hanun kindness "because his father shewed kindness to me" and sends comforters. Ammon's princes tell Hanun the men have come to spy out the land, so Hanun shaves them, cuts their garments off at the buttocks and sends them away. David, told how they were treated, sends to meet them because "the men were greatly ashamed" and instructs them to wait at Jericho until their beards grow. Seeing they have made themselves odious to David, the Ammonites spend a thousand talents of silver hiring chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, Syria–maachah and Zobah; thirty-two thousand chariots and the king of Maachah camp before Medeba. David sends Joab with the host of mighty men. Finding the battle "before and behind", Joab sets the choice troops against the Syrians and gives the rest to Abishai against Ammon, with a pact that each will help the other, and says, "let the Lord do that which is good in his sight." The Syrians flee before Joab, Ammon flees into the city, and Joab returns to Jerusalem. The Syrians then bring in forces from beyond the river under Shophach, Hadarezer's captain. David gathers all Israel, crosses the Jordan and defeats them, killing seven thousand charioteers, forty thousand footmen and Shophach. Hadarezer's servants make peace and become David's servants, and the Syrians help Ammon no more.

Cited passages: 1 Chronicles 19:1, 1 Chronicles 19:2, 1 Chronicles 19:3, 1 Chronicles 19:4, 1 Chronicles 19:5, 1 Chronicles 19:6, 1 Chronicles 19:7, 1 Chronicles 19:8, 1 Chronicles 19:10, 1 Chronicles 19:12, 1 Chronicles 19:13, 1 Chronicles 19:14, 1 Chronicles 19:15, 1 Chronicles 19:16, 1 Chronicles 19:17, 1 Chronicles 19:18, 1 Chronicles 19:19

1 Chronicles 19 (KJV)

¹Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.

²And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.

³But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?

⁴Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.

⁵Then there went certain, and told David how the men were served. And he sent to meet them: for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

⁶And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syria-maachah, and out of Zobah.

⁷So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle.

⁸And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men.

⁹And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array before the gate of the city: and the kings that were come were by themselves in the field.

¹⁰Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.

¹¹And the rest of the people he delivered unto the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in array against the children of Ammon.

¹²And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee.

¹³Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight.

¹⁴So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him.

¹⁵And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.

¹⁶And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river: and Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.

¹⁷And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over Jordan, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.

¹⁸But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.

¹⁹And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and became his servants: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.

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Historical context

The kindness Nahash showed David is not narrated in this book; David's words are the only record of it. The suspicion comes from Ammon's princes, and Hanun acts on it; the text does not say what Hanun himself believed. The humiliation is described in physical terms, shaving and cut garments, and the narrator names the effect as shame. Hadarezer, whom chapter 18 reported as already defeated, supplies the Syrian reinforcements here; the chapter says only "after this" and does not explain the order of the two accounts. The "kings that were come" are left unnamed except the king of Maachah. Joab's plan is his own, and his speech leaves the outcome to the Lord without any prophetic word or enquiry being reported. Both battles end with flight; casualty totals are given for the second only. The Syrians' peace is described as becoming servants; the Ammonites are left inside their city for chapter 20.

Cited passages: 1 Chronicles 19:2, 1 Chronicles 19:3, 1 Chronicles 19:4, 1 Chronicles 19:5, 1 Chronicles 19:1, 1 Chronicles 19:16, 1 Chronicles 19:9, 1 Chronicles 19:13, 1 Chronicles 19:19

Literary context

The chapter begins with a gesture of comfort and ends with two armies in flight, and the turn happens through a misreading. David's intent is stated as kindness; the princes reinterpret the comforters as spies; Hanun's act answers the interpretation, not the intent. The narrator gives the messengers' shame one line and David's care for them another, and then the story escalates by money: a thousand talents buy an army. Joab's speech at the centre is practical and open-ended, a pact of mutual aid followed by a line that hands the result to God. The word "fled" carries the battle scenes; no fighting is described, only its collapse. The second campaign repeats the first at a larger scale, with David himself now crossing the Jordan. The last sentence closes the Syrian thread and isolates Ammon, which prepares the siege of Rabbah in the next chapter.

Cited passages: 1 Chronicles 19:2, 1 Chronicles 19:3, 1 Chronicles 19:5, 1 Chronicles 19:6, 1 Chronicles 19:12, 1 Chronicles 19:14, 1 Chronicles 19:18, 1 Chronicles 19:17, 1 Chronicles 19:19

Key moments

Kindness for Nahash's sake (1 Chronicles 19:2). David sends comforters to Hanun because Nahash had shown him kindness.
The princes suspect spies (1 Chronicles 19:3). Ammon's princes tell Hanun the messengers came to spy out the land.
Messengers shaved and shamed (1 Chronicles 19:4). Hanun shaves David's servants, cuts their garments and sends them away.
Wait at Jericho (1 Chronicles 19:5). David tells the shamed men to stay at Jericho until their beards grow.
Joab divides the army (1 Chronicles 19:12). Joab and Abishai agree to help each other against Syria and Ammon.
Let the Lord do what is good (1 Chronicles 19:13). Joab urges courage and leaves the outcome to the Lord.
Shophach killed beyond Jordan (1 Chronicles 19:18). David defeats the reinforced Syrians and kills their captain.

For reflection

Ammon's princes read comfort as espionage, and Hanun acts on their reading without checking it. How much of what follows in the chapter rests on the choice to assume the worst about a kindness?

People in this chapter

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