10:1 Later the king of the Ammonites died and his son Hanun succeeded him. 1 10:2 David said, “I will express my loyalty 2 to Hanun son of Nahash just as his father was loyal 3 to me.” So David sent his servants with a message expressing sympathy over his father’s death. 4 When David’s servants entered the land of the Ammonites, 10:3 the Ammonite officials said to their lord Hanun, “Do you really think David is trying to honor your father by sending these messengers to express his sympathy? 5 No, David has sent his servants to you to get information about the city and spy on it so they can overthrow it!” 6
10:4 So Hanun seized David’s servants and shaved off half of each one’s beard. He cut the lower part of their robes off so that their buttocks were exposed, 7 and then sent them away. 10:5 Messengers 8 told David what had happened, 9 so he summoned them, for the men were thoroughly humiliated. The king said, “Stay in Jericho 10 until your beards have grown again; then you may come back.”
10:6 When the Ammonites realized that David was disgusted with them, 11 they 12 sent and hired 20,000 foot soldiers from Aram Beth Rehob and Aram Zobah, 13 in addition to 1,000 men from the king of Maacah and 12,000 men from Ish-tob. 14
10:7 When David heard the news, he sent Joab and the entire army to meet them. 15
1 tn Heb “reigned in his place.”
2 tn Heb “do loyalty.”
3 tn Heb “did loyalty.”
4 tn Heb “and David sent to console him by the hand of his servants concerning his father.”
5 tn Heb “Is David honoring your father in your eyes when he sends to you ones consoling?”
6 tn Heb “Is it not to explore the city and to spy on it and to overthrow it [that] David has sent his servants to you?”
7 tn Heb “and he cut their robes in the middle unto their buttocks.”
8 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the messengers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 tn The words “what had happened” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
10 map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.
11 tn Heb “that they were a stench [i.e., disgusting] with David.”
12 tn Heb “the Ammonites.”
13 tn Or “Arameans of Beth Rehob and Arameans of Zobah.”
14 tn Or perhaps “the men of Tob.” The ancient versions (the LXX, the Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate) understand the name to be “Ish-tob.” It is possible that “Ish” is dittographic and that we should read simply “Tob,” a reading adopted by a number of recent English versions.
15 tn The words “the news” and “to meet them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and for clarification.