Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 2 Samuel
Chapter 10: Let Us Play the Men For Our People
David sends kindness to the new king of Ammon, but it is repaid with gross insult, and war follows. Facing enemies before and behind, Joab rallies Israel with a word of faith and duty: 'Be of good courage... and the LORD do that which seemeth him good.' God gives the victory over Ammon and Syria alike.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 2 Samuel chapter 10. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Chapter 10 shows David's kindness spurned and the God-given victory that followed, and sets the stage for David's great fall in chapter 11. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Hanun Humiliates David's Envoys (2 Samuel 10:1-8)
David sends comfort to the new king of Ammon, but suspicion turns the gesture into an insult and provokes a war.
Thinkest Thou That David Doth Honour Thy Father?
"And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it? 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. When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return. And when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Bethrehob, and the Syrians of Zoba, twenty thousand footmen, and of king Maacah a thousand men, and of Ishtob twelve thousand men. And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men. And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate: and the Syrians of Zoba, and of Rehob, and Ishtob, and Maacah, were by themselves in the field."
Word Study
"kindness," Hebrew chesed (חֶסֶד), the same covenant kindness of chapter 9. The word that filled chapter 9, David's grace to Mephibosheth, opens chapter 10, but here it meets a very different response. David wishes to "shew kindness (chesed) unto Hanun" out of gratitude for the elder Nahash's past favor. But Hanun's suspicious princes twist the gesture, "Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father?", and read spies into the comforters. The two chapters set kindness received (Mephibosheth) beside kindness rejected (Hanun), and the contrast is the difference between faith and unbelief. Grace offered is not always grace welcomed; the suspicious heart imputes evil motives to generous acts. Hanun's humiliation of the envoys, shaving half their beards (a deep shame in the East) and cutting away their garments, was a calculated insult to David himself, for an ambassador represents his king. To dishonor the messenger is to declare war on the sender. So the world, misreading the kindness of God, often insults His ambassadors and spurns the very grace held out to it.
Explanation
When Nahash, king of Ammon, dies, David wishes to repay the old king's past kindness by sending condolences to his son Hanun. But Hanun's advisers, cynical and afraid, persuade him that the envoys are really spies come to overthrow the city. So Hanun grossly humiliates David's ambassadors, shaving half their beards and cutting their robes off at the hips, and sends them home shamed. David, sensitive to their disgrace, tells them to wait at Jericho until their beards regrow. But the insult means war. Realizing they have made themselves odious to David, the Ammonites hire a huge force of Syrian mercenaries. What began as an offer of kindness has, through suspicion and pride, become a great coalition against Israel. Hanun's folly, refusing grace and insulting the gracious king, brings ruin on his own head.
Gospel Focus
The contrast between chapters 9 and 10 is the contrast between two responses to the King's kindness. Mephibosheth received grace and was seated at the table; Hanun suspected grace, insulted the King's messengers, and brought war upon himself. So it is with the kindness of God held out in the gospel. To some it is life; others, in the pride and suspicion of unbelief, imagine evil in it, refuse it, and dishonor the messengers who bring it. "He that despiseth you despiseth me" (Luke 10:16), said the King of His ambassadors. To reject the grace of God and insult His servants is to make oneself an enemy of the King, and it ends, as Hanun's folly ended, in ruin. How we respond to divine kindness is no small thing. "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3). Do not be a Hanun, twisting the King's kindness into a threat; be a Mephibosheth, and take your seat at the table of grace.
The Victory Over Ammon and Syria (2 Samuel 10:9-19)
Facing enemies on two fronts, Joab rallies Israel with faith and duty, and God gives a complete victory.
The LORD Do That Which Seemeth Him Good
"When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians: And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother, that he might put them in array against the children of Ammon. And 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 come and help thee. Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good. And Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians: and they fled before him. And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem. And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel, they gathered themselves together. And Hadarezer sent, and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the river: and they came to Helam; and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them. And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him. And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there. And when all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were smitten before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more."
Word Study
"let us play the men," Hebrew chazaq (חָזַק), "be strong, show yourselves strong, take firm hold." Facing enemies "before and behind," Joab divides his forces and speaks one of the noblest battle-charges in Scripture: "Be of good courage, and let us play the men (chazaq, be strong) for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good." The words hold together two truths that must never be separated. First, wholehearted human effort and courage: be strong, fight bravely, do your utmost for God's people and God's cities. Second, complete submission to God's sovereignty: "the LORD do that which seemeth him good." Joab neither sits back in fatalism nor charges in self-confidence; he does his full duty and leaves the outcome entirely with God. This is the balance of all godly action, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you" (Philippians 2:12-13); we act with all our might, and we rest the result in the hands of God. Quit you like men, be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13), and let the LORD do what seems good to Him.
Explanation
Joab, David's general, arrives to find Israel caught between two armies, the Ammonites at the city gate and the hired Syrians in the open field. With cool wisdom he splits his forces, taking the elite troops himself against the Syrians and giving the rest to his brother Abishai against the Ammonites, with a plan to reinforce whichever is hard-pressed. Then he speaks his stirring charge of courage and submission. The battle unfolds as he hoped: the Syrians flee before Joab, and the Ammonites, seeing it, flee before Abishai into the city. But the Syrians regroup with fresh forces from beyond the Euphrates under Shobach. David himself takes the field, crosses the Jordan, and routs them decisively, killing Shobach and vast numbers, so that the Syrian vassal kings make peace with Israel and abandon Ammon. The coalition provoked by Hanun's folly is broken, and God gives His people a complete victory.
Gospel Focus
Joab's charge is a model for the believer's warfare. "Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God", here is the call to wholehearted, brave effort in God's cause, not shrinking, not half-hearted, but spending ourselves for God's people. Yet it ends, "and the LORD do that which seemeth him good", here is humble submission to God's sovereign will, leaving the outcome wholly to Him. The Christian life holds these together. We labor, strive, and fight the good fight with all our strength; and we rest the results in God's hands, content with whatever He sees good. Presumption forgets the second; fatalism forgets the first; faith keeps both. "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong" (1 Corinthians 16:13), and then trust the LORD to do what seems good to Him. Fight bravely for the cities of our God, and leave the victory, and its measure, in the hands of the King who does all things well.
Chapter 10 in Review
2 Samuel 10 opens with kindness spurned. David sends condolences to Hanun, the new king of Ammon, but suspicious advisers twist the gesture into espionage, and Hanun grossly humiliates David's envoys, an insult that means war. The Ammonites hire a great Syrian force, and Israel is caught between enemies on two fronts. Joab meets the crisis with wisdom and one of Scripture's noblest battle-charges: "Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the LORD do that which seemeth him good." God gives the victory; the Syrians flee, the Ammonites flee, and when the Syrians regroup, David himself routs them so completely that their vassal kings make peace and abandon Ammon.
For the Apostolic reader, chapters 9 and 10 set two responses to the King's kindness side by side: Mephibosheth received grace and was seated at the table, while Hanun suspected grace, insulted the King's messengers, and brought war on himself, a warning against despising the kindness of God and His ambassadors. And Joab's charge models the balance of all godly action: wholehearted courage in God's cause joined to full submission to God's will, we "play the men" with all our strength, and leave the outcome to the LORD who does what seems good to Him.
- Chapter 9 and 10 contrast kindness received (Mephibosheth) with kindness spurned (Hanun); how we answer grace matters.
- To insult the King's ambassadors is to declare war on the King; "he that despiseth you despiseth me."
- "Play the men... and the LORD do that which seemeth him good", wholehearted effort joined to full submission.
- God gave complete victory; the coalition provoked by folly was broken before His people.
Questions for Reflection
- Do you receive the kindness of God like Mephibosheth, or suspect and spurn it like Hanun?
- How do you treat the messengers of the King? To despise them is to despise Him.
- Do you hold together courageous effort and humble submission, or fall into presumption or fatalism?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Kindness spurned; insulting the King's ambassadors: 2 Samuel 10:1-8; Luke 10:16; Hebrews 2:3.
- Courage and submission; effort and God's sovereign will: 2 Samuel 10:9-19; Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Corinthians 16:13.