1 Chronicles 19:4

1 Chronicles 19:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.
• New International Version (NIV)So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved them, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So Hanun took David's servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away;
• New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle, at their buttocks, and sent them away.

Context of 1 Chronicles 19:4

2David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun because his father Nahash showed me kindness.” So David sent messengers to comfort Hanun after his father’s ⌞death⌟. But when David’s servants entered Ammonite territory to comfort Hanun, 3the Ammonite princes asked Hanun, “Do you think David is honoring your father because he sent men to comfort you? Haven’t his servants come to explore, destroy, and spy on the country?” So Hanun took David’s men, shaved them, cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away. 5After people told David ⌞what had happened⌟ to the men, he sent ⌞someone⌟ to meet them because they were deeply humiliated. The king said to them, “Stay in Jericho until your beards have grown back, and then return ⌞to Jerusalem⌟.” 6The Ammonites realized that they had made themselves offensive to David. So Hanun and the Ammonites sent 75,000 pounds of silver to hire chariots and horses from the Arameans in Upper Mesopotamia, Maacah, and Zobah.

1 Chronicles 19:4 word by word

וַיִּקַּ֨ח חָנ֜וּן אֶת־עַבְדֵ֤י דָוִיד֙ וַֽיְגַלְּחֵ֔ם וַיִּכְרֹ֧ת אֶת־מַדְוֵיהֶ֛ם בַּחֵ֖צִי עַד־הַמִּפְשָׂעָ֑ה וַֽיְשַׁלְּחֵֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Wherefore Hanunחָנוּןchânûn · HanunH2586
• tookלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
• David’sדָּוִדdâvid dâvîyd · DavidH1732
• servantsעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
• and shavedגָּלַחgâlach · to shaveH1548
• them, and cut offכָּרַתkârath · to cut: cutH3772
• their garmentsמָ֫דוּmedev · garmentH4063
• in the midstחֲצִיchêtsîy · halfH2677
• hard by their buttocksמִפְשָׂעָהmiphώâ‛âh · hipH4667
• and sent them awayשָׁלַחshâlach · to send: departH7971

Cross-references for 1 Chronicles 19:4

• Psalms 35:12I am devastated because they pay me back with evil instead of good.
• Psalms 109:4In return for my love, they accuse me, but I pray for them.
• Leviticus 19:27“Never shave the hair on your foreheads, and never cut the edges of your beard.
• Isaiah 15:2The people of Dibon go to the temple, to the worship sites, to cry. Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba. Every head is shaved bald, and every beard is cut off.
• Jeremiah 41:580 men arrived from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria. Their beards were shaved off, their clothes were torn, and cuts were on their bodies. They brought grain offerings and incense to the Lord’s temple.
• Jeremiah 48:37“Every head is shaved, and every beard is cut off. There are gashes on every hand and sackcloth on every waist.
• Isaiah 20:4The king of Assyria will lead away both the young and the old—captives from Egypt and exiles from Sudan. They will be barefoot and naked. Their buttocks will be exposed in order to disgrace Egypt.
• Isaiah 47:2Take millstones and grind flour. Remove your veil. Take off your skirt. Uncover your legs, and cross the river.
• 2 Samuel 10:4So Hanun took David’s men, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their clothes from the waist down, and sent them away.
• 2 Chronicles 36:16But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words, and made fun of his prophets until the Lord became angry with his people. He could no longer heal them.
• Mark 12:4So the man sent another servant to them. They hit the servant on the head and treated him shamefully.
• Luke 20:10“At the right time he sent a servant to the workers to obtain from them a share of the grapes from the vineyard. But the workers beat the servant and sent him back with nothing.

Commentaries on 1 Chronicles 19:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4And cut off their garments in the midst - Usque ad eorum, pudenda. So the Targum, Jarchi, and others; leaving exposed what nature and decency require to be concealed. See on 2 Samuel 10:4; (note).Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-7The new Ammonite ruler, Hanun, opposed Israel being near his nation. The Ammonites hired Aramean armies from the north. These combined forces gathered at Medeba to challenge David's control of Moab's plateau.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4-54-5. 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…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Chronicles 19:4

• Motive
• Rulers

In the dictionaries

• Chronicles, Books of
• Genealogy
• Hard; Hardiness; Harddiness; Hardly
• Joab
• Port; Porter
• Shaving
• Zobah

Commentaries on 1 Chronicles 19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings