2 Samuel 10:1

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

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(1) The king.—His name is given in the next verse and in 1Chronicles 19:1, as Nahash. He was probably a son or grandson of the Nahash whom Saul conquered (1 Samuel 11), as more than fifty years must have passed away since that event. The kindness he had shown to David is not recorded, but may have been some friendly help during his wanderings, or merely a congratulatory embassy on his accession.

Benson Commentary

2 Samuel 10:1. The king of the children of Ammon died — Who, it appears by the next verse, was Nahash, to whom Saul gave a very great defeat at Jabesh-Gilead, 1 Samuel 11.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:1-5 Nahash had been an enemy to Israel, yet had showed kindness to David. David therefore resolves gratefully to return it. If a Pharisee gives alms in pride, though God will not reward it, yet he that receives the alms ought to return thanks for it. Those who bear ill-will to their neighbours, are resolved not to believe that their neighbours bear any good-will to them. There is nothing so well meant, but it may be ill interpreted, and is wont to be so, by men who love nobody but themselves. The best men must not think it strange if they are thus misrepresented. Charity thinketh no evil. According to the usages of those days and countries, Hanun treated David's ambassadors in the most contemptuous manner. David showed much concern for his servants. Let us learn not to lay unjust reproaches to heart; they will wear off, and turn only to the shame of those who utter or do them; while the reputation wrongfully hurt in a little time grows again, as these beards did. God will bring forth thy righteousness as the light, therefore wait patiently for him, Ps 37:6,7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The king - In marginal reference. Nahash, king, etc. The interval between the two events, not less than 50 years, and possibly more, is against his being the same as the Nahash of 1 Samuel 11:1-15.

The Ammonites are almost always spoken of as the children of Ammon, from the name of their first ancestor Ben-ammi Genesis 19:38.

Hanun - The equivalent of the Carthaginian Hanno, from the same root as the Hebrew, Hananiah, Johanan, Hannah, etc. The same name appears in composition with Baal in Baal-Hanan, an Aramean king Genesis 36:38-39.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 10

2Sa 10:1-5. David's Messengers, Sent to Comfort Hanun, Are Disgracefully Treated.David sendeth messengers to comfort the king of the Ammonites: he abuseth them, 2 Samuel 10:1-5. The Ammonites and Syrians prepare to fight against the Israelites; and are overcome by Joab and Abishai, 2 Kings 10:6-14. They renewing their forces, are again conquered by David, 2 Kings 10:15-19.

The king of the children of Ammon; Nahash, 2 Samuel 10:2; probably the same whose army Saul defeated and destroyed, 1Sa 11, who out of enmity to Saul showed kindness to David, as it follows; hoping also by fomenting the differences between Saul and David, to make way for his future conquests.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And it came to pass after this,.... After the wars with the Moabites, Syrians, and Edomites, being friendly with the children of Ammon, David sent an embassy to their king, after related; by which it appears what is said concerning the spoils of the children of Ammon, 2 Samuel 8:12, is by anticipation; for these spoils were not taken until the following war with them, the occasion of which is here told:

that the king of the children of Ammon died; whose name was Nahash, as is clear from 2 Samuel 10:2, and probably might be the same that came against Jabeshgilead, from whom Saul delivered the inhabitants of that place, 1 Samuel 11:1,

and Hanun his son reigned in his stead; who, being his son, was heir to his crown, and succeeded him in his kingdom.

Geneva Study Bible

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

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1–5. David’s ambassadors insulted by the Ammonites

1. And it came to pass after this] On this formula of transition see note on ch. 2 Samuel 8:1.

the king of the children of Ammon] Forty years at least had passed since the events of 1 Samuel 11, so that this Nahash was probably the son or grandson of the king defeated by Saul at Jabesh. On the Ammonites see note on 1 Samuel 11:1.

Hanun] This name is identical with the Phoenician Hanno, which appears so frequently in Carthaginian history. In Greek both take the form Ἄννων (Annon).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 1. - The king of the children of Ammon died. This war is very briefly referred to in 2 Samuel 8:12; but we have now entered upon a narrative, the interest of which is altogether unlike all that has gone before. There we saw David crowned with earthly glory, and made the monarch of a vast empire; he is also a prophet, and, as such, not only restores, but enriches and enlarges, the worship of the sanctuary; and, as prophet and king, he becomes not only the type, but the ancestor of the Messiah. In this narrative he is a sinner, punished with terrible, though merited, severity, and must henceforth walk humbly and sorrowfully as a penitent before God. From 1 Chronicles 19:1 we learn that the king's name was Nahash; but whether he was the same as the Nahash mentioned in 1 Samuel 11:1 is uncertain. There was an interval of more than forty years between, but Nahash was probably a young man, just seated on the throne, when he attacked Jabesh-Gilead; and Saul, who repelled him, might have been still alive but for the battle of Gilbea. The name means a "serpent," and is used in Job 26:18 of the constellation Draco. It may thus have been a name assumed by several Ammonite kings, the dragon representing majesty and power, and being the symbol on their seal, just as it is the Chinese imperial emblem now. The phrase, "It came to pass after this," has no chronological significance either here or in 2 Samuel 8:1. It is simply a form of transition from one subject to another. 2 Samuel 10:1

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Occasion of the war with the Ammonites. - 2 Samuel 10:1. On the expression "it came to pass after this," see the remarks on 2 Samuel 8:1. When Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead, David thought that he would show him the same kindness that Nahash had formerly shown to him. We are not told in what the love shown to David by Nahash consisted. He had most likely rendered him some assistance during the time of his flight from Saul. Nahash was no doubt the king of the Ammonites mentioned in 1 Samuel 11:1, whom Saul had smitten at Jabesh. David therefore sent an embassy to Hanun, "to comfort him for his father," i.e., to show his sympathy with him on the occasion of his father's death, and at the same time to congratulate him upon his ascent of the throne.