Envoys Abused

Nahash “had shown kindness to David when he was a fugitive from the rage of Saul.” But Nahash never forgave Saul for coming to the aid of Jabesh-gilead (1 Samuel 11:1–11).

As Saul was the enemy of David, it stood to reason that the enemy of Nahash’s enemy was his friend. Thinking that Hanun, Nahash’s son, must be grieving the loss of his father, David sent ambassadors to express condolences.

Apparently, Nahash had never really embraced David as a friend, and his scornful attitude toward all of Israel colored his son’s attitude toward David.

The Ammonite princes convinced the young king that David’s emissaries were spying on their defenses and suggested a radical insult be administered to these “spies.” So Hanun ordered half of each ambassador’s beard cut off and their long robes shortened to a ridiculous length. It was, and still is, customary among nations to treat ambassadors with respect, so these actions essentially constituted a declaration of war.

When informed of the treatment his ambassadors had received, David ordered them to tarry in Jericho until their beards grew back.

As a full beard was a sign of dignity, shaving off any remaining portion so as to be clean-shaven was not an option. “It was by the advice of his counselors that Nahash, half a century before, had been led to make the cruel condition required of the people of Jabesh-gilead, when, besieged by the Ammonites, they sued for a covenant of peace. Nahash had demanded the privilege of thrusting out all their right eyes. The Ammonites still vividly remembered how the king of Israel had foiled their cruel design, and had rescued the people whom they would have humbled and mutilated. The same hatred of Israel still prompted them. They could have no conception of the generous spirit that had inspired David’s message. When Satan controls the minds of men he will excite envy and suspicion which will misconstrue the very best intentions.” Consider this: had the ambassadors succeeded in making peace, Israel would have formed an alliance with treacherous heathen people. Man’s ways are not God’s ways.