KJV ORIGINAL
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.
Close to the original. Clear modern English.
✦ MADE SIMPLE
So Hanun took David's servants, shaved off their beards, cut their robes short right at their buttocks, and sent them away like that.
⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE
This verse shows how Hanun deeply humiliated David's ambassadors by shaving their beards and cutting their clothes to expose them shamefully.
📚 Historical Context
This incident occurred when David sent ambassadors to comfort Hanun, the new Ammonite king, after his father's death. In ancient Middle Eastern culture, beards were symbols of dignity and manhood, and exposing someone's private areas was considered the ultimate public shame. Hanun's actions were a deliberate and extreme insult that essentially declared war on Israel.
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