Synopsis of the Chapter
Hanun king of Ammon mutilates the clothing and beards of David's envoys; David avenges this insult by war, and through Joab routs the king together with the Syrians: the king, in verse 15, having summoned Hadadezer, renews the war; but is again, more than before, defeated by David.
Verse 2: The Mercy of Nahash ¶
2. AS HIS FATHER (NAHASH) SHOWED MERCY TO ME -- when he kindly received and protected me while I was fleeing from Saul. The event is not narrated in Scripture, but St. Jerome recounts it from tradition, in the Hebrew Traditions (whom Angelomus, Abulensis, the Glossa, Lyranus, Sanchez, and others follow). "When David fled from the face of Achish, king of Gath, he came to Nahash, king of Ammon, who showed mercy to him, bestowing many goods upon him. From Nahash therefore he came to the cave of Adullam, where his father and mother and all his household came to him. From there he came to Moab, and left with him his father and mother and all his household."
Verse 4: The Shaving of the Beards ¶
4. AND HE SHAVED HALF THEIR BEARDS. -- In 1 Chronicles chapter 9, verse 4, it is added: "He shaved their heads and their beards, and cut off their garments." Therefore this was a threefold humiliation, which Hanun inflicted, against the law of nations, on David's envoys sent to console him. The first was the shaving of the head; the second, the shaving not of the whole beard, but of half, for mockery. The third, the cutting off of their long garments, reaching to the feet (in the Eastern manner), down to the buttocks, and therefore the exposure of the buttocks. For lay Hebrews did not wear undergarments, only priests.
Allegorically, Hanun represents the Jews, who plucked Christ's cheeks in the passion, Isaiah 50:6.
Tropologically, Hanun is the devil, who from time to time strips those who wish to do good of their beard, that is, takes away their fortitude; for the beard is a symbol of manliness and strength. Hear Eucherius: "Just as Hanun, so also the devil, the prince of this world, is accustomed to disfigure many religious and preachers through creeping vices. When he exposes their hidden evils into open and disgraceful acts of lust, he strips them naked of the dignity of chastity, as if their garments were cut off to the buttocks."
Verses 9-10: Joab's Military Strategy ¶
9 AND 10. HE DREW UP HIS LINE AGAINST THE SYRIANS: AND THE REST OF THE PEOPLE HE HANDED OVER TO ABISHAI HIS BROTHER, WHO DREW UP HIS LINE AGAINST THE SONS OF AMMON. -- Joab showed remarkable military expertise in this division of the army. For when military commanders see themselves being encircled from front and rear, they divide their forces and oppose one part to the enemies in front, and the other to those threatening from behind. For the same soldiers cannot fight both in front and behind; for if they cut down the enemies in front, they will be cut down by the enemies pressing from behind. Furthermore, by selecting the strongest soldiers, with whom he attacked, he immediately routed the Syrians; for when they were laid low, the other line of Ammonites, whom Abishai, Joab's brother, was pressing, also fled. Judas Maccabaeus did the same, and also Gentile commanders, such as Scipio, Hannibal, Alexander, etc.; and above all Claudius Nero, the Roman consul, who, deployed against Hannibal, when he heard that Hasdrubal was advancing with a new army of 56,000 men to join forces with his brother Hannibal's troops, secretly set out with a select band of his men, joined himself with the camp of Livius Salinator, and thus attacking Hasdrubal unexpectedly, he cut down 56,000, and returning victorious threw the head of the slain man before the outposts of his brother Hannibal, as Livy narrates.
Verse 18: The Syrian Casualties ¶
18. AND DAVID KILLED OF THE SYRIANS SEVEN HUNDRED CHARIOTS AND FORTY THOUSAND HORSEMEN. -- You will object: In 1 Chronicles chapter 19, verse 18, more are counted, for it reads: "And David killed of the Syrians seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand footsoldiers." I respond that the book of Chronicles supplements what was omitted in the books of Kings. Where it says here that 700 chariots were killed, understand the soldiers fighting from the chariots. There were seven hundred chariots, but seven thousand soldiers were in them; for each chariot contained ten soldiers. Moreover, beyond the forty "thousand horsemen" that the book of Kings has, the book of Chronicles adds forty "thousand footsoldiers," so that in total 80,000 were killed, besides the seven thousand fighting from chariots. So Abulensis, Sanchez, Serarius, and others. Finally, Josephus asserts that this Ammonite war ended at the beginning of winter.
Allegorically Eucherius (or more accurately Bede), as transcribed by Angelomus: "But Christ avenges the injury done to His own, when He not only confounds His adversaries, now through the victory of His saints, but also in the last judgment, by a just sentence, will hand them over to be tormented in everlasting fires."