II Shmuel 10: Spy Games

When a ruler dies, his offspring have an opportunity to change course. Other rulers who want to keep things the same will try to appease the new leader, sometimes by reminding him of treaties and friendships. David tries to do the same here with Nachash’s son, Hanun. He sends a delegation to the new king to wish him well, bring gifts, and solidify the friendship between David and the ruler of Ammon.Hanun has other plans. The delegation arrives and his advisors warn him: “Do you think David is really honoring your father just because he sent you men with condolences? Why, David has sent his courtiers to you to explore and spy out the city, and to overthrow it” (הַמְכַבֵּד דָּוִד אֶת־אָבִיךָ בְּעֵינֶיךָ כִּי־שָׁלַח לְךָ מְנַחֲמִים הֲלוֹא בַּעֲבוּר חֲקֹר אֶת־הָעִיר וּלְרַגְּלָהּ וּלְהׇפְכָהּ שָׁלַח דָּוִד אֶת־עֲבָדָיו אֵלֶיךָ) (II Samuel 10:3). Hanun listens to his advisors and instead of welcoming the delegation, he cuts off their beards and the bottoms of their clothes, exposing their genitals (וַיִּקַּח חָנוּן אֶת־עַבְדֵי דָוִד וַיְגַלַּח אֶת־חֲצִי זְקָנָם וַיִּכְרֹת אֶת־מַדְוֵיהֶם בַּחֲצִי עַד שְׁתוֹתֵיהֶם וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם) (II Samuel 10:4).Not only was this embarrassing for the ministers themselves, but it was also religiously humiliating for the Israelites who did not shave and who had tzitzit on the corners of their garments. Think of the horrific pictures of Nazis shaving the peot off of Jews. The act was a major miscalculation by Hanun that ends in disaster.Perhaps, however, the episode echoes an earlier incident in Jewish history. During the famine, Yaakov sent his sons to Egypt to purchase food. When they arrived before Yosef, who had risen to become Egypt’s viceroy, he did not welcome them. Instead, he accused them of espionage: “You are spies; you have come to see the nakedness of the land” (מְרַגְּלִים אַתֶּם לִרְאוֹת אֶת־עֶרְוַת הָאָרֶץ בָּאתֶם) (Genesis 42:9). The brothers protested, insisting that they were honest men and not spies (כֻּלָּנוּ בְּנֵי־אִישׁ אֶחָד נָחְנוּ כֵּנִים אֲנַחְנוּ לֹא־הָיוּ עֲבָדֶיךָ מְרַגְּלִים) (Genesis 42:11), but Yosef repeated the accusation: “No, you have come to see the nakedness of the land” (לֹא כִּי עֶרְוַת הָאָרֶץ בָּאתֶם לִרְאוֹת) (Genesis 42:12).Hanun’s advisors make the same accusation against David’s delegation that Yosef made against his brothers: they are not diplomats but spies. Moreover, just as Yosef repeatedly spoke of uncovering the “nakedness” of the land, Hanun responds by literally exposing the nakedness of David’s servants. Yosef was able to conceal his identity behind the beard and royal garments of an Egyptian ruler. Perhaps David’s servants suffer the humiliation of having their beards removed and their clothing cut away as a measure-for-measure reminder of Yosef’s treatment of his brothers centuries earlier