The degradation of David’s diplomatic delegates by shaving off half of their beards began a war.
Way back when Saul was a young king, Nachash, King of Ammon (his name means Serpent), posed a serious threat. The Ammonites kingdom, east side of the Jordan river, threatened their neighbors, the Israelite people of Yavesh Gilad with an ultimatum - forced removal of the right eye of each of the men - or complete takeover by Ammon. King’s Saul’s first victory was to save the day, prevent this punishment and forever win the people of Yavesh’s gratitude. They will be the one who will risk their lives to honor his corpse with burial after his brutal defeat.
A generation later, King Nachash dies, and King David sends a diplomatic delegation from Jerusalem to Ammon, to offer condolences to the dead king’s son, the new king Hanun.
But Hanun’s advisors suspect that this is not really a consolation convoy but an undercover act of espionage. In a dramatic and defiant move they desecrate the diplomatic delegates, accused to be spies:
וַיִּקַּ֨ח חָנ֜וּן אֶת־עַבְדֵ֣י דָוִ֗ד וַיְגַלַּח֙ אֶת־חֲצִ֣י זְקָנָ֔ם וַיִּכְרֹ֧ת אֶת־מַדְוֵיהֶ֛ם בַּחֵ֖צִי עַ֣ד שְׁתוֹתֵיהֶ֑ם וַֽיְשַׁלְּחֵֽם׃
“So Hanun seized David’s courtiers, clipped off one side of their beards and cut away half of their garments at the buttocks, and sent them off.”
The disgraced diplomats don’t make it back to Jerusalem. By royal command they are instructed to remain in Jericho, right there in the Jordan Valley, off camera, until their beards grow back.
In the meanwhile, Yoav the general is sent to lead the army in a fight with the people of Ammon in what will be a bloody long and decisive battle - with David’s army winning away.
What’s this odd story about, besides establishing the strength of David’s growing empire?
The brutally shaven beards may be part of some sort of mutilation ritual that it seems the culture of Ammon, and maybe others, was particularly fond of - right eye, half a beard or uniform.
Games of Thrones.
The shaving of half beards is also interesting in the context of its implication of masculine pride and shame.
In the fascinating "Of Beards and Men, by Christopher Oldstone-Moore, the author suggests that “Whenever masculinity is redefined, facial hair, and styles, change to suit.
The history of men is literally written on their faces..
..The idea that facial hair is a matter of personal choice remains popular despite abundant evidence to the contrary…choosing to wear a beard in modern America, for example, can still get you drummed out of military, fired from a job, disqualified in a boxing match, eliminated from political contention, or even labeled a terrorist.
Facial hair is political.”
Shaving half the beard of your enemy, in defiance of diplomacy, may be a brutal signaling of deeper schisms, splitting sides of the same face, yet increasing irreconcilable differences.
Maybe we need to shave some of the story’s layers to uncover more closer to the skin.
A lot has changed in local politics since Saul got into war with Nachash, a generation ago. The regional realities of necessary alliances that David now faces are drastically more complex than that of Israel’s first king, or during David’s years as an outcast.
Before seizing the throne, David relied on local alliances with other misfits and outlaws within Judah and Israel, and later on with more of the local powers, strategically aligning himself with the neighboring Moabites and Philistines, perhaps also the Ammonites, building his bigger base.
There was logic to these alliances with other minor and marginal groups, each gaining from mutual support. But David’s political reality has drastically changed - now it was he that has become the bully of the area, the super-power with an established city-state, growing territorial gains and the wealth that came with them. Some old alliances no longer held.
Perhaps the young king of Ammon miscalculated. The theatrical beard shaving was a political gesture of rage that would cost him and many of the local allies dearly. Or perhaps he understood too well that the old alliances will not play out anymore and that the only way to deal with David is with the new regional direct war that then erupts. David, with Yoav and his brother, Avishai, would lead the army across the river, beat the allies, kill the Aramean general and be declared victorious.
The Aramean ally of Amon is now a vassal state, swears allegiance to David, bringing more wealth and power.
The shaven shame beards avenged. Almost: The battle with Amon continues fiercely in the east.
This front will soon claim its most famous casualty: another tragic victim of toxic masculinity at its worst.
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