Hanun, son of Nahash
The name Hanun means “gracious; merciful.” Hanun is mentioned in 8 verses of the Bible, first in 2 Samuel 10:1.
Family of Hanun
Father
Who was Hanun?
The son and successor of Nahash, king of Moab. David’s messengers, sent on an embassy of condolence to him to Rabbah Ammon, his capital, were so grossly insulted that he proclaimed war against Hanun. David’s army, under the command of Joab, forthwith crossed the Jordan, and gained a complete victory over the Moabites and their allies (2 Sam. 10:1-14) at Medeba (q.v.).
Biography adapted from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain, linked via Theographic Bible Metadata.
Key verses about Hanun
- 2 Samuel 10:1
And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.
- 2 Samuel 10:2
Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.
- 2 Samuel 10:3
And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?
- 2 Samuel 10:4
Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.
- 1 Chronicles 19:4
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.
- 1 Chronicles 19:6
And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syria–maachah, and out of Zobah.