Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Samuel 10:4

"So 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." — 2 Samuel 10:4 (ASV)

In 1 Chronicles 19:4, it is more concisely stated as being shaved. Cutting off a person’s beard is regarded by Arabs as an indignity equal to flogging and branding in our own culture. The loss of their long garments, so essential to Eastern dignity, was no less insulting than the loss of their beards.