2 Samuel 8:1-10
David Subjugates Nearby Nations
1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah ▼▼tn Heb “the bridle of one cubit.” Many English versions treat this as a place name because the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:1 reads “Gath” (which is used by NLT here). It is possible that “the bridle of one cubit” is to be understood as “the token of surrender,” referring to the Philistine’s defeat rather than a specific place (cf. TEV, CEV).
from the Philistines. ▼▼tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”
2He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third. ▼▼tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”
The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. ▼▼tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”
3David defeated King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah when he came to reestablish ▼ his authority ▼▼tn Heb “hand.”
over the Euphrates ▼▼tn The MT does not have the name “Euphrates” in the text. It is supplied in the margin (Qere) as one of ten places where the Masoretes believed that something was “to be read although it was not written” in the text as they had received it. The ancient versions (LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate) include the word. See also the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:3.
River. 4David seized from him 1,700 charioteers ▼▼tc The LXX has “1,000 chariots and 7,000 charioteers,” a reading adopted in the text of the NIV. See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:4.
and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but 100 of the chariot horses. ▼▼tn Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them 100 chariot horses.”
5The Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, but David killed 22,000 of the Arameans. 6David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus; the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected ▼▼tn Or “delivered.”
David wherever he campaigned. ▼▼tn Or “wherever he went.”
7David took the golden shields that belonged to Hadadezer’s servants and brought them to Jerusalem. ▼▼tc The LXX includes seventeen words (in Greek) at the end of v. 7 that are not found in the MT. The LXX addition is as follows: “And Sousakim king of Egypt took them when he came up to Jerusalem in the days of Rehoboam the son of Solomon.” This Greek reading now finds Hebrew support in 4QSama. For a reconstruction of this poorly preserved Qumran text see E. C. Ulrich, Jr., The Qumran Text of Samuel and Josephus (HSM), 45-48.
8From Tebah ▼▼tn Heb “Betah” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV), but the name should probably be corrected to “Tebah.” See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:8.
and Berothai, Hadadezer’s cities, King David took a great deal of bronze. 9 When King Toi ▼▼tn The name is spelled “Tou” in the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:9. NIV adopts the spelling “Tou” here.
of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, 10he ▼▼tn Heb “Toi.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.
sent his son Joram ▼▼tn The name appears as “Hadoram” in the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:10.
to King David to extend his best wishes ▼▼tn Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.”
and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Toi had been at war with Hadadezer. ▼▼tn Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Toi.”
He brought with him various items made of silver, gold, and bronze. ▼▼tn Heb “and in his hand were items of silver and items of gold and items of bronze.”
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