1 Chronicles 18 (NET)

David Conquers the Neighboring Nations

1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. He took Gath and its surrounding towns1 away from the Philistines.2

2 He defeated the Moabites; the Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute.3

3 David defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah as far as Hamath, when he went to extend his authority4 to the Euphrates River.5 4 David seized from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers,6 and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of Hadadezer’s7 chariot horses.8 5 The Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, but David killed 22,000 of the Arameans. 6 David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus;9 the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected10 David wherever he campaigned.11 7 David took the golden shields which Hadadezer’s servants had carried12 and brought them to Jerusalem.13 8 From Tibhath14 and Kun,15 Hadadezer’s cities, David took a great deal of bronze. (Solomon used it to make the big bronze basin called “The Sea,”16 the pillars, and other bronze items.

9 When King Tou17 of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah, 10 he sent his son Hadoram18 to King David to extend his best wishes19 and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Tou had been at war with Hadadezer.20 He also sent various items made of gold, silver, and bronze.21 11 King David dedicated these things to the Lord,22 along with the silver and gold which he had carried off from all the nations, including23 Edom,24 Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

12 Abishai son of Zeruiah25 killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13 He placed garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected26 David wherever he campaigned.27

David’s Officials

14 David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people.28 15 Joab son of Zeruiah was commanding general of29 the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary; 16 Zadok son of Ahitub and Abimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha30 was scribe; 17 Benaiah son of Jehoiada supervised31 the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were the king’s leading officials.32

1tn 2 Sam 8:1 identifies this region as “Metheg Ammah.” 2tn Heb “from the hand of the Philistines.” Here “hand” is figurative language for “control.” 3tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.” 4tn Heb “hand.” 5tn Heb “when he went to set up his hand at the Euphrates River.” The Hebrew word יָד (yad, “hand”) is usually understood to mean “control” or “dominion” here. However, since יָד does occasionally refer to a monument, perhaps one could translate, “to set up his monument at the Euphrates River” (i.e., as a visible marker of the limits of his dominion). For another example of the Hiphil of נָצַב (natsav) used with יָד (“monument”), see 1 Sam 15:12. 6tn Or “horsemen.” 7tn Heb “his”; the referent (Hadadezer) has been specified in the translation for clarity. 8tn Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them one hundred chariot horses.” 9tc Heb “and David placed in Aram of Damascus.” The object נְצִיבִים (nÿtsivim, “garrisons”) appears to have been accidentally omitted from the text. See v. 13, as well as the parallel passage in 2 Sam 8:6, which includes it. 10tn Or “delivered.” 11tn Or “wherever he went.” 12tn Heb “which were upon the servants of Hadadezer.” 13map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. 14tn The MT reads “Tibhath” here, a variant name for Tebah (cf. 2 Sam 8:8). Some English translations substitute the other version of the name here (e.g., NIV, NLT), while others follow the reading of the Hebrew text at this point (e.g., NAB, NASB, NRSV). 15tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:8 has the variant name “Berothai.” 16tn Heb “the sea of bronze,” or “[the] sea, the bronze one.” See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23. 17tn The name is spelled “Toi” in the parallel text in 2 Sam 8:9. 18tn The name is spelled “Joram” in the parallel text in 2 Sam 8:10. 19tn Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.” 20tn Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Tou.” 21tn Heb “[along with] all items of gold and silver and bronze.” 22tn Heb “also them King David made holy to the Lord.” 23tn Heb “from.” 24tc The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:12 of the MT reads “Aram.” However, a few Hebrew mss along with the LXX and Syriac of 2 Sam 8:12 read “Edom” in agreement with 1 Chr 18:11 (cf. 2 Sam 8:14). 25tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:13 attributes this victory to David. 26tn Or “delivered.” 27tn Or “wherever he went.” 28tn Heb “and he was doing what is just and fair for all his people.” 29tn Heb “over.” 30tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:17 has the variant spelling “Seraiah.” 31tn Heb “[was] over.” 32tn Heb “and the sons of David [were] the heads at the hand of David.” The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:18 identifies them as “priests” (see sn there on the word “priests”).