2 Samuel 8 (NET)

David Subjugates Nearby Nations

1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah1 from the Philistines.2 2 He 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.3 The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute.4 3 David defeated King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah when he came to reestablish5 his authority6 over the Euphrates7 River. 4 David seized from him 1,700 charioteers8 and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of the chariot horses.9 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; the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected10 David wherever he campaigned.11 7 David took the golden shields that belonged to Hadadezer’s servants and brought them to Jerusalem.12 8 From Tebah13 and Berothai, Hadadezer’s cities, King David took a great deal of bronze.

9 When King Toi14 of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, 10 he15 sent his son Joram16 to King David to extend his best wishes17 and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Toi had been at war with Hadadezer.18 He brought with him various items made of silver, gold, and bronze.19 11 King David dedicated these things to the Lord,20 along with the dedicated silver and gold that he had taken from21 all the nations that he had subdued, 12 including22 Aram,23 Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amelek. This also included some of the plunder taken from24 King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah.

13 David became famous25 when he returned from defeating the Arameans26 in the Valley of Salt, he defeated27 18,000 in all. 14 He placed garrisons throughout Edom,28 and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned. 15 David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people.29

David’s Cabinet

16 Joab son of Zeruiah was general in command of30 the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary; 17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar31 were priests; Seraiah was scribe; 18 Benaiah son of Jehoida supervised32 the Kerithites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests.33

1tn 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). 2tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.” 3tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.” 4tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.” 5tc The LXX has ἐπιστῆσαι (episthsai, “cause to stand”). See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:3. 6tn Heb “hand.” 7tn 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. 8tc The LXX has “one thousand chariots and seven thousand charioteers,” a reading adopted in the text of the NIV. See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:4. 9tn Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them a hundred chariot horses.” 10tn Or “delivered.” 11tn Or “wherever he went.” 12tc 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 4QSam^a. For a reconstruction of this poorly preserved Qumran text see E. C. Ulrich, Jr., The Qumran Text of Samuel and Josephus (HSM), 45-48.map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. 13tn Heb “Betah” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV), but the name should probably be corrected to “Tebah.” See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:8. 14tn The name is spelled “Tou” in the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:9. NIV adopts the spelling “Tou” here. 15tn Heb “Toi.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons. 16tn The name appears as “Hadoram” in the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:10. 17tn Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.” 18tn Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Toi.” 19tn Heb “and in his hand were items of silver and items of gold and items of bronze.” 20tn Heb “also them King David made holy to the Lord.” 21tn Heb “with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated from.” 22tn Heb “from.” 23tc The present translation follows the MT; a few Hebrew mss along with the LXX and Syriac read “Edom” (cf. 2 Sam 8:14 and 1 Chr 18:11). Many modern English versions read “Edom” here (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). 24tn Heb “and from the plunder of.” 25tn Heb “made a name.” 26tn So NASB, NCV; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “Edomites” (see the note on “Aram” in v. 12). 27tn The words “he defeated” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. 28tc The MT is repetitious here: “He placed in Edom garrisons; in all Edom he placed garrisons.” The Vulgate lacks “in all Edom”; most of the Greek tradition (with the exception of the Lucianic recension and the recension of Origen) and the Syriac Peshitta lack “he placed garrisons.” The MT reading appears here to be the result of a conflation of variant readings. 29tn Heb “and David was doing what is just and fair for all his people.” 30tn Heb “was over.” 31tc Here Ahimelech is called “the son of Abiathar,” but NCV, CEV, and REB reverse this to conform with 1 Sam 22:20. Most recent English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) retain the order found in the MT. 32tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate in reading “over,” rather than the simple conjunction that appears in MT. See also the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17. 33sn That David’s sons could have been priests, in light of the fact that they were not of the priestly lineage, is strange. One must assume either (1) that the word “priest” (כֹּהֵן, kohen) during this period of time could be used in a broader sense of “chief ruler” (KJV); “chief minister” (ASV, NASB), or “royal adviser” (NIV), perhaps based on the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17 which has “the king’s leading officials”, or (2) that in David’s day members of the king’s family could function as a special category of “priests” (cf. NLT “priestly leaders”). The latter option seems to be the more straightforward way of understanding the word in 2 Sam 8:18.