2 Samuel8chapter 8

2 Samuel 8:1

“David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines--that is, Gath and her suburban towns (1Ch 18:1). That town had been "a bridle" by which the Philistines kept the people of Judah in check.”

2 Samuel 8:1

“And David took - Gath and her towns, as it is expressed in the parallel place, 1 Chron. xviii, 1. Which are called Metheg-ammah, or the bridle of Ammah, Gath was situate in the mountain of Ammah; and because this being the chief city of the Philistines, and having a king, which none of the rest had, was the bridle which had hitherto kept the Israelites in subjection.”

2 Samuel 8:1

“Metheg-ammah was Gath (the chief and royal city of the Philistines) and the towns belonging to it, among which there was a constant garrison kept by the Philistines on the hill Ammah ( 2 Sam. ii. 24 ), which was Metheg, a bridle (so it signifies) or curb upon the people of Israel; this David took out of their hand and used it as a curb upon them.”

2 Samuel 8:2

In the second book of Kings [Samuel], where David defeated the Moabites, Scripture records the measuring out of two separate lines for life and two for death. The significance of setting aside some Moabites for life and others for death is made clear by the story of Orpah and Ruth. Orpah, who turned back to idolatry and her ancient country, was destined for death; Ruth, following her mother-in-law, whose name means "pleasant," says, "Your people shall be my people, and your God my God."

2 Samuel 8:2

“And measured them with a line - even with two lines - It has been generally conjectured that David, after he had conquered Moab, consigned two-thirds of the inhabitants to the sword; but I think the text will bear a meaning much more reputable to that king. The first clause of the verse seems to determine the sense; he measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground - to put to death, and with one line to keep alive.”

2 Samuel 8:2

“The Septuagint and Vulgate make one-half. This war usage was not, perhaps, usually practised by the people of God; but Jewish writers assert that the cause of this particular severity against this people was their having massacred David's parents and family, whom he had, during his exile, committed to the king of Moab.”

2 Samuel 8:3

“Hadadezer - Not (see the margin) Hadarezer. Hadadezer, is the true form, as seen in the names Benhadad, Hadad (1Ki 15:18, etc.; 1Ki 11:14, etc.). Hadad was the chief idol, or sun-god, of the Syrians. To recover his border - literally, to cause his hand to return. The phrase is used sometimes literally, as e. g. Exo 4:7; 1Ki 13:4; Pro 19:24; and sometimes figuratively, as Isa 1:25; Isa 14:27; Amo 1:8; Psa 74:11. The exact force of the metaphor must in each case be decided by the context.”

2 Samuel 8:4

“A thousand chariots - It is strange that there were a thousand chariots, and only seven hundred horsemen taken, and twenty thousand foot. But as the discomfiture appears complete, we may suppose that the chariots, being less manageable, might be more easily taken, while the horsemen might, in general, make their escape. The infantry also seem to have been surrounded, when twenty thousand of them were taken prisoners.”

2 Samuel 8:4

“Seven hundred - Or, seven hundred companies of horsemen, that is, in all seven thousand; as it is 1 Chron. xviii, 4, there being ten in each company, and each ten having a ruler or captain. Houghed - That is, cut the sinews of their legs, that they might be useless for war.”

2 Samuel 8:4

“4 they are said to be 7000. If they divided their horse by ten in a company, as it is probable they did, the captains and companies were 700, but the horsemen were 7000. David houghed the horses, cut the sinews of their hams, and so lamed them, and made them unserviceable, at least in war, God having forbidden them to multiply horses, Deut. xvii.”

2 Samuel 8:5

“Syrians of Damascus - The Syrians (Aram), whose capital was Damascus, were the best known and most powerful. Damascus (written Darmesek in marginal references, according to the late Aramean orthography) is first mentioned in Gen 15:2. According to Nicolaus of Damascus, cited by Josephus, the Syrian king’s name was Hadad.”

2 Samuel 8:6

“Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus,.... Which was Coele-Syria, and lay between Libanus and Antilibanus, the chief city of which was Damascus; which Curtius (q) calls Damascus of Syria, being the head of it, Isa 7:8; in the principal places of which he put garrisons of soldiers to keep the country in subjection to him; or he put commanders or governors, as the Targum, in the, chief cities, and so Ben Gersom and R.”

2 Samuel 8:6

“Garrisons - The word is used for officers in 1Ki 4:5, 1Ki 4:19, and some think that that is its meaning here. Perhaps, however, it is best to take it with the King James Version in the same sense as in 1Sa 10:5; 1Sa 13:3. Brought gifts - Rather, “tribute” (and in 2Sa 8:2); meaning they became subject and tributary.”

2 Samuel 8:6

“Associate yourselves, and you shall be broken in pieces, Isa. viii. David was protected: The Lord preserved him whithersoever he went. It seems, he went in person, and, in the cause of God and Israel, jeoparded his own life in the high places of the field; but God covered his head in the day of battle, which he often speaks of, in his psalms, to the glory of God.”

2 Samuel 8:7

“And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer,.... That were found with them, which they had in their hands; these must be supposed to be with the principal officers of his army; or golden chains, as Aquila, or golden bracelets on their arms, as the Septuagint; the Syriac version is "quivers of gold", such as they put arrows into, and so Jarchi and R.”

2 Samuel 8:7

“David took the shields of gold - We know not what these were. Some translate arms, others quivers, others bracelets, others collars, and others shields. They were probably costly ornaments by which the Syrian soldiers were decked and distinguished. And those who are called servants here, were probably the choice troops or body-guard of Hadadezer, as the argyraspides were of Alexander the Great. See Quintus Curtius.”

2 Samuel 8:8

“Betah and Berothai - These names (see also margin) have not been identified with certainty. Exceeding much brass - “Wherewith Solomon made the brazen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass” 1Ch 18:8. The Septuagint and Vulgate both add these words here, so that perhaps they have fallen out of the Hebrew text. For the existence of metals in Lebanon or Antilebanon, see Deu 8:9.”

2 Samuel 8:8

“From Betah, &c. - In 1 Chron. xviii, 8, it is, from Tibhath, and from Chun. Either therefore the same cities were called by several names, as is usual, the one by the Hebrew, the other by the Syrians, or those were two other cities, and so the brass was taken out of these four cities.”