2 Samuel 8:16
in 2 Samuel 8Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;
KJV
And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;
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This verse in 2 Samuel 8
Commentary
5 notes on this verseJoab - was over the host - General and commander-in-chief over all the army. Ahilud - recorder - מזכיר mazkir, remembrancer; one who kept a strict journal of all the proceedings of the king and operations of his army; a chronicler. Or, remembrancer, or, writer of chronicles.
This site's exposition
Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host
on 2 Samuel 8:16-18
This is the first cabinet the united kingdom is given, Joab over the army by the promise of 5:8, Jehoshaphat as recorder, two priests still standing from the two lines that had served two kings before David's throne, Seraiah as scribe, and Benaiah over the royal guard. Adam Clarke reads the Cherethites and Pelethites by the Targum's rendering, archers and slingers rather than a tribal name, drawn from the men who had followed David since his exile among the Philistines. The same list of offices, largely the same men, closes the court narrative again at 20:23-26, framing the chapters between.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Joab . . . was over the host--by virtue of a special promise (2Sa 5:8). recorder--historiographer or daily annalist, an office of great trust and importance in Eastern countries.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For a similar account of the officers of Solomon’s kingdom, see 1Ki 4:1-6, where Jehoshaphat is still the recorder, and Benaiah is advanced to be captain of the host in the room of Joab. The recorder seems to have been a high officer of state, a kind of chancellor, whose office was to keep a record of the events of the kingdom for the king’s information, and hence, he would naturally be the king’s adviser. See Est 6:1-2; Isa 36:22; 2Ch 34:8. Such an officer is found among the ancient Egyptians and Persians. Ahimelech the son of Abiathar - According to 1Sa 22:9-23, Abiathar, Zadok’s colleague, was the son of Ahimelech. Abiathar the son of Ahimelech continued to be priest through the reign of David. (Compare also 1Ki 1:7, 1Ki 1:42; 1Ki 2:22-27.) It almost necessarily follows that there is some error in the text. The scribe - Or secretary of state 2Ki 12:10; 2Ki 18:37, different from the military scribe (Jdg 5:14 note). 2Sa 8:18 The Cherethites and the Pelethites - See the marginal reference note. Chief rulers - The word כהן kôhên, here rendered a “chief ruler,” is the regular word for a priest. In the early days of the monarchy the word כהן kôhên had not quite lost its etymological sense, from the root meaning to minister, or manage affairs, though in later times its technical sense alone survived.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיוֹאָ֥ב | veyoav | and Joab | H3097 → | 144 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| צְרוּיָ֖ה | tzeruyah | Zeruiah | H6870 → | 26 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | [was] over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַצָּבָ֑א | hatzava' | the army | H6635 → | 485 times |
| וִיהוֹשָׁפָ֥ט | vihoshafat | and Jehoshaphat | H3092 → | |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֲחִיל֖וּד | ʾachilud | Ahilud | H286 → | |
| מַזְכִּֽיר׃ | mazkir | [was] recorder | H2142 → | 230 times |
וְיוֹאָ֥בand Joab
veyoavH3097 →144 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
צְרוּיָ֖הZeruiah
tzeruyahH6870 →26 times
עַל־[was] over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַצָּבָ֑אthe army
hatzava'H6635 →485 times
וִיהוֹשָׁפָ֥טand Jehoshaphat
vihoshafatH3092 →
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אֲחִיל֖וּדAhilud
ʾachiludH286 →
מַזְכִּֽיר׃[was] recorder
mazkirH2142 →230 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Samuel 19:13And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from this time you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 17:25
Absalom had appointed Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra, the Ishmaelite who had married Abigail, the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah…
- 1 Kings 19:2
So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the lives of those…
- Ruth 1:17
Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”
- 2 Samuel 19:5–7
Then Joab went into the house and said to the king, “Today you have disgraced all your servants who have saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, of your wives,…
- 2 Samuel 3:29–30
May it whirl over the heads of Joab and the entire house of his father, and may the house of Joab never be without one having a discharge or skin disease, or one who…
- 2 Samuel 17:25
Through
1 Kings 4:3Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
it leads to
- Isaiah 62:6
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD shall take no rest for yourselves,
- 2 Samuel 20:24–25
Adoram was in charge of the forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
- Isaiah 62:6
Through
1 Chronicles 11:6Now David had said, “Whoever is the first to strike down a Jebusite will become chief commander.” And Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, and he became the chief.
it leads to
- Joshua 15:16–17
And Caleb said, “To the man who strikes down Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage.”
- Joshua 15:16–17
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).