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1Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. He took Gath and its surrounding towns away from the Philistines.[#tn 2 Sam 8:1 identifies this region as “Metheg Ammah.”; #tn Heb “from the hand of the Philistines.” Here “hand” is figurative language for “control.”]
2He defeated the Moabites; 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 of Zobah as far as Hamath, when he went to extend his authority to the Euphrates River.[#tn Heb “hand.”; #tn 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.]
4David seized from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers, and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of Hadadezer’s chariot horses.[#tn Or “horsemen.”; #tn Heb “his”; the referent (Hadadezer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.; #tn Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them one hundred 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 David wherever he campaigned.[#tc 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.; #tn Or “delivered.”; #tn Or “wherever he went.”]
7David took the golden shields which Hadadezer’s servants had carried and brought them to Jerusalem.[#tn Heb “which were upon the servants of Hadadezer.”; #map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.]
8From Tibhath and Kun, Hadadezer’s cities, David took a great deal of bronze. (Solomon used it to make the big bronze basin called “The Sea,” the pillars, and other bronze items.[#tn 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).; #tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:8 has the variant name “Berothai.”; #tn Heb “the sea of bronze,” or “[the] sea, the bronze one.” See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.]
9When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah,[#tn The name is spelled “Toi” in the parallel text in 2 Sam 8:9.]
10he sent his son Hadoram to King David to extend his best wishes and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Tou had been at war with Hadadezer. He also sent various items made of gold, silver, and bronze.[#tn The name is spelled “Joram” in the parallel text in 2 Sam 8:10.; #tn Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.”; #tn Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Tou.”; #tn Heb “[along with] all items of gold and silver and bronze.”]
11King David dedicated these things to the Lord , along with the silver and gold which he had carried off from all the nations, including Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.[#tn Heb “also them King David made holy to the Lord.”; #tn Heb “from.”; #tc 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).]
12Abishai son of Zeruiah killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.[#tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:13 attributes this victory to David.]
13He placed garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned.[#tn Or “delivered.”; #tn Or “wherever he went.”]
14David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people.[#tn Heb “and he was doing what is just and fair for all his people.”]
15Joab son of Zeruiah was commanding general of the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary;[#tn Heb “over.”]
16Zadok son of Ahitub and Abimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha was scribe;[#tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:17 has the variant spelling “Seraiah.”]
17Benaiah son of Jehoiada supervised the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were the king’s leading officials.[#tn Heb “[was] over.”; #tn 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”).]