1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. He took Gath and its surrounding townstn 2 Sam 8:1 identifies this region as “Metheg Ammah.” away from the Philistines.tn Heb “from the hand of the Philistines.” Here “hand” is figurative language for “control.”

2 He defeated the Moabites; the Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute.tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”

3 David defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah as far as Hamath, when he went to extend his authoritytn Heb “hand.” to the Euphrates River.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.

4 David seized from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers,tn Or “horsemen.” and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of Hadadezer’stn Heb “his”; the referent (Hadadezer) has been specified in the translation for clarity. chariot horses.tn Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them one hundred chariot horses.”

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;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. the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protectedtn Or “delivered.” David wherever he campaigned.tn Or “wherever he went.”

7 David took the golden shields which Hadadezer’s servants had carriedtn Heb “which were upon the servants of Hadadezer.” and brought them to Jerusalem.map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

8 From Tibhathtn 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). and Kun,tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:8 has the variant name “Berothai.” Hadadezer’s cities, David took a great deal of bronze. (Solomon used it to make the big bronze basin called “The Sea,”tn Heb “the sea of bronze,” or “[the] sea, the bronze one.” See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23. the pillars, and other bronze items.

9 When King Toutn The name is spelled “Toi” in the parallel text in 2 Sam 8:9. of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah,

10 he sent his son Hadoramtn The name is spelled “Joram” in the parallel text in 2 Sam 8:10. to King David to extend his best wishestn Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.” and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Tou had been at war with Hadadezer.tn Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Tou.” He also sent various items made of gold, silver, and bronze.tn Heb “[along with] all items of gold and silver and bronze.”

11 King David dedicated these things to the Lord,tn Heb “also them King David made holy to the Lord.” along with the silver and gold which he had carried off from all the nations, includingtn Heb “from.” Edom,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). Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

12 Abishai son of Zeruiahtn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:13 attributes this victory to David. 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 protectedtn Or “delivered.” David wherever he campaigned.tn Or “wherever he went.”

14 David 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.”

15 Joab son of Zeruiah was commanding general oftn Heb “over.” the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary;

16 Zadok son of Ahitub and Abimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavshatn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:17 has the variant spelling “Seraiah.” was scribe;

17 Benaiah son of Jehoiada supervisedtn Heb “[was] over.” the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were the king’s leading officials.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”).