2 Samuel 8:3-8

8:3 David defeated King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah when he came to reestablish ¹  his authority ²  over the Euphrates ³  River. 8:4 David seized from him 1,700 charioteers ⁴  and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of the chariot horses. ⁵  8:5 The Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, but David killed 22,000 of the Arameans. 8:6 David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus; the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected ⁶  David wherever he campaigned. ⁷  8:7 David took the golden shields that belonged to Hadadezer’s servants and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸  8:8 From Tebah ⁹  and Berothai, Hadadezer’s cities, King David took a great deal of bronze.

2 Samuel 8:1

David Subjugates Nearby Nations

8:1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah ¹⁰  from the Philistines. ¹¹ 

2 Samuel 18:3

18:3 But the soldiers replied, ¹²  “You should not do this! ¹³  For if we should have to make a rapid retreat, they won’t be too concerned about us. ¹⁴  Even if half of us should die, they won’t be too concerned about us. But you ¹⁵  are like ten thousand of us! So it is better if you remain in the city for support.”

2 Samuel 18:5

18:5 The king gave this order to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “For my sake deal gently with the young man Absalom.” Now the entire army was listening when the king gave all the leaders this order concerning Absalom.

¹ tc The LXX has ἐπιστῆσαι (episthsai, “cause to stand”). See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:3.

² tn Heb “hand.”

³ tn 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.

⁴ tc 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.

⁵ tn Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them a hundred chariot horses.”

⁶ tn Or “delivered.”

⁷ tn Or “wherever he went.”

⁸ tc 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.

⁹ tn Heb “Betah” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV), but the name should probably be corrected to “Tebah.” See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:8.

¹⁰ tn 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).

¹¹ tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”

¹² tn Heb “the people said.”

¹³ tn Heb “march out.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “they will not place to us heart.”

¹⁵ tc The translation follows the LXX (except for the Lucianic recension), Symmachus, and Vulgate in reading אָתָּה (’atta, “you”) rather than MT עָתָּה (’atta, “now”).