2 Samuel 5:18-25

5:18 Now the Philistines had arrived and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. 5:19 So David asked the Lord, “Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord said to David, “March up, for I will indeed ¹  hand the Philistines over to you.”

5:20 So David marched against Baal Perazim and defeated them there. Then he said, “The Lord has burst out against my enemies like water bursts out.” So he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. ²  5:21 The Philistines ³  abandoned their idols ⁴  there, and David and his men picked them up.

5:22 The Philistines again came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. 5:23 So David asked the Lord what he should do. ⁵  This time ⁶  the Lord ⁷  said to him, “Don’t march straight up. Instead, circle around behind them and come against them opposite the trees. ⁸  5:24 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, act decisively. For at that moment the Lord is going before you to strike down the army ⁹  of the Philistines.” 5:25 David did just as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Gibeon all the way to Gezer. ¹⁰ 

2 Samuel 8:1-2

David Subjugates Nearby Nations

8:1 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah ¹¹  from the Philistines. ¹²  8:2 He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third. ¹³  The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute. ¹⁴ 

2 Samuel 8:13-14

8:13 David became famous ¹⁵  when he returned from defeating the Arameans ¹⁶  in the Valley of Salt, he defeated ¹⁷  18,000 in all. 8:14 He placed garrisons throughout Edom, ¹⁸  and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned.

2 Samuel 10:14

10:14 When the Ammonites saw the Arameans flee, they fled before his brother Abishai and went into the city. Joab withdrew from fighting the Ammonites and returned to ¹⁹  Jerusalem. ²⁰ 

Psalms 21:8-9

21:8 You ²¹  prevail over ²²  all your enemies;

your power is too great for those who hate you. ²³ 

21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace ²⁴  when you appear; ²⁵ 

the Lord angrily devours them; ²⁶ 

the fire consumes them.

Romans 8:37

8:37 No, in all these things we have complete victory ²⁷  through him ²⁸  who loved us!

[5:19]  ¹ tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the following verb.

[5:20]  ² tn The name means “Lord of the outbursts.”

[5:21]  ³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Philistines) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:21]  ⁴ tc For “idols” the LXX and Vulgate have “gods.”

[5:23]  ⁵ tn The words “what to do” are not in the Hebrew text.

[5:23]  ⁶ tn The words “this time” are not in the Hebrew text.

[5:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:23]  ⁸ tn Some translate as “balsam trees” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NJB, NLT); cf. KJV, NKJV, ASV “mulberry trees”; NAB “mastic trees”; NEB, REB “aspens.” The exact identification of the type of tree or plant is uncertain.

[5:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “camp” (so NAB).

[5:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from Gibeon until you enter Gezer.”

[8:1]  ¹¹ 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).

[8:1]  ¹² tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”

[8:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”

[8:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”

[8:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “made a name.”

[8:13]  ¹⁶ tn So NASB, NCV; NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “Edomites” (see the note on “Aram” in v. 12).

[8:13]  ¹⁷ tn The words “he defeated” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:14]  ¹⁸ tc The MT is repetitious here: “He placed in Edom garrisons; in all Edom he placed garrisons.” The Vulgate lacks “in all Edom”; most of the Greek tradition (with the exception of the Lucianic recension and the recension of Origen) and the Syriac Peshitta lack “he placed garrisons.” The MT reading appears here to be the result of a conflation of variant readings.

[10:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and Joab returned from against the sons of Ammon and entered.”

[10:14]  ²⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[21:8]  ²¹ tn The king is now addressed. One could argue that the Lord is still being addressed, but v. 9 militates against this proposal, for there the Lord is mentioned in the third person and appears to be distinct from the addressee (unless, of course, one takes “Lord” in v. 9 as vocative; see the note on “them” in v. 9b). Verse 7 begins this transition to a new addressee by referring to both the king and the Lord in the third person (in vv. 1-6 the Lord is addressed and only the king referred to in the third person).

[21:8]  ²² tn Heb “your hand finds.” The idiom pictures the king grabbing hold of his enemies and defeating them (see 1 Sam 23:17). The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 8-12 may be translated with the future tense, as long as the future is understood as generalizing.

[21:8]  ²³ tn Heb “your right hand finds those who hate you.”

[21:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).

[21:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.

[21:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the Lord, in his anger he swallows them, and fire devours them.” Some take “the Lord” as a vocative, in which case he is addressed in vv. 8-9a. But this makes the use of the third person in v. 9b rather awkward, though the king could be the subject (see vv. 1-7).

[8:37]  ²⁷ tn BDAG 1034 s.v. ὑπερνικάω states, “as a heightened form of νικᾶν prevail completely ὑπερνικῶμεν we are winning a most glorious victory Ro 8:37.”

[8:37]  ²⁸ tn Here the referent could be either God or Christ, but in v. 39 it is God’s love that is mentioned.