"From the religious heights of chapter 7 we descend again to the everyday world of battles and bloodshed in chapter 8. The military action picks up where the story left off at the end of chapter 5."130
Chapter 8 evidently describes the conquest of David's enemies that took place before David brought the ark into Jerusalem (ch. 6) and received the Davidic Covenant (ch. 7). An apparent problem with this view is the statement, "Now after this,"in verse 1. However since 7:1 says God had given David rest from all his enemies, chapter 8 must precede chapter 7 and probably chapter 6. "After this"most likely refers to the battles with the Philistines the writer recorded in 5:17-25. Following those battles David had one or more other conflicts with the Philistines described in 8:1. The chief city of the Philistines (v. 1) was Gath (cf. 1 Chron. 18:1). The writer described David's military campaigns from west (v. 1) to east (v. 2) to north (vv. 3-11) to south (vv. 13-14) suggesting victory in every direction, total success thanks to Yahweh (vv. 6, 14).
"The Philistines considered themselves the legitimate heirs of the Egyptian rule in Palestine and their defeat by David implied the passage of the Egyptian province of Canaan into the hands of the Israelites."131
In the East, David defeated the Moabites, executed one-third of their soldiers, and obligated them to pay tribute (v. 2).
To the northeast, David subdued the king of Zobah (v. 3). The antecedent of "he"is probably Hadadezer.132The "River"is probably a reference to the Euphrates, the most important river in that area. There is a discrepancy in the number of horsemen David took in battle (v. 4). Probably the figure in 1 Chronicles 18:4 is correct. Second Samuel 8:4 has suffered a textual corruption.133There are many minor textual corruptions in the Hebrew text of 1 and 2 Samuel, probably more than in any other book of the Old Testament.134David evidently captured 7,000 horsemen and preserved enough horses for 1,000 chariots. Hamstringing the horses involved severing the large tendon above and behind their hocks, which correspond to human ankles, to disable them. Evidently David had plenty of horses and did not need to use all that he captured in war.135
The word "Syrian"(vv. 5-6) is a later word that came to replace "Aramean."At the time of David's conquest, people called the residents of the area around Damascus Arameans and the area Aram. Damascus at this time was not as powerful as it became later. Aramea was northeast of Canaan. David had previously defeated these people.136
"Whether they [the gold shields, v. 7] were made of solid gold or simply bossed with gold or supplied with golden fittings is impossible to say (contrast the shields mentioned in 1 Kings 10:16-17; 14:26)."137
Hamath (v. 9) was farther northwest than Zobah and Aram. Solomon later used the bronze, silver, and gold articles that David captured to build his temple (vv. 8, 10-12).
The battles summarized in verses 3-12 probably occurred after the ones reported in chapters 10-12.138
There is another textual omission in verse 13. Perhaps while Israel was at war with the Arameans the Edomites seized the opportunity to invade Israel and proceeded toward Israel as far as the Valley of Salt. This valley lay at the south end of the Salt (Dead) Sea. David evidently defeated the Edomites there after defeating the Arameans (cf. Ps. 60:1; 1 Chron. 18:12).139Edom, of course, was Israel's neighbor to the southeast. The writer of Samuel could have written much more about David's military victories, but he chose to move on to emphasize other aspects of his character in the chapters that follow.
"Recapitulating David's military victories during his years as king over Israel and Judah in Jerusalem, vv. 1-14 parallel the account of the defeat of the Philistines (5:17-25) in the overall structure of the narrative of David's powerful reign (5:17-8:18; . . .). The summary may not be intended as all-inclusive, since other wars and skirmishes are mentioned later in the book (cf. ch. 10; 21:15-22; 23:8-23).
"The section leaves no doubt about the fact that David's armies were invincible and that no nation, however numerous or powerful its fighting men, could hope to withstand the Israelite hosts."140
The real reason for David's success emerges clearly, however: "The Lord helped David wherever he went"(vv. 6, 14).
Verses 15-18 constitute a summary of David's administration and conclude this section of Samuel that records the major important features of David's reign (cf. 20:23-26). God established his empire firmly. He had relocated his capital, subdued his enemy neighbors, brought the ark into Jerusalem, and received the Davidic Covenant. The writer probably listed David's military victories last in chapter 8 because the formal record of a king's accomplishments normally ended this way in the official records of ancient Near Eastern monarchs.141The writer of the Book of Kings followed the same procedure in recording the reigns of the succeeding kings of Judah and Israel. These selected events from David's reign show God's blessing on him and on Israel through him. Because he was the Lord's anointed who followed God faithfully, Yahweh poured out blessing and fertility.
"The recorder(Heb. mazkir), whose title derived from the Hebrew to remember' had a most important role at court, with responsibility for keeping the king informed, advising him, and communicating the king's commands. Interestingly, the Lord is also depicted, like the human king, as having recorders', though the word is translated remembrancers' (RV, AV mg.); their responsibility was to keep reminding him of his stated intentions until they were completed (Is. 62:6). This is an aspect of prayer which is easily overlooked, though it is implicit in the Lord's prayer: thy kingdom come, thy will be done . . .'"142
The "secretary"(v. 17) was similar to a secretary of state.143The Cherethites and Pelethites formed David's private bodyguard (cf. 15:18; 20:7, 23; 1 Kings 1:38, 44; 1 Chron. 18:17). The Cherethites were evidently Cretans and the Pelethites Philistines. Though both groups came to Canaan from Crete, the Cherethites were native Cretans and the Pelethites had only passed through Crete during their migration from their original homeland, Greece.144Together they constituted a corp of foreign mercenaries that served as David's bodyguard (cf. 1 Sam. 30:14).
"Royal bodyguards were often made up of foreigners whose personal loyalty to the king was less likely to be adulterated by involvement in national politics (cf. 1 Sa. 28:2)."145
David's sons were in some sense priests. "Chief ministers"(v. 8) is literally "priests."146Apparently they functioned in a mediatorial capacity but not by carrying out sacerdotal functions that were the exclusive responsibilities of the Levitical priests.147
David's kingdom stretched from the Gulf of Aqabah and the Wadi of Egypt on the southeast and southwest respectively to the Euphrates River on the northeast.148David did not have complete sovereignty over all this territory, however. Some of his neighbor kingdoms were tribute-paying vassal states. Israel lost control of most of this territory later. Since God had promised Abraham's descendants permanent possession of the Promised Land (Gen. 13:15), David's kingdom did not constitute a fulfillment of the land promise in the Abrahamic Covenant.
Five major conflicts and reversals of fortune occur in chapters 2-8. Saul's men conflicted with David's men (2:1-3:5), Saul's kingdom conflicted with David's kingdom (3:6-5:16), and the Philistines conflicted with David (5:17-25). Saul's line conflicted with David and the ark (chs. 6-7), and the nations conflicted with David (ch. 8).
God's blessing came on Israel when the people had a proper attitude toward Him, which their proper attitude toward the ark symbolized (6:12-19). Preceding this attitude a series of conflicts resulted in David's forces gaining strength and Saul's forces losing strength. God reduced Saul's line to one crippled boy (4:4), and He condemned Michal to remain childless (6:20-23). Later He cut off the rest of Saul's line (21:1-14). On the other hand, God promised David descendants who would endure and reign forever (ch. 7). In the fullness of time the ultimate Anointed One, Jesus Christ, issued from him.
