^18:3David defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah as far as Hamath, when he went to extend his authority⁴ to the Euphrates River.⁵^18:4David seized from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers,⁶ and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but a hundred of Hadadezer’s⁷ chariot horses.⁸^18:5The Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, but David killed 22,000 of the Arameans. ^18:6David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus;⁹ the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected¹⁰ David wherever he campaigned.¹¹^18:7David took the golden shields which Hadadezer’s servants had carried¹² and brought them to Jerusalem.¹³^18:8From Tibhath¹⁴ and Kun,¹⁵ Hadadezer’s cities, David took a great deal of bronze. (Solomon used it to make the big bronze basin called “The Sea,”¹⁶ the pillars, and other bronze items.

^18:9When King Tou¹⁷ of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah, ^18:10he sent his son Hadoram¹⁸ to King David to extend his best wishes¹⁹ and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Tou had been at war with Hadadezer.²⁰ He also sent various items made of gold, silver, and bronze.²¹^18:11King David dedicated these things to the Lord,²² along with the silver and gold which he had carried off from all the nations, including²³ Edom,²⁴ Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.

^18:12Abishai son of Zeruiah²⁵ killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ^18:13He placed garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected²⁶ David wherever he campaigned.²⁷

David’s Officials

^18:14David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people.²⁸^18:15Joab son of Zeruiah was commanding general of²⁹ the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary; ^18:16Zadok son of Ahitub and Abimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha³⁰ was scribe; ^18:17Benaiah son of Jehoiada supervised³¹ the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were the king’s leading officials.³²

Read in Logos

Footnotes

1 2 Sam 8:1 identifies this region as “Metheg Ammah.”
2 Heb “from the hand of the Philistines.” Here “hand” is figurative language for “control.”
3 Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”
4 Heb “hand.”
5 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.
6 Or “horsemen.”
7 Heb “his”; the referent (Hadadezer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them one hundred chariot horses.”
9 Heb “and David placed in Aram of Damascus.” The object נְצִיבִים (nétsivim, “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.
10 Or “delivered.”
11 Or “wherever he went.”
12 Heb “which were upon the servants of Hadadezer.”
13 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
14 The 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., , ), while others follow the reading of the Hebrew text at this point (e.g., , , ).
15 The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:8 has the variant name “Berothai.”
16 Heb “the sea of bronze,” or “[the] sea, the bronze one.” See the note at .
17 The name is spelled “Toi” in the parallel text in 2 Sam 8:9.
18 The name is spelled “Joram” in the parallel text in 2 Sam 8:10.
19 Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.”
20 Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Tou.”
21 Heb “[along with] all items of gold and silver and bronze.”
22 Heb “also them King David made holy to the Lord.”
23 Heb “from.”
24 The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:12 of the reads “Aram.” However, a few Hebrew along with the and of 2 Sam 8:12 read “Edom” in agreement with 1 Chr 18:11 (cf. 2 Sam 8:14).
25 The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:13 attributes this victory to David.
26 Or “delivered.”
27 Or “wherever he went.”
28 Heb “and he was doing what is just and fair for all his people.”
29 Heb “over.”
30 The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:17 has the variant spelling “Seraiah.”
31 Heb “[was] over.”
32 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 there on the word “priests”).