Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Samuel 8

Subdued them. — In its connection this implies not merely the victory of a single battle, but the reversal of the former relation of the Philistines to Israel, and their reduction to a condition of inferiority and tribute.

Took Metheg-ammah. — No place of this name is known. The first word means bridle, and the other is probably, although not certainly, a derivation from the word mother, and has the sense metropolis. The translation will then be, took the bridle (i.e., the key) of the metropolis.

This interpretation seems sustained by the parallel phrase in 1 Chronicles 18:1, took Gath and her towns (lit daughters.). Gath appears to have been already the principal among the five Philistine cities (1 Samuel 27:2), and with the rest of the country remained tributary to Solomon (1 Kings 4:21; 1 Kings 4:24).

He smote Moab. —David’s former friendly relations with Moab (probably connected with his own descent from Ruth) are mentioned in 1 Samuel 22:3–4. The cause of his entire change of attitude towards them is not certainly known, but according to Jewish tradition, the Moabites had betrayed their trust and had put to death David’s father and mother. This is not unlikely, as his parents are never mentioned again after they were left in Moab.

Others think that the Moabites had been guilty of some treachery towards David in his war with the Syrians and Ammonites. The two suppositions are quite consistent, and both may have been true. Many writers see in this conquest at least a partial fulfillment of the prophecy in Numbers 24:17.

With two lines. —This expression with the “one full line” of the next clause is equivalent to saying that David measured off the bodies of his prostrate enemies with a line divided into three equal parts. When they had been made to lie down on the ground, side by side, the line was stretched over them.

Those found under the first two parts of it were put to death, while those under the third part were spared; thus, two-thirds of all the Moabite men perished. There is no mention of this in 1 Chronicles 18:2.

Brought gifts. —A frequent euphemism for paid tribute. (Compare 2 Samuel 8:6).

Hadadezer ... king of Zobah. —This name is sometimes (1 Chronicles 18:3, 1 Chronicles 18:5, 1 Chronicles 18:7, and others) spelled “Hadarezer,” the letters d and r being very similar in Hebrew and easily confused; but the form given here is correct, as Hadad was the chief idol of the Syrians. Zobah (called Aram-Zobah in the title of Psalm 60:0) was a kingdom whose position cannot be exactly determined, but it lay northeast of Israel and was formerly governed by petty kings with whom Saul had wars (1 Samuel 14:47). When or by what means it had become united under a single sovereign is unknown, but from 2 Samuel 8:4, along with 2 Samuel 10:6 and 2 Samuel 10:16, it is clear that he was a monarch of considerable power and controlled tribes beyond the Euphrates.

To recover his border.—Literally, to cause his hand to return, a phrase which in itself might mean either to renew his attack, or to re-establish his power. The latter is shown to be the sense here by the expression in 1 Chronicles 18:3, to establish his dominion, and is translated this way in the Septuagint. What happened is more fully explained in 2 Samuel 10:13–19: the Ammonites had obtained the help of the Syrians. When their combined armies were defeated by David, Hadadezer then attempted to summon to his aid the tribes beyond the river (i.e., the Euphrates), but David cut short his plans by another crushing defeat, which reduced them all to subjection. Our Version inserts the word Euphrates on the authority of the margin of the Hebrew, several manuscripts, and all the ancient versions. The river, however, would in any case mean the Euphrates.

A thousand chariots. —The word chariots has evidently dropped out of the text here, but is rightly inserted, following the Septuagint and 1 Chronicles; 700 horsemen should also be changed to 7,000, in accordance with 1 Chronicles, this being a more fitting proportion to 20,000 infantry in the plains of Syria, and the difference being only in two dots over the letter marking the numeral in Hebrew.

Houghed, i.e., hamstrung, to render them incapable of use in war (Joshua 11:9). This is meant to apply not only to the chariot horses, but to all those of the cavalry. Whether David’s reservation of the number needed for 100 chariots was wrong or not, is not said. David probably felt the need of these horses as a means of more rapid communication with the distant parts of his increasing empire; yet this act may have been the entering wedge for Solomon’s direct violation of Deuteronomy 17:16, by sending to Egypt to multiply horses to himself.

Syrians of Damascus. —So called from their capital, this being the most powerful branch of the Syrian race.

Twenty-two thousand men. —Josephus (Antiquities 7.5.2) quotes from the historian Nicolaus a mention of the defeat of Hadad at this place by David.