2 Samuel 8:3

8:1-8. David subdued the Philistines. They had long been troublesome to Israel. And after the long and frequent struggles the saints have with the powers of darkness, like Israel with the Philistines, the Son of David shall tread them all under foot, and make the saints more than conquerors. He smote the Moabites, and made them tributaries to Israel. Two parts he destroyed, the third part he spared. The line that was to keep alive, though it was but one, is ordered to be a full line. Let the line of mercy be stretched to the utmost. He smote the Syrians. In all these wars David was protected, for this in his psalms he often gives glory to God.

(3) Hadadezer . . . king of Zobah. —This name is sometimes ( 1Chronicles 18:3 ; 1Chronicles 18:5 ; 1Chronicles 18:7 , &c.) spelt “Hadarezer,” the letters d and r being much alike in Hebrew and easily confused; but the form given here is right, Hadad being the chief idol of the Syrians. Zobah (called in the title of Psalms 60 Aram-Zobah) was a kingdom, the position of which cannot be exactly determined, but lying north-east of Israel, and formerly governed by petty kings with whom Saul had wars ( 1Samuel 14:47 ). When or by what means it had become united under a single sovereign is unknown, but from 2Samuel 8:4 with 2Samuel 10:6 ; 2Samuel 10:16 , it is plain 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 1Chronicles 18:3, “to establish his dominion,” and is so translated in the LXX. What happened is more fully explained in 2Samuel 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.

2 Samuel 8:3 . King of Zobah — Zobah was a part of Syria, whose eastern border was Euphrates, as the western was the land of Canaan, and the kingdom of Damascus. As he went to recover his border — That is, as David went to extend the limits of his kingdom toward the river Euphrates, he smote this king, who probably came out to oppose him. David remembered the grant which God had made to his people of all the land, as far as that river; and, having subdued his neighbouring enemies, went to recover his rights, according to the divine promise and gift.

3–8. Conquest of Zobah and Damascus 3 . Hadadezer ] This name is written Hadarezer in ch. 2 Samuel 10:16-19 , and in Chronicles, the letters d ( ד ) and r ( ר ) being easily confused in Hebrew. Hadad was the name of the Syrian sun-god, and Hadadezer appears to be the true form, meaning “whose help is Hadad.” Zobah ] The exact position and limits of this kingdom are undetermined. It seems to have been north-east of Damascus and south of Hamath, between the Orontes and Euphrates. Saul waged wars with its “kings,” who were probably independent chieftains ( 1 Samuel 14:47 ), but now it was consolidated under one ruler, and was a country of considerable wealth and power. to recover his border ] The phrase cannot be thus rendered, but means probably either to renew his attack or to re-establish his power. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 18:3 has a different verb, meaning to set up his power . The subject of the sentence is Hadadezer, and the occasion referred to is probably that which is described more fully in ch. 2 Samuel 10:15-19 . The Ammonites had hired the Syrians to help them against David, who defeated their combined forces. Hadadezer thereupon summoned the Syrians from beyond the Euphrates to his assistance, but was totally defeated. at the river Euphrates ] Euphrates is not in the written text, but according to the Jewish tradition is to be read (see Introd. p. 15). But the addition is unnecessary. “The River” by itself was understood to mean the Euphrates.

Verse 3. - Hadadezer . The name is spelt Hadarezer in 2 Samuel 10:16 and in 1 Chronicles 18:3 , and such is the reading of the versions here and of many Hebrew manuscripts. The other reading has been defended on the ground that Hadad is the name of the Syrian sun-god, but the cuneiform inscriptions show that his real name was Hadar. The King of Syria, mentioned in 1 Kings 20:1 , is called in Assyrian Ben-Hidri. Zobah . Ewald identifies Zobah with the "Sabo" mentioned by Ptolemy. This is uncertain, but evidently Zobah lay northeast of Damascus and south of Hamath, in the region between the rivers Orontes and Euphrates. In 1 Samuel 14:47 it appears as a powerless country governed by a multitude of petty kings; but evidently now Hadarezer had made himself supreme, and become a powerful monarch whose authority extended even across the river into Mesopotamia ( 2 Samuel 10:16 ). Having crushed his rivals at home, he had next endeavoured to extend his dominion abroad. As he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. The word "Euphrates" is inserted in the Authorized Version, because the margin says, "Euphrates read but not written." In the Revised Version it is omitted, because the unauthoritative nature of these directions to read something not in the text has been demonstrated. Technically these readings are called K'ri , and the written text K'tib.

In 1 Chronicles 18:3 the reading is, "as he went to stablish his dominion by the river" - a change which involves the alteration of only one letter, as the word rendered here "his border," and in 1 Chronicles 18:3 "his dominion," is the same, signifying literally, "his hand." For this reason the Revised Version renders it correctly in both places "his dominion." Now, David never had possessed up to this time any dominion upon the Euphrates, but in the fuller narrative in ch. 10. we learn that these Syrians of Zobah had sent powerful reinforcements to the Ammonites in their war with David; and he might reasonably, therefore, determine to follow up his victory over. them by extending his power up to the river, so as to guard the fords, and prevent all future invasions. And this Hadarezer would resent. As an able and enterprising man, he had succeeded in making Zobah a powerful realm, and was not likely to submit to having a bridle put upon his adventurous spirit by the posting of an Israelitish garrison on the borders. We learn from 2 Samuel 10:19 that David's object was to prevent aid coming to Ammon from Zobah, and that he succeeded in putting a barrier in Hadarezer's way. We can scarcely doubt, therefore, that the reading in the Chronicles is to be preferred.

Hadadezer - Not (see the margin) Hadarezer. Hadadezer, is the true form, as seen in the names Benhadad, Hadad ( 1 Kings 15:18 , etc.; 1 Kings 11:14 , etc.). Hadad was the chief idol, or sun-god, of the Syrians. To recover his border - literally, to cause his hand to return. The phrase is used sometimes literally, as e. g. Exodus 4:7; 1 Kings 13:4; Proverbs 19:24; and sometimes figuratively, as Isaiah 1:25; Isaiah 14:27; Amos 1:8; Psalm 74:11. The exact force of the metaphor must in each case be decided by the context. If, as is most probable, this verse relates to the circumstances more fully detailed in 2 Samuel 10:15-19, the meaning of the phrase here will be when he (Hadadezer) went to renew his attack (upon Israel), or to recruit his strength against Israel, at the river Euphrates.

Hadadezer, called Hadarezer , 1 Chronicles 18:3 , the Hebrew letters daleth and reseh being alike, and so oft interchanged. Zobah; a part of Syria, lying north-east from Canaan, towards Hamath, 1 Chronicles 18:3 . See 1 Samuel 14:47 . As he went. Quest. Who? Answ. Either, first, Hadarezer ; who, being already very potent, and going to enlarge his dominion further, David thought fit to oppose him. Or, secondly, David, who remembering the grant which God had made to his people of all the land as far as Euphrates, and having subdued his neighbouring enemies, went to recover his rights, and stablish his dominion as far as Euphrates.