1 Chronicles 18
New English Translation
David Conquers the Neighboring Nations
18 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. He took Gath and its surrounding towns[a] away from the Philistines.[b]
2 He defeated the Moabites; the Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute.[c]
3 David defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah as far as Hamath, when he went to extend his authority[d] to the Euphrates River.[e] 4 David seized from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 charioteers,[f] and 20,000 infantrymen . David cut the hamstrings of all but 100 of Hadadezer’s[g] chariot horses.[h] 5 The Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, but David killed 22,000 of the Arameans. 6 David placed garrisons in the territory of the Arameans of Damascus;[i] the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected[j] David wherever he campaigned.[k] 7 David took the golden shields which Hadadezer’s servants had carried[l] and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Tibhath[m] and Kun,[n] Hadadezer’s cities, David took a great deal of bronze. (Solomon used it to make the big bronze basin called “The Sea,”[o] the pillars, and other bronze items.)
9 When King Tou[p] of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah, 10 he sent his son Hadoram[q] to King David to extend his best wishes[r] and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Tou had been at war with Hadadezer.[s] He also sent various items made of gold, silver, and bronze.[t] 11 King David dedicated these things to the Lord,[u] along with the silver and gold which he had carried off from all the nations, including[v] Edom,[w] Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.
12 Abishai son of Zeruiah[x] killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13 He placed garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected[y] David wherever he campaigned.[z]
David’s Officials
14 David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people.[aa] 15 Joab son of Zeruiah was commanding general of[ab] the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary; 16 Zadok son of Ahitub and Abimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha[ac] was scribe; 17 Benaiah son of Jehoiada supervised[ad] the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were the king’s leading officials.[ae]
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 18:1 tn 2 Sam 8:1 identifies this region as “Metheg Ammah.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:1 tn Heb “from the hand of the Philistines.” Here “hand” is figurative language for “control.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:2 tn Heb “carriers of tribute,” i.e., tribute payers.
- 1 Chronicles 18:3 tn Heb “hand.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:3 tn 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.
- 1 Chronicles 18:4 tn Or “horsemen.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:4 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Hadadezer) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- 1 Chronicles 18:4 tn Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them one hundred chariot horses.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:6 tc Heb “and David placed in Aram of Damascus.” The object נְצִיבִים (netsivim, “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.
- 1 Chronicles 18:6 tn Or “delivered.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:6 tn Or “wherever he went.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:7 tn Heb “which were upon the servants of Hadadezer.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:8 tn The MT 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., NIV, NLT), while others follow the reading of the Hebrew text at this point (e.g., NAB, NASB, NRSV).
- 1 Chronicles 18:8 tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:8 has the variant name “Berothai.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:8 tn Heb “the sea of bronze,” or “[the] sea, the bronze one.” See the note at 1 Kgs 7:23.
- 1 Chronicles 18:9 tn The name is spelled “Toi” in the parallel text in 2 Sam 8:9.
- 1 Chronicles 18:10 tn The name is spelled “Joram” in the parallel text in 2 Sam 8:10.
- 1 Chronicles 18:10 tn Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:10 tn Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Tou.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:10 tn Heb “[along with] all items of gold and silver and bronze.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:11 tn Heb “also them King David made holy to the Lord.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:11 tn Heb “from.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:11 tc The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:12 of the MT reads “Aram.” However, a few Hebrew mss along with the LXX and Syriac of 2 Sam 8:12 read “Edom” in agreement with 1 Chr 18:11 (cf. 2 Sam 8:14).
- 1 Chronicles 18:12 tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:13 attributes this victory to David.
- 1 Chronicles 18:13 tn Or “delivered.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:13 tn Or “wherever he went.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:14 tn Heb “and he was doing what is just and fair for all his people.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:15 tn Heb “over.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:16 tn The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:17 has the variant spelling “Seraiah.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:17 tn Heb “[was] over.”
- 1 Chronicles 18:17 tn Heb “and the sons of David [were] the first ones at the hand of David.” The parallel text of 2 Sam 8:18 identifies them as “priests” (see sn there on the word “priests”).
1 Chronicles 18
Amplified Bible
David’s Kingdom Strengthened
18 After this it came about that David defeated and subdued the Philistines, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines. 2 He defeated Moab, and the Moabites became David’s servants and brought tribute (gifts).
3 David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his [a]dominion to the Euphrates River. 4 David took from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers (infantrymen). David also [b]hamstrung [nearly] all the chariot horses [to make them lame and useless], but left enough of them for 100 chariots.
5 When the Arameans (Syrians) of [c]Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed 22,000 of the Arameans. 6 Then David put military outposts among the Arameans in Damascus; and the Arameans became David’s servants and brought tribute. Thus the Lord helped David wherever he went. 7 David took the shields of gold which were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 Likewise from Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David brought a very large amount of bronze, with which Solomon later made the bronze Sea (large basin), the pillars, and the utensils of bronze.(A)
9 When Tou king of Hamath heard how David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah, 10 he sent Hadoram his son to King David to greet him and to bless (congratulate) him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou. And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze. 11 King David also dedicated these to the Lord [setting them apart for sacred use], with the silver and the gold which he brought from all the nations: from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and from Amalek.
12 Also Abishai the son of Zeruiah [David’s half sister] defeated 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13 He put military outposts in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. Thus the Lord helped David wherever he went.
14 So David reigned over all Israel and administered justice and righteousness for all his people. 15 Joab the son of Zeruiah was in command of the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder; 16 Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests, and Shavsha was secretary (state scribe); 17 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was in charge of the [d]Cherethites and the Pelethites [David’s bodyguards], and the sons of David were chiefs at the king’s side.
Footnotes
- 1 Chronicles 18:3 Lit hand.
- 1 Chronicles 18:4 I.e. cut the tendon between the hoof and fetlock.
- 1 Chronicles 18:5 Heb Darmeseq.
- 1 Chronicles 18:17 These men were apparently foreign, professional soldiers who were hired to protect the king.
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