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
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
David’s Kingdom Established and Extended
18 Some time afterward, David attacked the Philistines and subdued them; he took Gath and its villages from the Philistines.(A)
2 He defeated Moab, and the Moabites became subject to David and brought tribute.
3 David also struck down King Hadadezer of Zobah, toward Hamath,[a] as he went to set up a monument at the River Euphrates. 4 David took from him one thousand chariots, seven thousand cavalry, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left one hundred of them. 5 When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand Arameans.(B) 6 Then David put garrisons[b] in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to David and brought tribute. The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. 7 David took the gold shields that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a vast quantity of bronze; with it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.(C)
9 When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of King Hadadezer of Zobah, 10 he sent his son Hadoram to King David, to greet him and to congratulate him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him. Now Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. He sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze;(D) 11 these also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.
12 Abishai son of Zeruiah killed eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.(E) 13 He put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
David’s Administration
14 So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people. 15 Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder;(F) 16 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Shavsha was secretary; 17 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were the chief officials in the service of the king.(G)
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