1 Chronicles 18:1-13
Christian Standard Bible
David’s Military Campaigns
18 After this,(A) David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its surrounding villages from Philistine control. 2 He also defeated the Moabites, and they became David’s subjects and brought tribute.
3 David also defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah at Hamath when he went to establish his control at the Euphrates River. 4 David captured one thousand chariots, seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers from him, hamstrung all the horses, and kept a hundred chariots.[a]
5 When the Arameans of Damascus came to assist King Hadadezer of Zobah,(B) David struck down twenty-two thousand Aramean men. 6 Then he placed garrisons[b](C) in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord made David victorious wherever he went.
7 David took the gold shields carried by Hadadezer’s officers and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Tibhath and Cun, Hadadezer’s cities, David also took huge quantities of bronze, from which Solomon made the bronze basin,[c] the pillars, and the bronze articles.(D)
9 When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah, 10 he sent his son Hadoram to King David to greet him and to congratulate him because David had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Tou and Hadadezer had fought many wars. Hadoram brought all kinds of gold, silver, and bronze items. 11 King David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had carried off from all the nations—from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and the Amalekites.
12 Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Salt Valley. 13 He put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. The Lord made David victorious wherever he went.
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1 Chronicles 18:1-13
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]
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- 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.”
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