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2 Samuel 8
New English Translation

David Subjugates Nearby Nations

8 Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah[a] from the Philistines.[b] 2 He defeated the Moabites. He made them lie on the ground and then used a rope to measure them off. He put two-thirds of them to death and spared the other third.[c] The Moabites became David’s subjects and brought tribute.[d] 3 David defeated King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah when he came to reestablish[e] his authority[f] over the Euphrates[g] River. 4 David seized from him 1,700 charioteers[h] and 20,000 infantrymen. David cut the hamstrings of all but 100 of the chariot horses.[i] 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; the Arameans became David’s subjects and brought tribute. The Lord protected[j] David wherever he campaigned.[k] 7 David took the golden shields that belonged to Hadadezer’s servants and brought them to Jerusalem.[l] 8 From Tebah[m] and Berothai, Hadadezer’s cities, King David took a great deal of bronze.

9 When King Toi[n] of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, 10 he[o] sent his son Joram[p] to King David to extend his best wishes[q] and to pronounce a blessing on him for his victory over Hadadezer, for Toi had been at war with Hadadezer.[r] He brought with him various items made of silver, gold, and bronze.[s] 11 King David dedicated these things to the Lord,[t] along with the dedicated silver and gold that he had taken from[u] all the nations that he had subdued, 12 including[v] Edom,[w] Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek. This also included some of the plunder taken from[x] King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah.

13 David became famous[y] when he returned from defeating the Edomites[z] in the Valley of Salt; he defeated[aa] 18,000 in all. 14 He placed garrisons throughout Edom,[ab] and all the Edomites became David’s subjects. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned. 15 David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people.[ac]

David’s Cabinet

16 Joab son of Zeruiah was general in command of[ad] the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was secretary; 17 Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar[ae] were priests; Seraiah was scribe; 18 Benaiah son of Jehoiada supervised[af] the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests.[ag]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 8:1 tn Heb “the bridle of one cubit.” Many English versions treat this as a place name because the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:1 reads “Gath” (which is used by NLT here). It is possible that “the bridle of one cubit” is to be understood as “the token of surrender,” referring to the Philistine’s defeat rather than a specific place (cf. TEV, CEV).
  2. 2 Samuel 8:1 tn Heb “from the hand [i.e., control] of the Philistines.”
  3. 2 Samuel 8:2 tn Heb “and he measured [with] two [lengths] of rope to put to death and [with] the fullness of the rope to keep alive.”
  4. 2 Samuel 8:2 tn Heb “and the Moabites were servants of David, carriers of tribute.”
  5. 2 Samuel 8:3 tc The LXX has ἐπιστῆσαι (epistēsai, “cause to stand”). See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:3.
  6. 2 Samuel 8:3 tn Heb “hand.”
  7. 2 Samuel 8:3 tn The MT does not have the name “Euphrates” in the text. It is supplied in the margin (Qere) as one of ten places where the Masoretes believed that something was “to be read although it was not written” in the text as they had received it. The ancient versions (LXX, Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate) include the word. See also the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:3.
  8. 2 Samuel 8:4 tc The LXX has “1,000 chariots and 7,000 charioteers,” a reading adopted in the text of the NIV. See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:4.
  9. 2 Samuel 8:4 tn Heb “and David cut the hamstrings of all the chariot horses, and he left from them 100 chariot horses.”
  10. 2 Samuel 8:6 tn Or “delivered.”
  11. 2 Samuel 8:6 tn Or “wherever he went.”
  12. 2 Samuel 8:7 tc The LXX includes seventeen words (in Greek) at the end of v. 7 that are not found in the MT. The LXX addition is as follows: “And Sousakim king of Egypt took them when he came up to Jerusalem in the days of Rehoboam the son of Solomon.” This Greek reading now finds Hebrew support in 4QSama. For a reconstruction of this poorly preserved Qumran text see E. C. Ulrich, Jr., The Qumran Text of Samuel and Josephus (HSM), 45-48.
  13. 2 Samuel 8:8 tn Heb “Betah” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV), but the name should probably be corrected to “Tebah.” See the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:8.
  14. 2 Samuel 8:9 tn The name is spelled “Tou” in the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:9. NIV adopts the spelling “Tou” here.
  15. 2 Samuel 8:10 tn Heb “Toi.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  16. 2 Samuel 8:10 tn The name appears as “Hadoram” in the parallel text in 1 Chr 18:10.
  17. 2 Samuel 8:10 tn Heb “to ask concerning him for peace.”
  18. 2 Samuel 8:10 tn Heb “and to bless him because he fought with Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer was a man of battles with Toi.”
  19. 2 Samuel 8:10 tn Heb “and in his hand were items of silver and items of gold and items of bronze.”
  20. 2 Samuel 8:11 tn Heb “also them King David made holy to the Lord.”
  21. 2 Samuel 8:11 tn Heb “with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated from.”
  22. 2 Samuel 8:12 tn Heb “from.”
  23. 2 Samuel 8:12 tc Heb “Aram.” A few Hebrew mss along with the LXX and Syriac read “Edom” (cf. 2 Sam 8:14 and 1 Chr 18:11). Aram and Edom are spelled similarly, the difference being a ד (dalet) vs. a ר (resh). Besides the textual witnesses, the geography in v. 13, the Valley of Salt, fits Edom and not Aram.
  24. 2 Samuel 8:12 tn Heb “and from the plunder of.”
  25. 2 Samuel 8:13 tn Heb “made a name.”
  26. 2 Samuel 8:13 tc See the note on “Aram” in v. 12.
  27. 2 Samuel 8:13 tn The words “he defeated” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  28. 2 Samuel 8:14 tc The MT is repetitious here: “He placed in Edom garrisons; in all Edom he placed garrisons.” The Vulgate lacks “in all Edom”; most of the Greek tradition (with the exception of the Lucianic recension and the recension of Origen) and the Syriac Peshitta lack “he placed garrisons.” The MT reading appears here to be the result of a conflation of variant readings.
  29. 2 Samuel 8:15 tn Heb “and David was doing what is just and fair for all his people.”
  30. 2 Samuel 8:16 tn Heb “was over.”
  31. 2 Samuel 8:17 tc Here Ahimelech is called “the son of Abiathar,” but NCV, CEV, and REB reverse this to conform with 1 Sam 22:20. Most recent English versions (e.g., NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) retain the order found in the MT.
  32. 2 Samuel 8:18 tc The translation follows the Syriac Peshitta, Targum, and Vulgate in reading “over,” rather than the simple conjunction that appears in MT. See also the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17.
  33. 2 Samuel 8:18 sn That David’s sons could have been priests, in light of the fact that they were not of the priestly lineage, is strange. One must assume either (1) that the word “priest” (כֹּהֵן, kohen) during this period of time could be used in a broader sense of “chief ruler” (KJV); “chief minister” (ASV, NASB), or “royal adviser” (NIV), perhaps based on the parallel passage in 1 Chr 18:17 which has “the king’s leading officials”, or (2) that in David’s day members of the king’s family could function as a special category of “priests” (cf. NLT “priestly leaders”). The latter option seems to be the more straightforward way of understanding the word in 2 Sam 8:18.
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2 Samuel 8
English Standard Version

David's Victories

8 (A)After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took (B)Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.

2 (C)And he defeated Moab and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites (D)became servants to David and (E)brought tribute.

3 David also defeated (F)Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of (G)Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. 4 (H)And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David (I)hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots. 5 (J)And when the (K)Syrians of Damascus came to help (L)Hadadezer king of (M)Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. 6 Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians (N)became servants to David and brought tribute. (O)And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. 7 And David took (P)the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.

9 When Toi king of (Q)Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. 11 (R)These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, 12 from Edom, (S)Moab, (T)the Ammonites, (U)the Philistines, (V)Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of (W)Zobah.

13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in (X)the Valley of Salt. 14 Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, (Y)and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

David's Officials

15 So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. 16 (Z)Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and (AA)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17 and (AB)Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and (AC)Seraiah was secretary, 18 and (AD)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over[a] the (AE)Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 8:18 Compare 20:23, 1 Chronicles 18:17, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate; Hebrew lacks was over
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撒母耳记下 8
Chinese New Version (Simplified)

大卫击败非利士人与摩押人(A)

8 这事以后，大卫攻打非利士人，制伏了他们。大卫从非利士人手中取得了京城的控制权。 2 他又击败摩押人，使他们躺在地上，用绳子量他们，把量两绳的杀死，让量一绳的存活。这样，摩押人就臣服大卫，给他进贡。

击败琐巴人(B)

3 琐巴王利合的儿子哈大底谢，往幼发拉底河去要夺回他统治这河的势力的时候，大卫就攻打他。 4 大卫从他那里掳获了战车一千辆，骑兵七千（《马索拉文本》作“骑兵一千七百”，现按《七十士译本》翻译；参《死海古卷》和代上18:4），步兵二万。大卫把所有战车的马的蹄筋都砍断，只留下一百辆战车的马（或译：“大卫毁坏了所有战车，只留下一百辆战车”）。

击败亚兰人(C)

5 大马士革的亚兰人来协助琐巴王哈大底谢，大卫就击杀了亚兰人二万二千。 6 于是大卫在大马士革的亚兰地驻军。这样亚兰人就臣服大卫，给他进贡。大卫无论到甚么地方去，耶和华都使他得胜。 7 大卫夺取了哈大底谢臣仆所拿的金盾牌，带回耶路撒冷。 8 大卫王又从哈大底谢的两座城比他和比罗他夺取了大量的铜。

9 哈马王陀以听见大卫打败了哈大底谢的全军， 10 就差派他的儿子约兰去见大卫王，向他问安，祝贺他，因为大卫和哈大底谢争战，竟击败了他。原来陀以常常与哈大底谢争战。约兰手里还带着一些银器、金器和铜器。 11 大卫王也把这些器皿，连同他从他征服的各国得来的金银都一起分别为圣，献给耶和华。 12 就是从以东、摩押、亚扪人、非利士人、亚玛力人所得来的，以及从琐巴王利合的儿子哈大底谢获得的战利品。

击败以东人(D)

13 大卫在盐谷击杀了一万八千以东人回来以后，就大有名声。 14 他又在以东设立防军；他在以东各地都设立防军，所有以东人就都臣服大卫。大卫无论到甚么地方去，耶和华都使他得胜。

大卫的重要臣仆(E)

15 大卫作王统治全以色列，以公平和正义对待所有的人。 16 洗鲁雅的儿子约押作军队的统帅，亚希律的儿子约沙法作史官， 17 亚希突的儿子撒督和亚比亚他的儿子亚希米勒作祭司长，西莱雅作书记， 18 耶何耶大的儿子比拿雅统管基利提人和比利提人；大卫的众子都作领袖。

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