2 Samuel 8 Introduction

Structure and Formatting

This chapter continues the story of what David did as the king of Israel. It describes how he defeated the enemy nations that surrounded Israel and took great plunder from them, bringing safety and prosperity to the Israelites. It then gives some details of his government administration.If you chose to present the lists in [3:2–5](../03/02.md) and [5:13–16](../05/13.md) as the lists would appear in your culture, you should present the list in [8:15–18](../08/15.md) in the same way. For example, you might put [verse 15](../08/15.md) on a separate line as a summary of David’s government. You might then put the name of each official on a separate line, like this:And David was king over all of Israel. And it happened, David did justice and righteousness for all of his people.Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was over the armyJehoshapat, the son of Ahilud, was the recorder.Zadok, the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were priestsSeraiah was the scribe.Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over both the Kerethites and the Pelethites.The sons of David were priests.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Numbers

There are large numbers in [verses 4](../08/04.md), 5, and [13](../08/13.md). Decide how you will represent large numbers in your translation.

“struck”

In several places in this chapter, the author says that David “struck” an opposing army. He means that David and his army defeated those opponents in battle.

“to restore his hand at the River”

In [8:3](../08/03.md), the author says that Hadadezer, the ruler of the Syrian kingdom of Zobah, “went to restore his hand at the River.” Interpreters understand this expression in two main ways. (1) It could mean that Hadadezer led his army against the Israelites in order to ensure that he continued to control his own territory. The kingdom of Zobah lay between the Euphrates River on the east and Israel on the west. Hadadezer may have seen how David had conquered and subdued the Philistines and Moabites, and he may have launched a pre-emptive attack to keep David from conquering him as well. The author may be saying that Hadadezer felt that his authority and control over his territory (his “hand”) had been diminished by David’s military successes against other nations, and so he marched his army out to “restore” it. If you follow this interpretation, you might say in your translation that Hadadezer went out “to reassert his control over his territory, from its border with Israel all the way to the Euphrates River.” (2) The expression could also mean that Hadadezer had built a monument to himself at the Euphrates River, asserting his control over the territory west of the river, and that he led his army out to “restore” the monument in order to reassert that control. The term “hand” means “monument” in [1 Samuel 15:12](../../1sa/15/12.md), and that could also be the meaning here. However, in this interpretation Hadadezer and his army would have been marching away from Israel and would not necessarily have come into conflict with David. The further implication would have to be that David learned of this action by a hostile king to reassert control over his territory, and so he led the Israelite army against him to subdue him. If you follow this interpretation, you might say in your translation that Hadadezer went “to repair his monument at the Euphrates River.”

Textual Issues in This Chapter

Betah

In [8:8](../08/08.md), the author refers to a city by the name of Betah. However, in the parallel passage in [1 Chronicles 18:8](../../1ch/18/08.md), it is called Tibhath. It appears possible that at some point in the process of transmission, scribes transposed two of the letters in this name. However, this is not certain, and it is not clear which may have been the original form, so we do not recommend that you change the name either here or in 1 Chronicles so that it is the same in both places. Instead, if it would be helpful to your readers, you may wish to note the difference in a footnote.