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2 Samuel
Chapter Eight
2 Samuel 8
Chapter Contents
David subdues the Philistines
the Moabites
and the
Syrians. (1-8) The spoil dedicated. (9-14) David's government and officers.
(15-18)
Commentary on 2 Samuel 8:1-8.
(Read 2 Samuel 8:1-8.)
David subdued the Philistines. They had long been troublesome
to Israel. And after the long and frequent struggles the saints have with the
powers of darkness
like Israel with the Philistines
the Son of David shall
tread them all under foot
and make the saints more than conquerors. He smote
the Moabites
and made them tributaries to Israel. Two parts he destroyed
the
third part he spared. The line that was to keep alive
though it was but one
is ordered to be a full line. Let the line of mercy be stretched to the utmost.
He smote the Syrians. In all these wars David was protected
for this in his
psalms he often gives glory to God.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 8:9-14
(Read 2 Samuel 8:9-14)
All the precious things David was master of
were dedicated
things; they were designed for building the temple. The idols of gold David
destroyed
2 Samuel 5:21
but the vessels of gold he
dedicated. Thus
in the conquest of a soul by the grace of the Son of David
what stands in opposition to God must be destroyed
every lust must be
mortified and crucified
but what may glorify him must be dedicated; thus the
property of it is altered. God employs his servants in various ways; some
as
David
in spiritual battles; others
as Solomon
in spiritual buildings; and
one prepares work for the other
that God may have the glory of all.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 8:15-18
(Read 2 Samuel 8:15-18)
David neither did wrong
nor denied or delayed right to
any. This speaks his close application to business; also his readiness to admit
all addresses and appeals made to him. He had no respect of persons in
judgment. Herein he was a type of Christ. To Him let us submit
his friendship
let us seek
his service let us count our pleasure
diligently attending to the
work he assigns to each of us. David made his sons chief rulers; but all
believers
Christ's spiritual seed
are better preferred
for they are made
kings and priests to our God
Revelation 1:6.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel》
2 Samuel 8
Verse 1
[1] And
after this it came to pass
that David smote the Philistines
and subdued them:
and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
And David took —
Gath and her towns
as it is expressed in the parallel place
1 Chronicles 18:1. Which are called
Metheg-ammah
or the bridle of Ammah
Gath was situate in the mountain of
Ammah; and because this being the chief city of the Philistines
and having a
king
which none of the rest had
was the bridle which had hitherto kept the
Israelites in subjection.
Verse 2
[2] And he smote Moab
and measured them with a line
casting them down to the
ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death
and with one full line
to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David's servants
and brought gifts.
Moab —
For although the king of Moab
out of hatred to Saul
gave protection to his
parents
1 Samuel 22:3
4
yet the Moabites were perpetual
and sworn enemies to the Israelites
who therefore were forbidden to admit them
into the congregation of the Lord. And though God commanded them in their march
to Canaan
to spare the Moabites
yet afterwards they proved fierce enemies to
God and his people
and thereby provoked God to alter his carriage towards
them.
Measured them —
That is
having conquered the land
he made an estimate of it
and distributed
the towns and people into three parts.
Casting down —
Overthrowing their towns
and utterly destroying their people in manner
following. And now that prophecy
Numbers 24:17
was accomplished.
Verse 3
[3]
David smote also Hadadezer
the son of Rehob
king of Zobah
as he went to
recover his border at the river Euphrates.
As he went —
David
remembering the grant which God had made to his people of all the land
as far as Euphrates
and having subdued his neighbouring enemies
went to
recover his rights
and stablish his dominion as far as Euphrates.
Verse 4
[4] And
David took from him a thousand chariots
and seven hundred horsemen
and twenty
thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses
but reserved of
them for an hundred chariots.
Seven hundred —
Or
seven hundred companies of horsemen
that is
in all seven thousand; as it
is 1 Chronicles 18:4
there being ten in each
company
and each ten having a ruler or captain.
Houghed — -
That is
cut the sinews of their legs
that they might be useless for war.
Verse 5
[5] And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah
David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
Of Damascus —
That is
who were subject to Damascus
the chief city of Syria.
Verse 7
[7] And
David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer
and
brought them to Jerusalem.
On the servants — Or
rather
which were with the servants
that is
committed to their custody
as
being kept in the king's armoury: for it is not probable they carried them into
the field.
Verse 8
[8] And
from Betah
and from Berothai
cities of Hadadezer
king David took exceeding
much brass.
From Betah
… — In
1 Chronicles 18:8
it is
from Tibhath
and from
Chun. Either therefore the same cities were called by several names
as is
usual
the one by the Hebrews
the other by the Syrians
or those were two
other cities
and so the brass was taken out of these four cities.
Verse 14
[14] And
he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons
and all they of
Edom became David's servants. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he
went.
The Lord preserved
… — All David's victories were typical of the success of the gospel over the
kingdom of Satan
in which the Son of David rode forth
conquering and to
conquer
and will reign 'till he has brought down all opposing rule
principality and power.
Verse 16
[16] And
Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud
was recorder;
Recorder —
The treasurer
who examined all the accounts
and kept records of them.
Verse 17
[17] And
Zadok the son of Ahitub
and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar
were the priests;
and Seraiah was the scribe;
Scribe —
Or
secretary of state.
Verse 18
[18] And
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites;
and David's sons were chief rulers.
Cherethites
… —
The Cherethites and Pelethites were undoubtedly soldiers
and such as were
eminent for their valour and fidelity. Most probable they were the king's
guards
which consisted of these two bands
who might be distinguished either
by their several weapons
or by the differing time or manner of their service.
They are supposed to be thus called either
first
from their office
which was
upon the king's command to cut off or punish offenders
and to preserve the
king's person
as their names in the Hebrew tongue may seem to imply. Or
secondly
from some country
or place to which they had relation. As for the
Cherithites
it is certain they were ether a branch of the Philistines
or a
people neighbouring to them
and so might the Pelethites be too
though that be
not related in scripture. And these Israelites and soldiers of David might be
so called
either because they went and lived with David when he dwelt in those
parts or
for some notable exploit against
or victory over these people.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2
Samuel》
08 Chapter 8
Verses 1-14
Verses 1-18
David smote the Philistines and subdued them.
The victorious king
These years of war gave birth to some of the grandest of the
psalms
amongst which may be numbered
2.
20.
21.
60.
110.
I. The foe. They
trust in chariots and in horses; their kings think that they will be saved by
the multitude of their hosts. They inspire fear through the hearts of Israel
so that the land trembles as though God had rent it
and the people drink the
wine of staggering and dismay. So tremendous is their assault
so overwhelming
their numbers
that all help of man seems vain. It is thus in every era of the
history of God’s people
that Satan has stirred up their foes. Right behind the
coalitions of men lies the malignity of the fallen spirit
who ever seeks to
bruise the heel of the woman’s seed.
II. The attitude of
faith. Whilst the Serried ranks of the foe are are in sight
the hero-king is
permitted a vision into the unseen and eternal. There is no fear upon the face
of God
no change in his determination to set his king upon his holy hill. In
fact
it seems that the day of his foe’s attack is that in which he receives a
new assurance of sonship
and is bidden to claim the nations for his
inheritance
and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. In
perfect peace he anticipates the result
the Lord will send forth the rod of
His strength out of Zion
and strike through kings in the day of His wrath
and
make His enemies His footstool
so that in all after-days he may combine the
office of priest and king
as Melchizedek did on that same site centuries
before.
III. The warriors of
the priest-king. Catching the contagion of his faith
they triumph in God’s
salvation
and in His Name set up their banners. They believe that God
as a
Man of War
is going forth with their
hosts
and will tread down their
adversaries. They are characterised by the willingness of their service. No
mercenaries are pressed into their ranks; they gladly gather around the
standard
as the warriors of whom Deborah sang
who willingly offered
themselves. They are clad not in mail
but in the fine linen of the priests;
“the beauties of holiness
” a phrase which suggests that the warfare was
conducted by religious men as an act of worship to God. They are numerous as
the dewdrops that bespangle the morning grass
when every blade has its own
coronet of jewels
and the light is reflected from a million diamonds (Psalms 110:1-7.) What an exquisite
conception of David’s ideal for his soldiers
and of the knightly chivalry
of
the purity
truth
and righteousness
in which all the soldiers of the Messiah
should be arrayed!
IV. The
completeness of the victory. The armies of the alien cannot stand the onset of
those heaven-accoutred soldiers. Kings of armies flee apace. They are bowed
down and fallen in bitter
hopeless defeat. They are made as a fiery furnace in
the time of God’s anger
and swallowed up in His wrath. Their dead bodies strew
the battlefield
and the valleys are choked with slain. In David we have a type
of the Messiah. For
of a truth
against the Holy Servant Jesus
whom God has
anointed
both the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel have gathered together.
Men have refused His sway
and do refuse it; but God hath sworn
and will not
repent
that to Him every knee shall bow
and every tongue confess: and it is
more sure than that to-morrow’s sun will rise that
ere long
great voices
shall be heard in Heaven
saying
“The kingdoms of the world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord
and of His Christ: and He shall reign for ever and ever”
(Revelation 11:15-18.) (F. B. Meyer
B.
A.)
David’s foreign wars
The first series of David’s wars
on the termination of which it
is said that he enjoyed “rest round about from all his enemies” (2 Samuel 7:1)
was concluded before
his proposal to build the temple. These seem to have been wars with such
remnants of the ancient inhabitants as combined to molest his people within the
limits of the twelve tribes. The wars now undertaken were chiefly against
neighbouring nations
including the occupants of that large territory between
Palestine and the Euphrates
which God had promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:18). The nations against which
David now went forth were most of them extremely warlike; they seem
too
to
have been banded together in leagues or confederacies; so that the enterprise
was attended with difficulties and dangers which only a heart
made brave and
fearless by trust in the Invisible
could have ventured to face. The 20th Psalm
may have been written for the occasion
and left behind for the Levites
to be
sung in the name of the nation
when they remembered the perils to which their
king and his troops had gone forth. It is an instructive fact that the history
of these wars occupies so small a portion of the Bible. A single verse is all
that can be afforded to most of them. Had they been narrated at length
they
would probably have forced a narrative that would have placed David
as a
captain
on a level with Cyrus
Hannibal
or Caesar. It is one of the less
noticed proofs of the inspiration of the Old Testament
that such dazzling transactions
as these are passed over so briefly. There is no other history in the world
where more space would be occupied in describing the carrying of an ark to its
permanent resting-place
than in narrating seven great military campaigns. It
would be beyond the power of human nature to resist the temptation to describe
great battles--the story of which is always read with such interest
and which
reflect so much earthly glory on one’s nation
and create in the mind of the
national reader such a feeling of satisfaction and pride.
Verses 6-14
And David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus.
The garrison of the graces
“He that buildeth a ship doth not make his work of such a sort
that it may avoid all waves and billows
that is impossible; but he so builds
it that it may be tight and staunch
and able to endure all weathers.” Even so
the very frame and construction of the spiritual life were formed with a view
to trials. Jerusalem was walled because enemies were expected; David built
towers and armouries because he looked for war; and what mean the graces of
faith and patience unless affliction is to be reckoned on? Our glorious Leader
would never have armed and armoured all his followers if there had not been
allotted to them a wrestling with principalities and powers. See how Paul
in
the same chapter in which he tells us of the panoply of God
reminds us of the
adversaries whom we shall surely encounter. Has the Lord made thee to be strong
in faith and brave in heart? Then be not surprised if thy stout ship is sent to
traverse stormy seas. God doth not throw away strength by putting it where it
will never be needed. Storms will surely come where grace is given to bear
them
and through these storms grace will develop into glory (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
The Lord preserved David
whithersoever he went.--
God over man
I. The employment
in which David was engaged.
II. The care which
David experienced.
Application. “Who will this day consecrate his service unto the
Lord?” Those who do so will find it
Verses 15-18
David reigned over all Israel.
Administration of the kingdom
I. The first thing
pointed out to us here is the catholicity of his kingly government; embracing
all Israel
all people. He did not bestow his attention on one favoured section
of the people to the neglect or careless oversight of the rest. He did not
for
example
seek the prosperity of his own tribe
Judah
to the neglect of the
other eleven. In a word
there was no favouritism in his reign. In this he
reflected that universality of God’s care on which we find the Psalmist
dwelling with such complacency: “The Lord is good to all; and His tender
mercies are over all His works.” In the next place
we have much to learn from
the statement that the most prominent thing that David did was to “execute
judgment and justice to the people.”
II. That was the
solid foundation on which all his benefits rested. For it is never said that
Saul did anything of the kind. And most certainly they are not words that could
have been used of the ordinary government of Oriental kings. This idea of equal
justice to all
and especially to those who had no helper
was a very beautiful
one in David’s eyes. It gathered round it those bright and happy features which
in the seventy-second Psalm are associated with the administration of another
King. “Give the king Thy judgments
O God
and Thy righteousness to the king’s
son. He shall judge Thy people with righteousness
and Thy poor with judgment.”
And in all this we find the features of that higher government of David’s Son
which shows so richly His most gracious nature. The cry of sorrow and need
as
it rose from the dark world
did not repel
but rather attracted
Him. All were
in the lowest depths of spiritual poverty
but for that reason His hand was the
more freely offered for their help. We are not to think of David
however
as
being satisfied if he merely secured justice to the poor and succeeded in
lightening their yoke. His ulterior aim was to fill his kingdom with active
useful
honourable citizens.
III. The remaining
notices of David’s administration in the passage before us are simply to the
effect that the government consisted of various departments
and that each
department had an officer at its head.
1. There was the military department
at the head of which was Joab
or rather he was over “the host” the great muster of the people for military purposes.
A more select body
“the Cherethites and the Pelethites
” seems to have formed
a bodyguard for the king
or a banal of household troops
and was under a
separate commander. The troops forming “the host” were divided into twelve
courses of twenty-four thousand each
regularly officered
and for one month of
the year the officers of one of the courses
and probably the people
or some
of them
attended on the king at Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 27:1.)
2. There was the civil department; at the head of which were
Jehoshaphat the recorder and Seraiah the scribe or secretary. While these were
in attendance on David at Jerusalem they did not supersede the ordinary home
rule of the tribes of Israel. Each tribe had still its prince or ruler
and
continued
under a general superintendence from the king
to conduct its local
affairs (1 Chronicles 27:16-22). This home-rule
system
besides interesting the people greatly in the prosperity of the
country
was a great check against the abuse of the royal authority; and it is
a proof that the confidence of Rehoboam in the stability of his government
confirmed perhaps by a superstitious view of that promise to David
must have
been an absolute infatuation
the product of utter inexperience on his part
and of the most foolish counsel ever tendered by professional advisers.
3. Ecclesiastical administration. The capture of Jerusalem and its
erection into the capital of the kingdom made a great change in ecclesiastical
arrangements. For some time before it would have been hard to tell where the
ecclesiastical capital was to be found. Shiloh had been stripped of its glory
when Ichabod received his name
and the Philistine armies destroyed the place.
Nob had shared a similar fate at the hands of Saul. The old tabernacle erected
by Moses in the wilderness was at Gibeon (1 Chronicles 21:29)
and remained
there even after the removal of the ark to Zion (1 Kings 3:4). At Hebron
too
there
must have been a shrine while David reigned there. But from the time when David
brought up the ark to Jerusalem that city became the greatest centre of the
national worship. There the services enjoined by the law of Moses were
celebrated; it became the scene of the great festivals of Passover
Pentecost
and Tabernacles. We are told that the heads of the ecclesiastical department
were Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar. These
represented the elder and the younger branches of the priesthood. It is
scarcely possible to say how far these careful ecclesiastical arrangements were
instrumental in fostering the spirit of genuine piety. But there is too much
reason to fear that even in David’s time that element was very deficient. The
bursts of religious enthusiasm that occasionally rolled over the country were
no sure indications of piety in a people easily roused to temporary gushes of
feeling
but deficient in stability. The systematic administration of his
kingdom by King David was the fruit of a remarkable faculty of orderly
arrangement that belonged to most of the great men of Israel. We see it in
Abraham
in his prompt and successful marshalling of his servants to pursue and
attack the kings of the East when they carried off Lot; we see it in Joseph
first collecting and then distributing the stores of food in Egypt; in Moses
conducting that marvellous host in order and safety through the wilderness;
and
in later times
in Ezra and Nehemiah
reducing the chaos which they found
at Jerusalem to a state of order and prosperity which seemed to verify the
vision of the dry bones. We see it in the Son of David
in the orderly way in
which all His arrangements were made: the sending forth of the twelve Apostles
and the seventy disciples
the arranging of the multitude when He fed the five
thousand
and the careful gathering up of the fragments “that nothing be lost.”
In the spiritual kingdom
a corresponding order is demanded
and times of peace
and rest in the Church are times when this development is specially to be
studied. (W. G. Blaikie
D. D.)
A just governor
The people of Khartoum (after giving General Gordon an
enthusiastic welcome as their new Governor-General)
anxiously awaited a speech
in return. It came characteristic of the man: “With the help of God I will hold
the balance level.” It was what they wanted
a just ruler and judge
and at
last they had got one. Governors formerly could only be approached by bribery
of the officials around them. General Gordon had a letter-box made in the door
of his palace
for all petitions
and they received his personal attention.
Verses 15-18
David reigned over all Israel.
Administration of the kingdom
I. The first thing
pointed out to us here is the catholicity of his kingly government; embracing
all Israel
all people. He did not bestow his attention on one favoured section
of the people to the neglect or careless oversight of the rest. He did not
for
example
seek the prosperity of his own tribe
Judah
to the neglect of the
other eleven. In a word
there was no favouritism in his reign. In this he
reflected that universality of God’s care on which we find the Psalmist
dwelling with such complacency: “The Lord is good to all; and His tender
mercies are over all His works.” In the next place
we have much to learn from
the statement that the most prominent thing that David did was to “execute
judgment and justice to the people.”
II. That was the
solid foundation on which all his benefits rested. For it is never said that
Saul did anything of the kind. And most certainly they are not words that could
have been used of the ordinary government of Oriental kings. This idea of equal
justice to all
and especially to those who had no helper
was a very beautiful
one in David’s eyes. It gathered round it those bright and happy features which
in the seventy-second Psalm are associated with the administration of another
King. “Give the king Thy judgments
O God
and Thy righteousness to the king’s
son. He shall judge Thy people with righteousness
and Thy poor with judgment.”
And in all this we find the features of that higher government of David’s Son
which shows so richly His most gracious nature. The cry of sorrow and need
as
it rose from the dark world
did not repel
but rather attracted
Him. All were
in the lowest depths of spiritual poverty
but for that reason His hand was the
more freely offered for their help. We are not to think of David
however
as
being satisfied if he merely secured justice to the poor and succeeded in
lightening their yoke. His ulterior aim was to fill his kingdom with active
useful
honourable citizens.
III. The remaining
notices of David’s administration in the passage before us are simply to the
effect that the government consisted of various departments
and that each
department had an officer at its head.
1. There was the military department
at the head of which was Joab
or rather he was over “the host” the great muster of the people for military
purposes. A more select body
“the Cherethites and the Pelethites
” seems to
have formed a bodyguard for the king
or a banal of household troops
and was
under a separate commander. The troops forming “the host” were divided into
twelve courses of twenty-four thousand each
regularly officered
and for one
month of the year the officers of one of the courses
and probably the people
or some of them
attended on the king at Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 27:1.)
2. There was the civil department; at the head of which were
Jehoshaphat the recorder and Seraiah the scribe or secretary. While these were
in attendance on David at Jerusalem they did not supersede the ordinary home
rule of the tribes of Israel. Each tribe had still its prince or ruler
and
continued
under a general superintendence from the king
to conduct its local
affairs (1 Chronicles 27:16-22). This
home-rule system
besides interesting the people greatly in the prosperity of
the country
was a great check against the abuse of the royal authority; and it
is a proof that the confidence of Rehoboam in the stability of his government
confirmed perhaps by a superstitious view of that promise to David
must have
been an absolute infatuation
the product of utter inexperience on his part
and of the most foolish counsel ever tendered by professional advisers.
3. Ecclesiastical administration. The capture of Jerusalem and its
erection into the capital of the kingdom made a great change in ecclesiastical
arrangements. For some time before it would have been hard to tell where the
ecclesiastical capital was to be found. Shiloh had been stripped of its glory
when Ichabod received his name
and the Philistine armies destroyed the place.
Nob had shared a similar fate at the hands of Saul. The old tabernacle erected
by Moses in the wilderness was at Gibeon (1 Chronicles 21:29)
and remained
there even after the removal of the ark to Zion (1 Kings 3:4). At Hebron
too
there
must have been a shrine while David reigned there. But from the time when David
brought up the ark to Jerusalem that city became the greatest centre of the
national worship. There the services enjoined by the law of Moses were
celebrated; it became the scene of the great festivals of Passover
Pentecost
and Tabernacles. We are told that the heads of the ecclesiastical department
were Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar. These
represented the elder and the younger branches of the priesthood. It is
scarcely possible to say how far these careful ecclesiastical arrangements were
instrumental in fostering the spirit of genuine piety. But there is too much
reason to fear that even in David’s time that element was very deficient. The
bursts of religious enthusiasm that occasionally rolled over the country were
no sure indications of piety in a people easily roused to temporary gushes of
feeling
but deficient in stability. The systematic administration of his
kingdom by King David was the fruit of a remarkable faculty of orderly
arrangement that belonged to most of the great men of Israel. We see it in
Abraham
in his prompt and successful marshalling of his servants to pursue and
attack the kings of the East when they carried off Lot; we see it in Joseph
first collecting and then distributing the stores of food in Egypt; in Moses
conducting
that marvellous host in order and safety through the wilderness; and
in later
times
in Ezra and Nehemiah
reducing the chaos which they found at Jerusalem
to a state of order and prosperity which seemed to verify the vision of the dry
bones. We see it in the Son of David
in the orderly way in which all His
arrangements were made: the sending forth of the twelve Apostles and the
seventy disciples
the arranging of the multitude when He fed the five
thousand
and the careful gathering up of the fragments “that nothing be lost.”
In the spiritual kingdom
a corresponding order is demanded
and times of peace
and rest in the Church are times when this development is specially to be
studied. (W. G. Blaikie
D. D.)
A just governor
The people of Khartoum (after giving General Gordon an
enthusiastic welcome as their new Governor-General)
anxiously awaited a speech
in return. It came characteristic of the man: “With the help of God I will hold
the balance level.” It was what they wanted
a just ruler and judge
and at
last they had got one. Governors formerly could only be approached by bribery
of the officials around them. General Gordon had a letter-box made in the door
of his palace
for all petitions
and they received his personal attention.
──《The Biblical Illustrator》