David¡¯s victories
1 After this, David defeated the Philistines, crushing them in such a way
that they were no longer in control of the land.
2 Then he defeated the Moa bites. He had them mea sured with a line and made
them lie down on the ground; two thirds of them were to be executed, and one
third to be spared. And so the Moabites be came David¡¯s servants and paid
tribute to him.
3 David also defeated Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he tried
to retake the valley of the Euphrates.
4 David captured from him a thousand and seven horsemen and twen ty thousand
foot soldiers. He hamstrung all the chariot horses but left a sufficient
number for a hundred chariots.
5 The Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, but David
won over twenty-two thousand of their men.
6 Then David set up governors in Aram of Da mas cus and the Arameans became
David¡¯s servants, paying tribute to him.
Yahweh made David victorious wherever he went.
7 David took the golden shields carried by the servants of Hada dezer and
brought them to Jerusalem;
8 he also took a great quantity of bronze from Betah and Berothai, cities of
Hadadezer.
9 When Toi, king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of
Hadadezer,
10 he sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and thank him for having
fought against Hadadezer and defeating him. For the latter had often been at
war with Toi. Joram brought with him articles of silver, gold and bronze
11 which King David consecrated to Yahweh together with the silver and gold
which he consecrated from all the nations he subdued:
12 from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, as well as the
booty of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
13 David became famous when he returned from defeating an army of eighteen
thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
14 He set up governors in Edom and the Edomites became his servants. So
Yahweh made David victorious wherever he went.
15 David reigned over all Israel, issuing decrees and administering justice
to all his people.
16 Joab, son of Zeruiah, was commander of the army; Jehoshaphat, son of
Ahilud, recorder;
17 Zadok, son of Ahitub and Ahimelech, son of Abiathar, priests; Seraiah,
secretary;
18 and Be naiah, son of Jehoiada, was in charge of the Cherethites and the
Pelethites. David¡¯s sons were priests.
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Comments 2 Samuel, Chapter 8
• 8.1 This chapter narrates David¡¯s victories with pride. Through these
wars, David¡¯s kingdom came into existence; they were a necessary step in the
long preparation of God¡¯s Kingdom. The Israelites will remember David as the
victorious warrior-king and, at the same time, will look forward to the
Messiah, the son of David, as the king of peace who will conquer all enemies
(see Is 9:5 and Mic 5:1-4).
At that time, primitive instincts were so powerful that the humble and
merciful David did not hesitate to execute his prisoners. The Bible praises
him for having spared some of them.
The fact is that faith does not replace culture; and all of us, faithful
though we be, depend on the moral ideas of our surroundings. We know that
during many centuries of Christianity believers and saints, who were ready
to give up their life for a sick brother or sister, did not think of
denouncing abuses which appear intolerable to us.
• 13. Neither Abraham nor Moses had secretaries or assistants: these
wanderers had no offices, not even an archives-bearing donkey. David forms
the first nucleus of officials in the kingdom, and only with Solomon will
sacred literature start.
David¡¯s sons were priests. At that time, two centuries after Moses,
priesthood was not yet reserved to the Levites. Solomon himself offers
sacrifices and consecrates the Temple (1 K 8:64).