2 Samuel 8:5

5 When people of Aram from Dammesek came to the aid of Hadad'ezer king of Tzovah, David killed 22,000 men of Aram.

2 Samuel 8:5 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 8:5

And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king
of Zobah
These seem to have had no king at this time, or, if they had, Hadadezer was their king, which is not improbable; and Nicholas of Damascus ^F15; an Heathen writer, is clear for it, whom he calls Adad, who, he says, reigned over Damascus, and the other Syria without Phoenicia, who made war with David king of Judea, and was routed by him at Euphrates: and he seems to be the first king of Damascus, which he joined to the kingdom of Zobah, and all the kings of Damascus afterwards were called by the same name; though Josephus ^F16, who also speaks of Adad being king of Damascus and of the Syrians, yet makes him different from this Hadadezer, to whose assistance he says he came:

David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men;
that is, of the Syrians of Damascus.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Apud Joseph. ib. (l. 7. c. 5.) sect. 2.
F16 Ibid.

2 Samuel 8:5 In-Context

3 David, on his way to establish his dominion as far as the Euphrates River, also defeated Hadad'ezer the son of Rechov king of Tzovah.

4 David captured 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers. He reserved enough horses for 100 chariots and disabled the rest.

5 When people of Aram from Dammesek came to the aid of Hadad'ezer king of Tzovah, David killed 22,000 men of Aram.

6 Then David put garrisons among the people of Aram in Dammesek; Aram became subject to David and paid tribute. ADONAI gave victory to David wherever he went.

7 David took the gold shields which Hadad'ezer's servants were wearing and brought them to Yerushalayim.