2 Samuel 8:9

9 When Toi, the king of Hamath, heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer,

2 Samuel 8:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 8:9

When Toi king of Hamath
Which was another small kingdom in Syria, perhaps lately erected to defend themselves against Hadadezer, and this the first king of it, at least the first we hear of; his name is Tou in ( 1 Chronicles 18:9 ) ; where in the Targum he is called king of Antioch. Hamath lay to the north of the land of Canaan; (See Gill on Numbers 34:8): it is said ^F20 to be three days' journey from Tripoli, and that it stands in the midway to Aleppo, on a very goodly plain, replenished with corn and cotton wool, but very much in ruins, and falls more and more to decay: at this day (says my author, who travelled in those parts in the beginning of the seventeenth century) there is scarce one half of the wall standing, which hath been very fair and strong. The king of this place

heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer;
the news of which soon reached him, he being in the neighbourhood.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Cartwright's Preacher's Travels, p. 6.

2 Samuel 8:9 In-Context

7 David took the small round gold shields which had {belonged} to the servants of Hadadezer, and he brought them [to] Jerusalem.

8 From Betah and from Berothai, the towns of Hadadezer, King David took very many bronze [items].

9 When Toi, the king of Hamath, heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer,

10 Toi sent Joram his son to King David {to greet him} and to congratulate him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him; {for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi}. {He brought with him} objects of silver and objects of gold and objects of bronze.

11 King David dedicated them also to Yahweh [along] with the silver and the gold that he had dedicated from all of the nations which he had subdued;