2 Samuel 8:9

9 Forsooth Toi, king of Hamath, heard that David had smitten all the host 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 And David took golden armours and bands (And David took the gold arms, or the weapons), which the servants of Hadadezer had, and he brought those into Jerusalem.

8 And of Betah, and of Berothai (And from Betah, and Berothai), the cities of Hadadezer, David [the] king took full much brass.

9 Forsooth Toi, king of Hamath, heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer.

10 And Toi sent Joram, his son, to king David, that he should greet him, and thank (him), and do thankings, for he had overcome Hadadezer, and had smitten him; for Toi was enemy of Hadadezer; and vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass were in his hand. (And King Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to greet him, and to congratulate him on his victory, for he had overcome Hadadezer, and had beaten him; for Toi was Hadadezer's enemy; and his son brought with him vessels of silver, and gold, and brass, for David.)

11 And the same vessels king David hallowed to the Lord, with the silver and gold, which he had hallowed of all heathen men, which he had made subject. (And King David dedicated these vessels to the Lord, along with the silver and the gold which he had dedicated from all the heathen whom he had made subject,)