2 Samuel 8:3

3 Then David struck down Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at the Euphrates River.

2 Samuel 8:3 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 8:3

And David also smote Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of
Zobah
Called sometimes Aramzobah, and was a part of Syria, as its name shows. Benjamin, of Tudela ^F8 takes it to be the same with Haleb or Aleppo; Josephus ^F9 calls it Sophene; but that is placed by Ptolemy

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 beyond the Euphrates; whereas this country must be between that river and the land of Israel, and was contiguous to it, and near Damascus; and it was so near the land of Israel, and being conquered by David, that it became a controversy with the Jews, whether it was not to be reckoned part of it, and in several things they allow it to be equal to it ^F12. Rehob was the first king of this part of Syria, and then his son the second and last; he is called Hadarezer in ( 1 Chronicles 18:3 ) ; the letters (d) "D" and (r) "R", being frequently changed in the Hebrew tongue: him David fought with, and overcame,

as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates;
which some understand of Hadadezer, so Jarchi and Kimchi, who attempted to recover part of his dominions that had been taken by some one or another from him, which lay upon the river Euphrates; or he endeavoured to enlarge his dominions, and carry them as far as the river, and establish the borders of them; and while he was doing this, or attempting it, David fell upon him, and routed him; or rather this refers to David, who considering that the ancient border of the land of Israel, as given to Abraham, reached to the river Euphrates, ( Genesis 15:18 ) ; he set out on an expedition to recover this border, and whereas the country of this king lay in his way, he invaded that; upon which Hadadezer rose up against him, and was conquered by him, and by this means the border was recovered to the kingdom of Israel, and reached so far, as is plain it did in Solomon's time, ( 1 Kings 4:21-24 ) .

F8 Itinerar. p. 59.
F9 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 1.)
F11 Geograph. l. 5. c. 13.
F12 T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 8. 1. 2. Misn. Demai, c. 6. sect. 11. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.

2 Samuel 8:3 In-Context

1 It happened afterwards [that] David attacked [the] Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the hands of [the] Philistines.

2 When he defeated Moab, he measured them with the cord, making them lie on the ground. He measured two cords to kill and {the third cord} to let live. So Moab became servants of David, bringing tribute.

3 Then David struck down Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at the Euphrates River.

4 David captured from him one thousand and seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand {foot soldiers}. David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but {from them} he spared a hundred chariot horses.

5 When Aram of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, the king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand men of Aram.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "hand"