2 Samuel 12:31 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Samuel 12:31
And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
iron (as cutting) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Chronicles 20:3 And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all…
2 Samuel 8:2 And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with…
Amos 1:3 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have thre…
Psalms 21:8-9 Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 12:26–end
We have here an account of the conquest of Rabbah, and other cities of the Ammonites. Though this comes in here after the birth of David's child, yet it is most probable that it was effected a good while before, and soon after the death of Uriah, perhaps during the days of Bath-sheba's mourning for him. Observe, 1. That God was very gracious in giving David this great success against his enemies, notwithstanding the sin he had been guilty of just at that time when he was engaged in this war, and the wicked use he had made of the sword of the children of Ammon in the murder of Uriah. Justly might he have made that sword, thenceforward, a plague to David and his kingdom; yet he breaks it, and…
he brought forth the people . . . and put them under saws, &c.--This excessive severity and employment of tortures, which the Hebrews on no other occasion are recorded to have practised, was an act of retributive justice on a people who were infamous for their cruelties (Sa1 11:2; Amo 1:13).
Next: 2 Samuel Chapter 13
Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 12:31
He brought forth the people - And put them under saws. From this representation a great cry has been raised against "David's unparalleled, if not diabolic, cruelty." I believe this interpretation was chiefly taken from the parallel place, Ch1 20:3, where it is said, he cut them with saws, and with axes, etc. Instead of וישר vaiyasar, he sawed, we have here (in Samuel) וישם vaiyasem, he put them; and these two words differ from each other only in a part of a single letter, ר resh for ם mem. And it is worthy of remark, that instead of וישר vaiyasar, he sawed, in Ch1 20:3, six or seven MSS. collated by Dr. Kennicott have וישם vaiyasem, he put them; nor is there found any various reading in all…
And he brought forth the people that were therein,.... Not all the inhabitants of the place, but the princes of the children of Ammon, the counsellors of Hattun, who advised him to use David's ambassadors in so shameful a manner, and others that expressed their pleasure and satisfaction in it:
and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron; whereby they were cut asunder, as some were by the Romans and others (n), or their flesh torn to pieces, and they put to extreme pain and agony, and so died most miserably; see 1 Chronicles 20:3,
and made them pass through the brickkiln; where they burnt their bricks, by which they were not only scorched and blistered, but bu…
Dictionary and topics
Ammonite — The usual name of the descendants of Ammon, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:38). From the very beginning (Deut. 2:16-20) of their history till they are lost sight of (Judg. 5:2), this tribe is closely…
Brick — (Genesis 11:3) The brick in use among the Jews were much larger than with us, being usually from 12 to 13 inches square and 3 1/2 inches thick; they thus possess more of the character of tiles.…
Bricks — The making of, formed the chief labour of the Israelites in Egypt (Ex. 1:13, 14). Those found among the ruins of Babylon and Nineveh are about a foot square and four inches thick. They were usually…
Captive — One taken in war. Captives were often treated with great cruelty and indignity (1 Kings 20:32; Josh. 10:24; Judg. 1:7; 2 Sam. 4:12; Judg. 8:7; 2 Sam. 12:31; 1 Chr. 20:3). When a city was taken by…
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Fire — (1.) For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire (Gen. 8:20). The ever-burning fire on the altar was first kindled from heaven (Lev. 6:9, 13; 9:24), and afterwards rekindled at the…
Handicraft — (Acts 18:3; 19:25; Revelation 18:22) A trade was taught to ail the Jewish boys as a necessary part of their education. Even the greatest rabbis maintained themselves by trades (Delitzsch). Says Rabbi…
Hanun — Graciously given. (1.) The son and successor of Nahash, king of Moab. David’s messengers, sent on an embassy of condolence to him to Rabbah Ammon, his capital, were so grossly insulted that he…
Harrow — (Heb. harits), a tribulum or sharp threshing sledge; a frame armed on the under side with rollers or sharp spikes (2 Sam. 12:31; 1 Chr. 20:3). Heb. verb sadad, to harrow a field, break its clods (Job…
Iron — Tubal-Cain is the first-mentioned worker in iron (Gen. 4:22). The Egyptians wrought it at Sinai before the Exodus. David prepared it in great abundance for the temple (1 Chr. 22:3: 29:7). The…
axes
וּֽבְמַגְזְרֹ֣תu.ve.mag.ze.Rot
H4037
a cutting implement · conjunction + preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
iron
הַבַּרְזֶ֗לha.bar.Zel
H1270
iron (as cutting) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
pass
וְהֶעֱבִ֤ירve.he.'e.Vir
H5674
to cross over · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
brickkiln
בַּמַּלְבֵּ֔ןba.mal.ken
H4404
a brickkiln · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
did
יַעֲשֶׂ֔הya.'a.Seh
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
cities
עָרֵ֣י'a.Rei
H5892
a city (a place guarded by waking or a watch) in the wi… · noun, common masculine plural construct
children
בְנֵֽיve.nei-
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Ammon
עַמּ֑וֹןa.Mon
H5983
Ammon · proper noun, a man's name
David
דָּוִ֛דda.Vid
H1732
David · proper noun, a man's name
people
הָעָ֖םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
returned
וַיָּ֧שָׁבvai.Ya.shov
H7725
to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Jerusalem
יְרוּשָׁלִָֽםye.ru.sha.Lim
H3389
Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · proper noun, a place name
He also had the inhabitants executed, and that with cruel tortures. "He sawed them in pieces with the saw and with iron harrows." בּמּגרה ויּשׂם, "he put them into the saw," does not give any appropriate sense; and there can be no doubt, that instead of וישׂם we should read ויּשׂר (from שׂוּר): "he cut (sawed) them in pieces." הבּרזל וּבמגזרות, "and with iron cutting tools." The meaning of the ἁπ. λεγ. מגזרות cannot be more precisely determined. The current rendering, "axes or hatchets," is simply founded upon the circumstance that גּזר, to cut, is applied in Kg2 6:4 to the felling of trees. The reading in the Chronicles, וּבמּגרות, is evidently a copyist's error, as we have already had בּמ…
He also made slaves of the people of Rabbah and forced them to labor with: Enslaving defeated peoples was in accord with Deut 20:11. Solomon later did the same with the Canaanites (1 Kgs 9:20-22; see also Judg 1:30, 33). The alternate reading might indicate torture inflicted on the defeated Ammonites (cp. textual note on 1 Chr 20:3).
Rashi on 2 Samuel 12:31
Saw-like utensils, iron threshing utensils and iron axes. They are types of tortures.
Saw-like utensils. A knife serrated with many [sharp] edges bent towards each other.
Threshing utensils. This is a hacked saw full of cuts like "many sharp edges"12Shmuel I, 13:21. that is called laime (O.F.).
The streets. In the mud of the streets and so Yonason [also] translated: "He dragged them in the streets."
Punishments — The earliest theory of punishment current among mankind is doubtless the one of simple retaliation, “blood for blood.” Viewed historically, the first case of punishment for crime mentioned in…
Rabbah — Or Rab’bath, great. (1.) “Rabbath of the children of Ammon,” the chief city of the Ammonites, among the eastern hills, some 20 miles east of the Jordan, on the southern of the two streams which…
Saw — Egyptian saws, so far as has yet been discovered, are single-handed. As is the case in modern Oriental saws, the teeth usually incline toward the handle, instead of away from it like ours. They have,…
Solomon — Peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David’s second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father…
War — The Israelites had to take possession of the Promised Land by conquest. They had to engage in a long and bloody war before the Canaanitish tribes were finally subdued. Except in the case of Jericho…
Agriculture Or Husbandry · Implements of: The harrow — Implements of: The harrow
Ammonites · General references — General references
Ammonites, The · Of Rabbah reduced to hard bondage — Of Rabbah reduced to hard bondage
Ax · An implement — An implement
Brick · Ma — Ma
Brick-Kiln · General references — General references
Captive · .Tortured un — .Tortured un
Harrow · An agricultural implement used as an instrument of torture — An agricultural implement used as an instrument of torture
Iron · Harrow — Harrow
Rabbah · . — .
Saw · Used as an instrument of torture — Used as an instrument of torture
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
