2 Samuel 8:2 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
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 one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts.
to die (literally or figuratively) · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
full
וּמְלֹ֥אu.me.Lo'
H4393
fulness (literally or figuratively) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
line
הַחֶ֖בֶלha.Che.vel
H2256
a rope (as twisted) · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
alive
לְהַחֲי֑וֹתle.ha.cha.Yot
H2421
to live · preposition + verb, hiphil infinitive construct
Moabites
מוֹאָב֙mo.'Av
H4124
Moab · proper noun, a place name
David’s
לְדָוִ֔דle.da.Vid
H1732
David · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
servants
לַעֲבָדִ֖יםla.'a.va.Dim
H5650
a servant · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
brought
נֹשְׂאֵ֥יno.se.'Ei
H5375
to lift · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
gifts
מִנְחָֽהmin.Chah
H4503
a donation · noun, common feminine 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
Numbers 24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel…
1 Samuel 10:27 But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.
2 Samuel 8:6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the LORD preserved David whi…
Psalms 60:8 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me.
Judges 3:29-30 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.
1 Samuel 14:47 So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and…
2 Samuel 8:12-14 Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, kin…
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…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 8:1-8
God had given David rest from all his enemies that opposed him and made head against him; and he having made a good use of that rest, has now commission given him to make war upon them, and to act offensively for the avenging of Israel's quarrels and the recovery of their rights; for as yet they were not in full possession of that country to which by the promise of God they were entitled.
I. He quite subdued the Philistines, Sa2 8:1. They had attacked him when they thought him weak (Sa2 5:17), and went by the worst then; but, when he found himself strong, he attacked them, and made himself master of their country. They had long been vexatious and oppressive to Israel. Saul got no ground agai…
he smote Moab, and measured them with a line--This refers to a well-known practice of Eastern kings, to command their prisoners of war, particularly those who, notorious for the atrocity of their crimes or distinguished by the indomitable spirit of their resistance, had greatly incensed the victors, to lie down on the ground. Then a certain portion of them, which was determined by lot, but most commonly by a measuring-line, were put to death. Our version makes him put two-thirds to death, and spare one-third. The Septuagint and Vulgate make one-half. This war usage was not, perhaps, usually practised by the people of God; but Jewish writers assert that the cause of this particular severity a…
And measured them with a line - even with two lines - It has been generally conjectured that David, after he had conquered Moab, consigned two-thirds of the inhabitants to the sword; but I think the text will bear a meaning much more reputable to that king. The first clause of the verse seems to determine the sense; he measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground - to put to death, and with one line to keep alive. Death seems here to be referred to the cities by way of metaphor; and, from this view of the subject we may conclude that two-thirds of the cities, that is, the strong places of Moab, were erased; and not having strong places to trust to, the text adds, So the Moabite…
The Church Fathers
In the second book of Kings [Samuel], where David defeated the Moabites, Scripture records the measuring out of two separate lines for life and two for death. The significance of setting aside some Moabites for life and others for death is made clear by the story of Orpah and Ruth. Orpah, who turned back to idolatry and her ancient country, was destined for death; Ruth, following her mother-in-law, whose name means "pleasant," says, "Your people shall be my people, and your God my God."
"And he struck down Moab, and measured them with a line, aligning them to the ground, etc." [2 Samuel 8:2] What is written about David: "And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, laying them on the ground," should be understood hyperbolically. For it was not possible that men living on the earth would be so humbled that, lying on the ground, they would appear equal with the ground itself, as confirmed by a line stretched over them; but the Scripture wanted to accumulate the immense humiliation of the captured and oppressed nation with this word, to say they were made equal to the ground, as if by God they were emasculated and despised, so that they living on earth no longer mattered more than the ground that had no people. You have many examples of this kind of expression in the Scriptures, such as that one from the Gospel: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did; if they were written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written" (John XXI). For how could the world not contain the books that could have been written in the world? But to imply the greatness and multitude of the Lord's deeds, the Scripture wished to use such an expression. And in David's lament, "They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions" (II Samuel I). Which is similar to that secular expression: "Who would surpass the whiteness of snow, in their courses the winds." That he said "measured them with a line," he put the line allegorically for destiny, because fields are usually measured by a line. Hence it is written: "And he divided the land to them by lot with a measuring line." It means that David would distribute the regions of the Moabites to the heirs according to his will, as freely as any possessor might divide his own fields at his whim by stretching the line here and there. He measured two lines, one for putting to death, and one for keeping alive. And this is said allegorically, signifying that David had the power, with no one contradicting, to put to death those who were rebellious and to spare those who were submissive.
Dictionary and topics
Cord — Frequently used in its proper sense, for fastening a tent (Ex. 35:18; 39:40), yoking animals to a cart (Isa. 5:18), binding prisoners (Judg. 15:13; Ps. 2:3; 129:4), and measuring ground (2 Sam. 8;2;…
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.…
Euphrates — Hebrew, Perath; Assyrian, Purat; Persian cuneiform, Ufratush, whence Greek Euphrates, meaning “sweet water.” The Assyrian name means “the stream,” or “the great stream.” It is generally called in the…
Gift — (1.) An gratuity (Prov. 19:6) to secure favour (18:16; 21:14), a thank-offering (Num. 18:11), or a dowry (Gen. 34:12). (2.) An oblation or proppitatory gift (2Sa 8:2, 6; 1Ch 18:2, 6; 2Ch 26:8; Ps.…
Moab — The seed of the father, or, according to others, the desirable land, the eldest son of Lot (Gen. 19:37), of incestuous birth. (2.) Used to denote the people of Moab (Num. 22:3-14; Judg. 3:30; 2 Sam.…
Moabite — The designation of a tribe descended from Moab, the son of Lot (Gen. 19:37). From Zoar, the cradle of this tribe, on the south-eastern border of the Dead Sea, they gradually spread over the region on…
Palestine — Originally denoted only the sea-coast of the land of Canaan inhabited by the Philistines (Ex. 15:14; Isa. 14:29, 31; Joel 3:4), and in this sense exclusively the Hebrew name Pelesheth (rendered…
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…
And he smote Moab,.... He next went against that, and invaded it, the people of it being always troublesome and distressing to the children of Israel; and though the king of it had shown some favour to David, yet it was when he considered him as an enemy to Saul, and Saul to him; but things having taken a different turn, his and his people's enmity against David and his people appeared; wherefore he went and fought them, and made them his subjects, whereby was fulfilled the prophecy of Balaam, Numbers 24:17; as it referred to David:
and measured them with a line: either their country and fields, to distribute among his people, or rather the soldiers he took prisoners; which, as Procopius Ga…
Subjugation of Moab. - "He smote Moab (i.e., the Moabites), and measured them with the line, making them lie down upon the ground, and measured two lines (i.e., two parts) to put to death, and one line full to keep alive." Nothing further is known about either the occasion or the history of this war, with the exception of the cursory notice in Ch1 11:22, that Benaiah, one of David's heroes, smote two sons of the king of Moab, which no doubt took place in the same war. In the earliest period of his flight from Saul, David had met with a hospitable reception from the king of Moab, and had even taken his parents to him for safety (Sa1 22:3-4). But the Moabites must have very grievously oppresse…
Moab was on the east side of the Dead Sea. Earlier, the people of Moab had provided David’s parents with refuge during Saul’s reign (1 Sam 22:3-4); David’s great-grandmother, Ruth, was from Moab. For whatever reason, no such fraternal relationship existed any longer. • two groups to be executed for every one group to be spared: This is the only time in 2 Samuel that David executed captives taken in battle (see Num 21:29; 24:17; Deut 2:9).
Rashi on 2 Samuel 8:2
Those measured with two ropes were killed. [This vengeance was] because they killed his father, his mother and his brothers as it is said, "He led them before the king of Moav." (Shmuel I, 22:4) We do not find that they ever left from there.4Yalkut Shimoni, 147.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
· Distances measured by rods and lines
— Distances measured by rods and lines
Moabites · David conquers — David conquers
Presents · Were given: As tribute — Were given: As tribute
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).
