2 Samuel 8:4 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Samuel 8:4
And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.
to catch (in a net · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
thousand
אֶ֤לֶף'E.lef
H505
hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · noun, common both genders singular absolute
seven
וּשְׁבַעu.she.va'-
H7651
seven (as the sacred full one) · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular construct
hundred
מֵאוֹת֙me.'Ot
H3967
a hundred · noun, common feminine plural absolute
horsemen
פָּרָשִׁ֔יםpa.ra.Shim
H6571
a steed (as stretched out to a vehicle · noun, common masculine plural absolute
twenty
וְעֶשְׂרִ֥יםve.'es.Rim
H6242
twenty · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
thousand
אֶ֖לֶף'E.lef
H505
hence (the ox's head being the first letter of the alph… · noun, common both genders singular absolute
footmen
אִ֣ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
David
דָּוִד֙da.Vid
H1732
David · proper noun, a man's name
houghed
וַיְעַקֵּ֤רvay.'a.Ker
H6131
to pluck up (especially by the roots) · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
chariot
הָרֶ֔כֶבha.Re.khev
H7393
a vehicle · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
reserved
וַיּוֹתֵ֥רvai.yo.Ter
H3498
to jut over or exceed · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
hundred
מֵ֥אָהMe.'ah
H3967
a hundred · noun, common feminine singular absolute
chariots
רָֽכֶבRa.khev
H7393
a vehicle · 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
Joshua 11:6 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Be not afraid because of them: for to morrow about this time will I deliver them up all slain before Israel:…
Joshua 11:9 And Joshua did unto them as the LORD bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire.
Deuteronomy 17:16 But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch a…
1 Kings 10:26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he…
1 Chronicles 18:4 And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot ho…
Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
Psalms 33:16-17 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
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 SMITES HADADEZER AND THE SYRIANS. (Sa2 8:3-14)
Zobah-- (Ch1 18:3). This kingdom was bounded on the east by the Euphrates, and it extended westward from that river, perhaps as far north as Aleppo. It was long the chief among the petty kingdoms of Syria, and its king bore the hereditary title of "Hadadezer" or "Hadarezer" ("Hadad," that is, "helped").
as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates--in accordance with the promises God made to Israel that He would give them all the country as far as the Euphrates (Gen 15:18; Num 24:17). In the first campaign David signally defeated Hadadezer. Besides a great number of foot prisoners, he took from him an immense amount of booty in…
A thousand chariots - It is strange that there were a thousand chariots, and only seven hundred horsemen taken, and twenty thousand foot. But as the discomfiture appears complete, we may suppose that the chariots, being less manageable, might be more easily taken, while the horsemen might, in general, make their escape. The infantry also seem to have been surrounded, when twenty thousand of them were taken prisoners.
David houghed all the chariot horses - If he did so, it was both unreasonable and inhuman; for, as he had so complete a victory, there was no danger of these horses falling into the enemy's hands; and if he did not choose to keep them, which indeed the law would not permit, he s…
Dictionary and topics
Army — The Israelites marched out of Egypt in military order (Ex. 13:18, “harnessed;” marg., “five in a rank”). Each tribe formed a battalion, with its own banner and leader (Num. 2:2; 10:14). In war the…
Chariot — A vehicle generally used for warlike purposes. Sometimes, though but rarely, it is spoken of as used for peaceful purposes. The first mention of the chariot is when Joseph, as a mark of distinction,…
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…
Hadadezer — Hadad is help; called also Hadarezer, Adod is his help, the king of Zobah. Hanun, the king of the Ammonites, hired among others the army of Hadadezer to assist him in his war against David. Joab, who…
Hadarezer — Adod is his help, the name given to Hadadezer (2 Sam. 8:3-12) in 2 Sam. 10.
Horse — Always referred to in the Bible in connection with warlike operations, except Isa. 28:28. The war-horse is described Job 39:19-25. For a long period after their settlement in Canaan the Israelites…
Hough — To hamstring, i.e., sever the “tendon of Achilles” of the hinder legs of captured horses (Josh. 11:6; 2 Sam. 8:4; 1 Chr. 18:4), so as to render them useless.
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen,.... "Chariots" are not in the text here, it is only 1700 "horsemen"; but it is supplied from 1 Chronicles 18:4; where the word is expressly mentioned, and there the horsemen are said to be seven thousand as in the Septuagint version here, and in Josephus (m); which may be reconciled by observing, with Kimchi and Abarbinel, that here the chief officers are meant, there all the chariots and horsemen that were under their command are mentioned, which together made up that large number; or else here are meant the ranks and companies of horse David took, which were seven hundred; and these having ten in a company or rank, ma…
Conquest and Subjugation of the King of Zobah, and of the Damascene Syrians. - Sa2 8:3. The situation of Zobah cannot be determined. The view held by the Syrian church historians, and defended by Michaelis, viz., that Zobah was the ancient Nisibis in northern Mesopotamia, has no more foundation to rest upon than that of certain Jewish writers who suppose it to have been Aleppo, the present Haleb. Aleppo is too far north for Zobah, and Nisibis is quite out of the range of the towns and tribes in connection with which the name of Zobah occurs. In Sa1 14:47, compared with Sa2 8:12 of this chapter, Zobah, or Aram Zobah as it is called in Sa2 10:6 and Psa 60:2, is mentioned along with Ammon, Moab…
David would have crippled . . . horses to prevent their reuse by the enemy and because kings in Israel were not to accumulate horses (Deut 17:16).
Rashi on 2 Samuel 8:4
Dovid destroyed all the chariot [horses]. Because [of the verse], "He must not acquire an abundance of horses for himself"5One of the prohibitions specific to the kings of Yisroel. (See Devorim 17:16)
[With] one hundred chariot [horses] remaining. That he required for his riding entourage. [The word] chariot [refers to] four horses as it is said, (Divrei Hayomim II, 1:17) "Chariot for six hundred silver pieces and horses for one hundred and fifty." From here we learn that a chariot refers to four horses.6Given that a מֶרְכָּבָה fetched six hundred silver pieces, four times the one hundred and fifty cost of one horse.
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…
Rezon — Prince, son of Eliadah. Abandoning the service of Hadadezer, the king of Zobah, on the occasion of his being defeated by David, he became the “captain over a band” of marauders, and took Damascus,…
Syria — (Heb. Aram), the name in the Old Testament given to the whole country which lay to the north-east of Phoenicia, extending to beyond the Euphrates and the Tigris. Mesopotamia is called (Gen. 24:10;…
Cavalry · .On horses — .On horses
Chariot · Introduced among Israelites by David — Introduced among Israelites by David
Chariots · Introduced into Israel by David — Introduced into Israel by David
Hadadezer · King of Zobah, vanquished by David — King of Zobah, vanquished by David
Horse · .David — .David
Houghing · Of horses — Of horses
Syria · .By David — .By David
Zobah · Conquest of, by David — Conquest of, by David
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).
