Poole on 2 Samuel 8:1-8: David's Wars

[circa 1040 BC]  Verse 1:[1]  And (1 Chron. 18:1, etc.) after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them:  and David took Metheg-ammah (or, the bridle of Ammah[2]) out of the hand of the Philistines.

[After these things, David smote, etc.]  David, although he had received the promises, was not willing to be idle, as if God were going to going to accomplish all things for him while he slept (Martyr).  He turned his mind to this, so that he might pass a peaceful kingdom to his heir, and might cut short the seeds of war:  lest anything should hinder the pursuit of his son in the construction of the Temple (Sanchez).

[And David took the bridle of tribute (thus Pagnine)]  That is, ‎מֶתֶג הַמָּס (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals).  Hebrew:  the bridle of the cubit.  But, because a cubit is a measure, and tribute is imposed by measure, tribute is therefore called a measure or cubit (Mariana).  ‎מֶ֥תֶג הָאַמָּ֖ה.  [They take it variously:]  1.  Some take it for a proper name.  Metheg-ammah (Pagnine, Montanus, Kimchi).  Rabbi Levi:  which perhaps (says he) was the name of that border, or region (Glassius’ “Grammar” 855, similarly Castalio).  Ramath-gama (Syriac, Arabic).  I would prefer, RAMATH-GOME, the hill of rushes (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals 1:2:18:225).  The Bridle of Amgar (Junius and Tremellius).  The Gate of Mount Ammah; there is the town of Gath, 1 Chronicles 18:1 (Grotius).  Ammah is the proper name of a mountain of the Philistines, from which and another name, Gar or Gerar, is composed the name Amgar, concerning which Pliny’s Natural History 5:13 (Junius).  To him this name appears to be composed out of אַמּה/ Ammah/cubit and הַר/Har/hill, because it was easily able in pronounciation to pass into Gar (Glassius’ “Grammar” 855).  2.  Others take it appellatively, and translate it, τὴν ἀφωρισμένην, the separated, or determined, part (Septuagint in Glassius), that is, the tribute enjoined (Serarius).  The bridle of subjection.  It signifies the rule, which the Philistines had hitherto over the Israelites, removed by David (Munster).  The bridle of the forehead (Tigurinus); the servile bridle (Strigelius); the bridle (or renewal [Jonathan in Vatablus]) of the aqueduct, or stream (Mariana, Nobilius out of Jonathan, Vatablus, Aquila in Serarius).  The City or Region was called Metheg-ammah from the bridle of the stream, in which manner the Hebrews call aqueducts, because through a channel we lead water where we will, as by the bridle of a horse (Vatablus); that is, the water, wherewith the plains were moistened, is diverted elsewhere (thus Lapide, Sanchez).  This explanation of the term flows from the use of the Rabbis, among whom, according to the testimony of Guido Fabricius,[3] אמת and אמתא signify a stream of water.  But concerning this there is good reason to doubt (Glassius’ “Grammar” 856).  By Metheg-ammah he doubtlessly understands Gath with its neighboring towns, because in the place of this in 1 Chronicles 18:1 is found Gath and her town (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals 1:2:18:225).  Metonymy of subject; for on the mountain of Ammah was situated the city of Gath:  and it was, as it were, a bridle whereby that region was reined in, in office (Piscator).  Now, a bridle is a metaphor of royal control.  Virgil’s Æneid 1, …to bridle arrogant nations (Malvenda).  Perhaps מֶתֶג/metheg was made by metathesis[4] from גַּת/Gath, with a prosthetic מ/m (which is wont to happen in proper names, as we have shown in “Grammar” 766); and the term ‎בְנֹתֶיהָ, her daughters, in 1 Chronicles is here expressed from the nature of the relationship, by הָאַמָּה/Ammah, with the term derived from אֵם/mother, which metaphorically signifies a metropolis, 2 Samuel 20:19.  Thus it is the same thing in both places, only it is expressed with varied terms (Glassius’ “Grammar”).  To others מֶתֶג signifies κέντρον or a goad.  Thus Rabbi Salomon on this passage, and the Greeks on Proverbs 26:3.[5]  Rabbi Salomon says that Gath received its name in this way, that it was a goad, or a rod, exercising dominion over the Philistines.  To which it is related, that of the five Satraps only the Satrap of Gath is called King (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals 1:2:18:225).  In 1 Chronicles 18:1 the names of the cities are expressed; but here their use, namely, that they might whet the restraints, or goads, wherewith the Philistines were protected, and were forced to pay tribute (which use that outpost was of old furnishing for the Philistines, 1 Samuel 13).  These cities were suitable for this, as fortified, and as positioned on the very border of the two regions.  By this city the Philistines were of old restraining Judah; now David was restraining the Philistines, imposing a military garrison on them (Sanchez).

Metheg-ammah, that is, Gath and her towns, as it is expressed in the parallel place, 1 Chronicles 18:1, which are called Metheg-ammah, or the bridle of Ammah, because Gath was situate in the mountain of Ammah; and because this being the chief city of the Philistines, and having a king, which none of the rest had, was the bridle which had hitherto kept the Israelites in subjection, but now was taken out of their mouths.

Verse 2:[6]  And (Num. 24:17) 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 (2 Sam. 8:6, 14) became David’s servants, and (Ps. 72:10; see 1 Sam. 10:27) brought gifts.

He smote Moab; for although the king of Moab, out of hatred to Saul, pretended some kindness to David, and gave protection to his parents, 1 Samuel 22:3, 4; yet the Moabites were perpetual and sworn enemies to the Israelites, who therefore were forbidden to admit them into the congregation of the Lord, and to seek their peace and prosperity, Deuteronomy 23:6.  And though God commanded them in their march to Canaan to spare the Moabites, Deuteronomy 2:9, 19, yet afterwards they proved unthankful, and insolent, and fierce enemies to God and his people, Numbers 22:2, etc.; 24:17, 18; Judges 3:14, etc.; 1 Samuel 14:47, etc., and thereby provoked God to alter his course and carriage towards them.

[And he measured them with a line, making them level with the earth,וַֽיְמַדְּדֵ֤ם בַּחֶ֙בֶל֙ הַשְׁכֵּ֣ב אוֹתָ֣ם אַ֔רְצָה]  He measured them in a line, by causing them to lie upon the ground (Montanus, thus Pagnine), or spreading them upon the earth (Septuagint, similarly Jonathan, Syriac, Arabic, Munster, Tigurinus, Castalio, Strigelius, Osiander).  Or, as others have it, by making them level with the ground.  He measured them with a line; that is, those with a most certain measure, and with a most certain number, whom he willed, he killed (Vatablus).  He measured them by lot, and cast them upon the earth (Jonathan in Munster).  It is metalepsis[7] or metaphor from farmers and land-surveyors, who measure out equal portions of land with a line, so that they might make an agreeable determination of so many acres for sowing, so many for pasture, etc.  Thus David did concerning the Moabites (Lapide, similarly Sanchez, Tirinus out of Lyra and Cajetan).  You could render it, he measured them in a part, or portion, of the region for overthrow, etc.  Thus חֵבֶל is commonly taken, as in Deuteronomy 3:4;[8] 32:9;[9] that is to say, not the whole land of Moab, but some tract of it he thus devastated (Malvenda).  And while he was measuring them (that is, their region) with a line, by casting them down to the ground (that is, their cities by leveling them with the ground), etc. (Junius and Tremellius).  Some take it of the towers and citadels of the Moabites, which he completely cast down (Lyra and Cajetan in Lapide).  Others take it of the fields of Moab, which he seized as victor, and distributed to his own according to his own good pleasure (others in Lapide).

With a line, that is, as with line, the particle as being oft understood, as Psalm 11:1;[10] 22:6;[11] 45:1.[12]  The sense is, having conquered the land, he made an estimate of it, and, as it follows, distributed the towns and people into three parts.  Casting them down to the ground, that is, overthrowing their towns, and utterly destroying their people in, manner following.

[But he measured two lines (or with two lines [Syriac]), one to kill, and one to keep alive]  Our version rightly adds the former one (Sanchez out of Tostatus, Lapide).  That is required by the fullness of the line, etc.; that is to say, David preserved more in life, than he killed.  This was honorable for the merciful victor, and useful; so that he might exact tribute from the living, which the dead are not able to furnish (Lapide).  [The Syriac and Arabic translate it similarly.]

[‎וַיְמַדֵּ֤ד שְׁנֵֽי־חֲבָלִים֙ לְהָמִ֔ית וּמְלֹ֥א הַחֶ֖בֶל לְהַחֲי֑וֹת]  And he measured two lines (or with two lines [Junius and Tremellius, Tigurinus, Munster]) to put to death or to kill (Montanus, Pagnine, Tigurinus), and the fullness of the line (the full line [Pagnine, Munster], the whole cord [Tigurinus], with the whole line [Junius and Tremellius]) to vivify (Montanus), to preserve in life (Tigurinus, similarly Pagnine, Munster, Junius and Tremellius).  He made a division into three parts, two of which he determined for death, the entire third part he preserved (Castalio, similarly Strigelius, Osiander, thus the Septuagint and Jonathan and Theodoret and Procopius and Josephus in Lapide, Grotius, Vatablus).  Here those magnificent promises of Genesis 15:18 and Numbers 24:17 began to be fulfilled.  He designated three parts of the land of Moab; in only one of which did he leave native survivors, with the rest killed, lest the watch should prove difficult (Grotius).  A great many with Josephus understand this of their warriors (Malvenda, thus Vatablus).  Now, David did this, because the Moabites had killed his parents and brethren (Munster, Lyra out of Rabbi Salomon).

With two lines measured he to put to death; which severity was necessary for his own and his people’s security, because they were numerous and potent, and bordering upon Canaan, and very vexatious and mischievous to the Israelites.  And now that prophecy, Numbers 24:7, was accomplished.

Verse 3:[13]  David smote also Hadadezer (or, Hadarezer, 1 Chron. 18:3[14]), the son of Rehob, king of (2 Sam. 10:6; Ps. 60 title) Zobah, as he went to recover (see Gen. 15:18) his border at the river Euphrates.

[Hadarezer]  Thus he is called in 1 Chronicles 18:3; but here Hadadezer.  With the ד/d and the ר/r easily exchanged (Dieu, similarly Malvenda).  This history is related by Nicolaus Damascenus[15] in his Universal History 4, and this king is called Adad by him, which, says he, was a common name of the Kings of Damascus.  Thus he is called in 1 Kings 11:14; hence the king of Syria is called Ben-hadad, 1 Kings 15:18, after whom were afterwards named all the kings of Aram, that is, of Syria and Damascus (Scaliger[16] on a Fragment of Nicolaus in Gataker).

Hadadezer, called Hadarezer, 1 Chronicles 18:3, the Hebrew letters ד/daleth and ר/resch being alike, and so oft interchanged.

[King of Zobah]  Question:  Whis is this? and where was Zobah?  Responses:  1.  That King of Zobah was a neighbor to the Philistines, as it may be gathered out of 1 Samuel 14:47; he, making war upon those dwelling on the Euphrates, with a peaceful passage not requested, had entered the borders of Israel by force; and he paid the penalty for that (Grotius).  2.  This Zobah was a part of Syria called Sophene, between both Armenias beyond (and before [Martyr]) Taurus (Josephus in Willet, Martyr), the royal city of which was Hamath, or Epiphaneia.[17]  He crossed Euphrates, so that he might enlarge his borders, and seize the fields of the Jews (Martyr).  3.  Syria was twofold, as Strabo[18] testifies in his Geography 16, one on this side, and the other on the far side, of Euphrates.  In this passage the discussion concerns the former, and that again is either of Sophene, or of Damascus.  It is treated of both here (Serarius).  The king of Zobah; in 1 Chronicles 18:3 it is added, of the region of Hamath; that is, of Syria.  Zobah, or Zubah, or Zubal, is part of Syria, lying between Libanus[19] and Hermon,[20] which is called Cœlesyria, or cava Syria, hollowed out Syria; or rather a part of this, near Palmyra[21] and Hermon, not far from Damascus (Lapide).  Syria Zobah, or Cœlesyria, and Syria of Damascus were both adjacent to Manasseh beyond Jordan; the former from the east, the latter from the north (Menochius).

Zobah; a part of Syria, lying northeast from Canaan, towards Hamath, 1 Chronicles 18:3.  See 1 Samuel 14:47.

[When he proceeded]  Who?  David? Or Hadadezer?  It is uncertain in the Hebrew, and in the Greek and Chaldean (Menochius, thus Sanchez, Lapide).  Dionysius and Hugo take this of Hadadezer (Sanchez, thus Menochius, Vatablus, Grotius, Willet, Martyr, Mariana), who brought help to the Moabites, and, holding the advancements of David suspended [read:  suspect], wanted to claim for himself the region towards Euphrates (Menochius).  Others take it of David, when David went forth (Junius, thus Piscator, Sanchez out of Tostatus).  But to David does not agree what follows, when he went to establish, or to set, his hand, or power, etc., since the borders of the Davidic kingdom were not extended that far (Willet).  [But on this question the following words will shed light.]

[So that he might rule over the river Euphrates, ‎לְהָשִׁ֥יב יָד֖וֹ בִּֽנְהַר־פְּרָֽת׃]  To turn his own hand on the river Perath (Montanus, Mariana out of the Septuagint).  To impose his own hand upon the river (Septuagint).  To sway his own hand (that is, to exercise his authority) over the river (Syriac).  To repel (avert [Piscator]) the hand of him, towards the river (Junius and Tremellius).  So that he might establish (restore [Tigurinus, Munster], recover [English], advance, or extend [Vatablus]) his own border on the river (Pagnine), at the river (English, Tigurinus), near the river (Munster).  Others:  so that he might restore his dominion on the river; that is, the region adjacent to Euphrates, which had previously been seized by the children of Israel (Vatablus).  To extend his kingdom to the river (Castalio).  So that he might recover his power, etc. (Strigelius).  When David set forth to establish the borders of the kingdom of Israel appointed by divine promise, Genesis 15:18 (certain interpreters in Malvenda).  But in the place of ‎לְהָשִׁיב, to bring back, I suppose that ‎לְהַצִּיב, to establish, is to be read, which is found in 1 Chronicles 18:3, with a צ/ts put in the place of the שׁ/sh, just as in 1 Samuel 17:34 זֶה/this[22] is in the place of ‎שֶׂה/sheep,[23] with ז/z substituted for שׂ/s.  Therefore, I translate it in this way:  When he, that is, David with his army, went to set, or to establish, his hand, that is, his garrisons, near the river; that is, with the men of Zobah oppressed.  Just as in verse 6, he put garrisons in Syria.  It is a Metaphor.  For, just as we hold something with the hand, so kings through garrisons keep subdued peoples in obedience, lest they rebel.  The ב on ‎בִּנְהַר, at the river, here means near or in the presence of.  Moreover, both readings, לְהָשִׁיב, to avert, and לְהַצִּיב, to establish, are not able to stand together, since they imply a contradiction.  Seeing that he that establishes, in the same place retains:  but he that averts, withdraws from a place (Piscator).  The end of this war, that he might extend the borders of the kingdom there, by this occasion; according to Genesis 15:18, which he indicates in 1 Chronicles 18:14 (Junius).

As he went.  Question:  Who?  Answer:  Either, first, Hadarezer; who, being already very potent, and going to enlarge his dominion further, David thought fit to oppose him.  Or, secondly, David, who remembering the grant which God had made to his people of all the land as far as Euphrates, and having subdued his neighbouring enemies, went to recover his rights, and stablish his dominion as far as Euphrates.

Verse 4:[24]  And David took from him (or, of his[25]) a thousand chariots (as in 1 Chron. 18:4), and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen:  and David (Josh. 11:6, 9) houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.

[A thousand and seven hundred horsemen (thus Jonathan, Pagnine, Montanus, Tigurinus, Castalio),‎אֶ֤לֶף וּשְׁבַע־מֵאוֹת֙ פָּרָשִׁ֔ים ]  A thousand (understanding, chariots [Septuagint, Jonathan, Junius, Piscator, Glassius]), and seven hundred horsemen (Junius and Tremellius).  Others:  and seven thousand horsemen (Septuagint).  Thus it is found in 1 Chronicles 18:4.  Whence it is understood, that by horsemen here are to be understood companies of ten horsemen (Piscator), which makes seven thousand total horsemen.  Thus in 2 Samuel 10:18.  An Ellipsis is to be observed in the reckoning of the numbering; as when among the Latins there are said to be fifty, or sixty sesterii, and similar things, commonly thousands are understood (Malvenda out of Junius).  Josephus has, a thousand chariots and five thousand horsemen.  Thus in these, no less than in the codices of other histories, already of old the writing of numbers varied.  Compare what things are on 2 Samuel 10:18:  you will see that these of the Greek or of Josephus rather preserve proportion (Grotius).  [Others otherwise reconcile this difference of number from that in 1 Chronicles 18:4:]  In total, seven thousand horsemen were captured; of which one thousand and seven hundred were primary and principal (Lapide, thus Buxtorf’s Vindication 2:394, Kimchi and Tostatus in Menochius), who were of the royal escort (Menochius); who were borne on individual horses (of which alone does he here speak).  But in Chronicles numbered among the horsemen are those that sitting on chariot horses.  Thus those carried by four-horse chariots are called horsemen, Isaiah 21:7; 22:6 (Malvenda out of Sanchez).  But who doubts that in a thousand four-horse chariots (as many as are reckoned in the Chronicles) five thousand and three hundred horsemen are able to be carried?  To these add those one thousand and seven hundred, and there are seven thousand total.  Also, Abulensis advises that in the books of the Chronicles many things are added, or are explained, that in the books of the Kings either are omitted, or are more obscure (Sanchez).  Moreover, an adjective is often expressed alone, with a substantive agreeably understood; as in Genesis 25:30, give to me of the red, that is, pottage; in Genesis 35:2, put away the gods of ‎הַנֵּכָר, the foreign, that is, people; in 2 Samuel 21:16, girded with a new, that is, sword.  Thus in this place, a thousand, understanding, chariots (Glassius’ “Grammar” 48).

Chariots; which word is fitly supplied out of 1 Chronicles 18:4, such substantives being oft understood in the Hebrew language, as Genesis 25:30; 2 Samuel 21:16.  Seven hundred horsemen, or seven hundred companies of horsemen, that is, in all seven thousand; as it is 1 Chronicles 18:4; there being ten on each company, and each ten having a ruler or captain, Exodus 18:21; Deuteronomy 1:15.  Or these seven hundred were the chief and the rulers of the rest, and the remaining six thousand three hundred were the common horsemen, subject to their commanders.

[He hamstrung all the teams of the chariots, ‎וַיְעַקֵּ֤ר דָּוִד֙ אֶת־כָּל־הָרֶ֔כֶב]  And he hamstrung (weakened [Septuagint], plucked out [Syriac], cut the sinews [Strigelius], rendered useless [Tigurinus]) every chariot (Montanus, Pagnine, Jonathan); he broke up the wheels of the vehicles (Arabic); he maimed the horses of all the chariots (Munster); he cut the hocks (or ankles [Kimchi and the Arabic in Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals], or hooves [Pomarius in Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals]) of all the chariot horses (Junius and Tremellius, Piscator, Malvenda).  Chariots in the place of chariot horses (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals).  So also in 2 Samuel 10:18, David slew seven hundred chariots,[26] that is, the horses of the chariots; in Psalm 76:6, both the chariot and the horse slept,[27] that is, the chariot horses, as much as those that are ridden, Ezekiel 39:20:[28]  unless in the place of רֶכֶב/chariot should be read רַכָּב/horseman, that is, a horseman instead of a chariot, or chariot horse; which the Greeks, Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic follow (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals 1:2:6:99).  The sense:  he cut the shanks of the horses of all the chariots; that is, that part of the leg that is sinewy, lest they be so swift and apt for war, yet not preventing them from walking.  Verbatim:  he removed the bases:  for to animals legs are the bases and foundations, as it were (Vatablus).  He cut the hocks (Menochius, Grotius), or knees, so that they might not be able to be of any use (Menochius).  So Hannibal cut the thighs and knees of the Roman men, Livy’s History of Rome[29] 22.  Valerius Maximus[30] says that some were left by him with the lower part of the feet cut, Nine Books of Memorable Deeds and Sayings[31] 9:2 (Grotius).  Moreover, the עִקֵּר, to hough, signifies to pluck or root out, Ecclesiastes 3:2;[32] Daniel 7:8;[33] Zephaniah 2:4.[34]  Now, the feet of a mule, says Kimchi, are its foundation and root.  But what if by Metathesis עָקַר, to uproot, is used in the place ofעָרַק , from the noun עוֺרֶק, which means sinew/nerve?  Thus the ancients appear to have thought, who rendered it νευροκοπεῖν, to hough, and subnervare, to hamstring; which version I especially approve; because in this way the horses are made completely useless (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals 1:2:11:178).  Now, David did this, because a multitude of horses was forbidden to the King, Deuteronomy 17:16 (Menochius).

Houghed, that is, cut the sinews of their legs, that they might be useless for war.  Compare Joshua 11:6.  All the chariot horses, except the following reserve.  Chariots are here put for chariot horses, as they are 1 Samuel 13:5; 2 Samuel 10:18; Psalm 76:6.  David did this because he could not keep them for his own use, Deuteronomy 17:16.

Verse 5:[35]  (1 Kings 11:23-25) And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.

[Syria of Damascus also came]  Syria, in which Damascus was situated (Vatablus).  [See what things are on verse 3.]  It is distinguished from Syria Zobah, or Cava, hollowed out (Malvenda).  These, fearing for their heads, provide troops for Hadadezer (Sanchez).

The Syrians of Damascus, that is, who were subject to Damascus, the chief city of Syria.

Verse 6:[36]  Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus:  and the Syrians (2 Sam. 8:2) became servants to David, and brought gifts.  (2 Sam. 8:14; 7:9) And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.

[He put a garrison, ‎נְצִבִים]  Stations (Malvenda); posts, that is, men assigned to the watch of the province (Munster).

Brought gifts, to purchase their peace, and acknowledge their subjection to him.

[To whatever he proceeded, ‎בְּכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָלָֽךְ׃]  Wherever he went (Vatablus, similarly Pagnine).

Verse 7:[37]  And David took (see 1 Kings 10:16) the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.

[David took the arms of gold, ‎שִׁלְטֵ֣י הַזָּהָ֔ב]  The oblong shields, or round shields (bracelets, or collars [Septuagint, Aquila in Nobilius], girdles [Arabic], bosses [Junius and Tremellius, Piscator], quivers [Syriac, Castalio]) of gold (Jonathan, Munster, Pagnine, Tigurinus, Montanus, Strigelius, Mariana).  Thus Alexander the Great had the Argyraspidas, Silver Shield, soldiers, so called from their round, silver shields (Mariana).  Moreover, these arms, either were at that time carried in the war, or were kept in the royal armory (Sachez).

That were on the servants, or rather, which were with the servants, that is, committed to their custody, as being kept in the king’s armory; for it is not probable they carried them into the field.

Verse 8:[38]  And from Betah (or, Tbhath), and from Berothai (or, Chun, 1 Chron.18:8[39]), cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass.

From Betah, and from Berothai:  In 1 Chronicles 18:8, it is from Tibhath and from Chun.  Either therefore the same cities were called by several names, as is usual, the one by the Hebrews, the other by the Syrians; or those were two other cities, and so the brass was taken out of these four cities.

[1] Hebrew:  ‎וַֽיְהִי֙ אַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֔ן וַיַּ֥ךְ דָּוִ֛ד אֶת־פְּלִשְׁתִּ֖ים וַיַּכְנִיעֵ֑ם וַיִּקַּ֥ח דָּוִ֛ד אֶת־מֶ֥תֶג הָאַמָּ֖ה מִיַּ֥ד פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים׃

[2] Hebrew:  ‎מֶ֥תֶג הָאַמָּ֖ה.

[3] Guido Fabricius Boderianus (1541-1598) was a French philologist, expert in oriental languages, and poet.  He composed a Dictionarium Syro-Chaldaicum.

[4] That is, a transposition of letters.

[5] Proverbs 26:3:  “A whip for the horse, a bridle (‎מֶתֶג; κέντρον/goad, in the Septuagint) for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back.”

[6] Hebrew: וַיַּ֣ךְ אֶת־מוֹאָ֗ב וַֽיְמַדְּדֵ֤ם בַּחֶ֙בֶל֙ הַשְׁכֵּ֣ב אוֹתָ֣ם אַ֔רְצָה וַיְמַדֵּ֤ד שְׁנֵֽי־חֲבָלִים֙ לְהָמִ֔ית וּמְלֹ֥א הַחֶ֖בֶל לְהַחֲי֑וֹת וַתְּהִ֤י מוֹאָב֙ לְדָוִ֔ד לַעֲבָדִ֖ים נֹשְׂאֵ֥י מִנְחָֽה׃

[7] That is, a figure of speech in which a word or expression from figurative speech is used in a new context.

[8] Deuteronomy 3:4:  “And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region (‎כָּל־חֶבֶל) of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.”

[9] Deuteronomy 32:9:  “For the Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot (‎חֶבֶל) of his inheritance.”

[10] Psalm 11:1:  “In the Lord put I my trust:  how say ye to my soul, Flee (as must be supplied) a bird to your mountain?”

[11] Psalm 22:6:  “But I am (as may be supplied) a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.”

[12] Psalm 45:1:  “My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king:  my tongue is (as may be supplied) the pen of a ready writer.”

[13] Hebrew:  ‎וַיַּ֣ךְ דָּוִ֔ד אֶת־הֲדַדְעֶ֥זֶר בֶּן־רְחֹ֖ב מֶ֣לֶךְ צוֹבָ֑ה בְּלֶכְתּ֕וֹ לְהָשִׁ֥יב יָד֖וֹ בִּֽנְהַר׃

[14] 1 Chronicles 18:3:  “And David smote Hadarezer (‎הֲדַרְעֶזֶר; thus a number of manuscripts and versions) king of Zobah unto Hamath, as he went to stablish his dominion by the river Euphrates.”

[15] Nicolaus Damascenus was a first century Greek historian.  He wrote a history, spanning the time from the Assyrian Empire to his own day.

[16] Joseph Scaliger (1540-1609) was a classicist, chronologer, and skilled linguist, one of the most learned men of his age.  During the course of his studies and travels, he became a Protestant and suffered exile with the Huguenots.  He was offered a professorship at Leiden (1593), a position which he eventually accepted and in which he remained until his death.

[17] Hamath was in west-central Syria, on the banks of the Orontes River.  After Syria came under the influence of the Seleucid Empire in the fourth century BC, the city was renamed Epiphaneia, after Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

[18] Strabo (c. 63 BC-c. 24 AD) was a Greek geographer and historian.

[19] The Libanus and Antilibanus are parallel mountain ranges, running north-south through Syria.  Libanus is on the coastal side, running parallel to the Mediterranean shore.

[20] Mount Hermon was on the border of Israel and Syria.

[21] Palmyra is one hundred and thirty four miles northeast of Damascus.

[22] Thus some manuscripts.

[23] The majority reading.

[24] Hebrew: וַיִּלְכֹּ֙ד דָּוִ֜ד מִמֶּ֗נּוּ אֶ֤לֶף וּשְׁבַע־מֵאוֹת֙ פָּרָשִׁ֔ים וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים אֶ֖לֶף אִ֣ישׁ רַגְלִ֑י וַיְעַקֵּ֤ר דָּוִד֙ אֶת־כָּל־הָרֶ֔כֶב וַיּוֹתֵ֥ר מִמֶּ֖נּוּ מֵ֥אָה רָֽכֶב׃

[25] Hebrew:  ‎מִמֶּנּוּ.

[26] 2 Samuel 10:18:  “And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew seven hundred chariots (‎שְׁבַ֤ע מֵאוֹת֙ רֶ֔כֶב) of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there.”

[27] Psalm 76:6:  “At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep (‎נִ֜רְדָּ֗ם וְרֶ֣כֶב וָסֽוּס׃).”

[28] Ezekiel 39:20:  “Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots (‎ס֣וּס וָרֶ֔כֶב), with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God.”

[29] Titus Livius (c. 59 BC-17 AD) wrote a history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, from its founding to the time of Augustus.

[30] Valerius Maximus was a first century Roman collector of antiquities.

[31] Factorum et Dictorum Memorabilium Libri Novem.

[32] Ecclesiastes 3:2:  “A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up (‎לַעֲקוֹר) that which is planted…”

[33] Daniel 7:8:  “I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots (‎אֶתְעֲקַרוּ):  and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.”

[34] Zephaniah 2:4:  “For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation:  they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up (‎וְעֶקְר֖וֹן תֵּעָקֵֽר׃).”

[35] Hebrew:  ‎וַתָּבֹא֙ אֲרַ֣ם דַּמֶּ֔שֶׂק לַעְזֹ֕ר לַהֲדַדְעֶ֖זֶר מֶ֣לֶךְ צוֹבָ֑ה וַיַּ֤ךְ דָּוִד֙ בַּֽאֲרָ֔ם עֶשְׂרִֽים־וּשְׁנַ֥יִם אֶ֖לֶף אִֽישׁ׃

[36] Hebrew: וַיָּ֙שֶׂם דָּוִ֤ד נְצִבִים֙ בַּאֲרַ֣ם דַּמֶּ֔שֶׂק וַתְּהִ֤י אֲרָם֙ לְדָוִ֔ד לַעֲבָדִ֖ים נוֹשְׂאֵ֣י מִנְחָ֑ה וַיֹּ֤שַׁע יְהוָה֙ אֶת־דָּוִ֔ד בְּכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָלָֽךְ׃

[37] Hebrew:  ‎וַיִּקַּ֣ח דָּוִ֗ד אֵ֚ת שִׁלְטֵ֣י הַזָּהָ֔ב אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָי֔וּ אֶ֖ל עַבְדֵ֣י הֲדַדְעָ֑זֶר וַיְבִיאֵ֖ם יְרוּשָׁלִָֽם׃

[38] Hebrew:  ‎וּמִבֶּ֥טַח וּמִבֵּֽרֹתַ֖י עָרֵ֣י הֲדַדְעָ֑זֶר לָקַ֞ח הַמֶּ֧לֶךְ דָּוִ֛ד נְחֹ֖שֶׁת הַרְבֵּ֥ה מְאֹֽד׃ ס

[39] 1 Chronicles 18:8:  “Likewise from Tibhath, and from Chun (‎וּמִטִּבְחַ֤ת וּמִכּוּן֙), cities of Hadarezer, brought David very much brass, wherewith Solomon made the brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.”