2 Samuel 8:1 - Meaning and Application

God had given David rest from all his enemies, those who had opposed him and tried to stop him. David used that peace well, and now God gave him a command to go on the offensive, to avenge Israel’s wrongs and recover its rights. Israel still did not fully possess the land that God had promised them.

He completely defeated the Philistines (2 Samuel 8:1). They had attacked David when they thought he was weak, and they lost (2 Samuel 5:17). Now that he was stronger, he attacked them and took control of their land. The Philistines had long been a painful burden to Israel. Saul had gained nothing against them, but David finished the deliverance that Samson had begun long before (Judges 13:5). Metheg-ammah was Gath, the Philistines’ chief and royal city, along with the towns around it. David took what had been a bridle, a curb on Israel, out of their hand and turned it against them.

In this way, when a strong man is disarmed, the armor he trusted in is taken away and used against him (Luke 11:22). The same will be true after all the long struggles of God’s people with the powers of darkness, as Israel struggled with the Philistines. The Son of David will put them all under his feet and make the saints more than conquerors.

He also struck the Moabites and made them pay tribute to Israel (2 Samuel 8:2). He divided their land into three parts, destroyed two parts, tore down the strongholds, and put everyone there to the sword. He spared the third part so they could work the land and serve Israel. Dr. Lightfoot says that David laid them on the ground and measured them with a cord, deciding who would die and who would live, and this is called measuring out the valley of Succoth (Psalm 60:6).

The Jews say David treated the Moabites so severely because they had killed his father and brothers, whom he had placed under the king of Moab’s protection during his exile (1 Samuel 22:3-4). He acted justly, because they had been dangerous enemies of God’s people. He also acted wisely, because if they had been left strong, they would have remained enemies. Even so, although two-thirds were to be cut off, the line that kept one-third alive was still a full line. Mercy should be stretched as far as possible, in favor of life. Acts of pardon should be read as widely as possible, so they favor life. Balaam’s prophecy was fulfilled, “A ruler shall rise out of Israel, and shall strike down the corners of Moab” (Numbers 24:17). The Moabites remained subject to Israel until after Ahab died, and then they rebelled and were never brought under again (2 Kings 3:4-5).

He also struck the Syrians, or Arameans. There were two separate kingdoms, as the title of Psalm 60 shows: Aram Naharaim, Syria of the rivers, whose chief city was Damascus, famous for its rivers (2 Kings 5:12), and Aram Zobah, which bordered it and reached toward the Euphrates. These were the two northern powers. David began with the Syrians of Zobah (2 Samuel 8:3-4). As he went to secure his border at the Euphrates, the king of Zobah opposed him, since he was holding land that belonged to Israel under God’s grant to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 15:18). David routed his army and took his chariots and horsemen.

The text says he took 700 horsemen, but 1 Chronicles 18:4 says 7,000. It is likely that they were counted by units of ten, so the captains and companies were 700, while the total horsemen were 7,000. David hamstrung the horses, cutting the sinews of their legs so they could no longer be used in war. God had forbidden Israel to multiply horses (Deuteronomy 17:16). David kept only 100 chariots out of 1,000 for his own use, because he trusted not in chariots or horses, but in the living God (Psalm 20:7). He also learned by experience that a horse is a vain thing for safety (Psalm 33:16-17).

Then the Syrians of Damascus came to help the king of Zobah, and they fell with him. Twenty-two thousand were slain in the field (2 Samuel 8:5). After that, David easily took control of the country and set up garrisons there (2 Samuel 8:6). The enemies of God’s church, who think they are safer by joining together, often bring ruin on themselves through those very alliances. “Join together,” God says, “and you will be broken in pieces” (Isaiah 8:9).

In all these wars, David was protected. “The Lord preserved him wherever he went.” It seems he went in person and risked his own life in battle for the sake of God and Israel. Yet God kept his head safe in the day of battle, and David often speaks of that in his psalms to honor God. He was also enriched. He took the shields of gold from the servants of Hadadezer, the king of Zobah, who had kept them, and he took a great deal of bronze from several cities of Syria (2 Samuel 8:7-8). He was entitled to these things not only by the right of war, but by a command from heaven and by the old promise that these lands belonged to Abraham’s seed.