The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 220

the Philistines he.d done in the towns of tions show the.t his real name wns He.de.r. ll!J'll.81, he kept the.t me.rtial race in awe. It The King of Syrin, mentioned iu l Kings denotes great progress in the e,rte of war xx. 1, is called in Assyri1m Den-Hidri. thRt De,vid oould besiege and capture a town Zobah. Ewald identifies Zobe.h with the 110 strong ae Ge,th. "Se.ho" mentioned by Ptolemy. '.!'his is un- Ver. 2.-:e:e ■mote lloab. In the previous oerte.in, but evidently Zobe.h lay north-east hiRtorv we find De,vid and Moab on suoh of Damascus and south of Hame.th, in the frien<liv terms that he entrusted hie fe.ther region between the rivers Orontes and and mother into their king's keeping (1 Se.m. Euphrates. In l So.m. xiv. 47 it e.ppee.rs xxii. 3, 4). Now he not only subjugates as a powerless country governed by a mul- them, but puts two-thirds or, R.COOrding to the titude of petty king~; but evidently now anoient veraions, he.If of the captured oomhe.t- Hadarezer bad me.de himself enpreme, o.nd ants to death. Compared v.ith the custom beoome a powerful mone,roh whose authority of the Romane, and with the attempt to extended even e.croBB the river into Mesopo- destroy all the me.lee in Edom, this we,s tamia (eh. x. 16). Having crushed his mild treatment ; for we find Cm!!&r in his rive.ls at home, he had next endeavoured to Gallic wars putting all his prisoners to dee.th, extend his dominion abroad. As he went to and using for their execution the mere phrase, recover his border at the river Euphrates. •• heoounted them in the number of enemies," The word "Euphrates" is inserted in the e.s if the killing of enemies was e. matter of Authorized Version, because the margin course. The oustom11 of the Israelites in we.r BBye, "Euphrates read but not written." In were not so cruel, and this treatment of the the Revieed Version it is omitted, because Moabites seems to be mentioned as showing the une.uthorite.tive nature of these directions that they received exceptionally severe treat- to ree.d something not in lhe text he.s been ment. The justification of this is found by demonstrated. Technically these readings Jewish commentators, on the o.uthority of the a.re ea.lied K'ri, and the written text K'tib. Mid rash, in the eu ppoeed fa.et that the King In 1 Chron. :xviii. 3 the reading is, "as he of Moab had put David's father e.nd mother went to ete.blish his dominion by the river" to death. But as Philippson adds, even so --e. change which involves the e.ltere.tion of it was e.n instance of the extreme barbarity only one letter, as the word rendered here of ancient we.rfe.re. Ca.sting them down to "his border," and in I Chron. xviii. 3 the ground; Heb,:-ew, making them to lie " his dominion," is the ea.me, signifying doton on the gTCfUnd ; and so the Revised literally, "his hand." For this reason the Version. It is plain the.t those who were Revised Version renders it correctly in both me.de to lie on the ground were combate.nts places "his dominion. Now, David never who had been me.de prisoners, and the had possessed up to this time any dominion Hebrew seems to mean that, while they upon the Euphrates, but in the fuller ne.rre.- were thus prostrate, they were measured off ti ve in eh. x. we learn that these Syrie.ns of into three divisions, whereof two were put to Zobe.h had sent powerful reinforcements to the sword, and one permitted to live. All the Ammonites in their we.r with David; and the versions, however, understand that only he might reasonably, therefore, det,rmine to he.If were put to death, making the sense to follow up his victory over them by extending be that he measured them with two cords, his power up to the river, so as .to guard the one to kill, and one full cord-one, that is, forde, and prevent e.ll future invasions. And of larger size, to BBve alive. We get no this He.de.rezer would reseat. Ae an able help from 1 Cliron. xvili. 2, where this and enterprising man, he he,d succeeded in treatment of the Moe.bites is omitted. It is making Zobe.h e. powerful realm, and was probsble that it was in this war that Benaiah not likely to submit to having a bridle put slew '' two lion-like men of Moe.b" (1 Chron. upon his adventurous spirit by the posting :xi. 22), who were it.e che.mpione and perhaps of an Israelitieh garrison on the borders. member!! of the roye,l house. They brought We learn from eh. x. 19 that De.vid's object gift.I mee.ne that they paid an annual tribut.e; was to prevent aid coming to Ammon from but the phrase shows that, though now tliey Zobah, and that he eucceeded in putting a were David'• Hrve.nta, that is, BtJhjectB, yet barrier in He.de.rezer's way. We can scarcely the.t thev were left in possession of their doubt, therefore, that the reading in the independence, and that their internal affairs Chronicles is to be preferred. In l Sam. :xiv. were managed by native authorities. 47 we read tbe.t Saul had waged war with Ver. 3.-lladadeer. The no.me is spelt Zobe.h, and as David h&d probably served in He.darezer in eh. L 16 and in 1 Chron. it, he would have thereby acquired both e. :xviii 3, and mch is the reading of the ver- knowledge of the country, very useful in sions here and of me.ny Hebrew manW1cripts. this present more serious expedition, and The other reading has been defended on the also have lee.rued the necessity of guarding ground that Hadad is the name of the his dominions age.inst perpetue.l inve.sion1 Syrian BUD-god, but the cuneiform inecrip- from that quarter.  THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL, 225