2 Samuel 8:3

And David also smote Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah,.... Called sometimes Aramzobah, and was a part of Syria, as its name shows.

David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. Zobah - (cf.

Hadadezer, called Hadarezer, , the Hebrew letters daleth and reseh being alike, and so oft interchanged. Zobah; a part of Syria, lying north-east from Canaan, towards Hamath, . See . As he went. Quest. Who? Answ. 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.

2 Samuel 8:3 David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.Ver. 3. David smote also Hadadezer.] An ambitious and turbulent prince, who began to grow exceeding potent; and had already, as it may seem, subdued Damascus, and was now formidable to the Israelites. Saul had had wars with his father Zobah, and haply he might pretend that old quarrel, or the conquest of Canaan by his predecessor Cushanrishathaim. As he went to recover.] And so must needs pass through part of Judea on the other side Jordan, or not far from it. And so if he had returned a conqueror, was like enough to invade it; for ambition is restless, and never saith, It is enough.

(3) Hadadezer . . . king of Zobah.—This name is sometimes (1 Chronicles 18:3; 1 Chronicles 18:5; 1 Chronicles 18:7, &c.) spelt “Hadarezer,” the letters d and r being much alike in Hebrew and easily confused; but the form given here is right, Hadad being the chief idol of the Syrians. Zobah (called in the title of Psalms 60 Aram-Zobah) was a kingdom, the position of which cannot be exactly determined, but lying north-east of Israel, and formerly governed by petty kings with whom Saul had wars (1 Samuel 14:47). When or by what means it had become united under a single sovereign is unknown, but from 2 Samuel 8:4 with 2 Samuel 10:6; 2 Samuel 10:16, it is plain that he was a monarch of considerable power, and controlled tribes beyond the Euphrates. To recover his border.—Literally, to cause his hand to return, a phrase which in itself might mean either to renew his attack, or to re-establish his power. The latter is shown to be the sense here by the expression in 1 Chronicles 18:3, “to establish his dominion,” and is so translated in the LXX. What happened is more fully explained in 2 Samuel 10:13-19 : the Ammonites had obtained the help of the Syrians when their combined armies were defeated by David; Hadadezer then attempted to summon to his aid the tribes “beyond the river” (i.e., the Euphrates), but David cut short his plans by another crushing defeat, which reduced them all to subjection. Our Version inserts the word Euphrates on the authority of the margin of the Hebrew, several MSS., and all the ancient versions. The river, however, would in any case mean the Euphrates.

Verse 3. David smote - Hadadezer] He is supposed to have been king of all Syria, except Phoenicia; and, wishing to extend his dominions to the Euphrates, invaded a part of David's dominions which lay contiguous to it; but being attacked by David, he was totally routed.

3–8. Conquest of Zobah and Damascus 3. Hadadezer] This name is written Hadarezer in ch. 2 Samuel 10:16-19, and in Chronicles, the letters d (ã) and r (ø) being easily confused in Hebrew. Hadad was the name of the Syrian sun-god, and Hadadezer appears to be the true form, meaning “whose help is Hadad.” Zobah] The exact position and limits of this kingdom are undetermined. It seems to have been north-east of Damascus and south of Hamath, between the Orontes and Euphrates. Saul waged wars with its “kings,” who were probably independent chieftains (1 Samuel 14:47), but now it was consolidated under one ruler, and was a country of considerable wealth and power. to recover his border] The phrase cannot be thus rendered, but means probably either to renew his attack or to re-establish his power. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 18:3 has a different verb, meaning to set up his power. The subject of the sentence is Hadadezer, and the occasion referred to is probably that which is described more fully in ch. 2 Samuel 10:15-19. The Ammonites had hired the Syrians to help them against David, who defeated their combined forces. Hadadezer thereupon summoned the Syrians from beyond the Euphrates to his assistance, but was totally defeated. at the river Euphrates] Euphrates is not in the written text, but according to the Jewish tradition is to be read (see Introd. p. 15). But the addition is unnecessary. “The River” by itself was understood to mean the Euphrates. Cp. ch. 2 Samuel 10:16; Psalms 72:8.

Hadadezer - Not (see the margin) Hadarezer. Hadadezer, is the true form, as seen in the names Benhadad, Hadad (1 Kings 15:18, etc.; 1 Kings 11:14, etc.). Hadad was the chief idol, or sun-god, of the Syrians.

3. Smote also Hadadezer — In 2 Samuel 10:16; 2 Samuel 10:19 and 1 Chronicles 18:3 called Hadarezer.