2 Samuel 8 – Study
For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.
Passage: 2 Sam 8:1-14
1 In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines.
2 David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.
3 Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at the River Euphrates. 4 David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.
5 When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them. 6 He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.
7 David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Tebah and Berothai, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.
9 When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, 10 he sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze.
11 King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued: 12 Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
13 And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
14 He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.
A. Find Out:
- Who did David defeat? v.1-5
- Why? v.6
- What did David do with his spoils? v.11
- Who else did he defeat, and with what effect? v.13,14a
- Why was he able to do all this? v.14b
B. Think:
- Use a map to check all the places David defeated. What was the end result?
- How does David show his love for God?
- How does the passage reveal the Lord in all this?
C. Comment:
The thing that stands out first in this passage is that the Lord is the source of David’s victories. David does the fighting, but the Lord enables him to triumph. How? We aren’t told. War was a natural part of those troubled times where there were “kings” over every little area or city. The king was simply the strongest man there, and he made sure his rule extended as far as he could. The various people that David came against were those who had plundered Israel previously.
The next thing to note is that whoever David fought, he defeated, with the result that the whole area came under his rule. For the first time since Israel had come into the land, it was at peace. Nobody before David had achieved this. Yes violence was involved, but that was part of the uncivilized nature of those days, and the result of it was peace for the area. Finally note David dedicating the spoil to the Lord. His heart is for the Lord, and this is his way of expressing it. Do we dedicate the material side of our lives to the Lord?
In a spiritual parallel we have to destroy sin in our lives and the result is peace reigning, but sometimes it seems to take drastic action to deal with the sin. However, if the long-term effect is peace and righteousness, then nothing is too costly. Every area is to come under Jesus’ reign.
D. Application:
- The Lord was with David for success in bringing righteousness.
- Do we allow the Lord to bring His rule to every area of our lives?