Deeper Commentary
1Ch 18:1 After this-
"After this" may not be strictly chronological, because 2 Sam. 7:1 was
at a time when David had rest from his enemies. 1 Chron. 17 is included
where it is to continue the theme of the ark and Zion which began before it.
The promised king of Israel would save Israel from the Philistines and their
other enemies; Saul had failed in this, but David succeeded as the truly
intended king. The parallel 2 Sam. 8:1 LXX implies that until this time,
Israel were still paying tribute to the Philistines: "David took the tribute
from out of the hand of the Philistines".
It happened that David struck the Philistines
and subdued them, and took Gath and its towns out of the hand of the
Philistines-
After David received the promises about the future Messianic Kingdom,
he went out and established his Kingdom, attacking Israel's enemies and
driving them out of the land (1 Chron. 18:1-3). Our response to the future
Hope of the Kingdom, which we too have through the very same promises,
should be to try to live the Kingdom life now, as far as we can.
2 Sam. 8:1 says that “David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines". But 1 Chron. 18:1 says that David took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines”. Gath would be the ‘mother-city’, and the word translated “towns” literally means daughters. We note that David had earlier lived in Gath under the protection of Achish and had lied to the people how many Israelites he had slain in his apparent hatred of Saul. They would have considered him a hypocrite.
1Ch 18:2 He struck Moab; and the Moabites became servants to David, and
brought tribute-
2 Sam. 8:2 gives more detail: "He struck Moab, and measured them with
the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines
to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. The Moabites became
servants to David, and brought tribute". David made the captives lay down in three lines. He arbitrarily chose
one line to keep alive, and killed the other two lines. This can’t be
justified as some careful obedience to some Mosaic law. It reads like
something out of the Holocaust, an arbitrary slaying of some in order to
exercise the whim of one’s own power. No wonder David was barred from
building the temple because of his attitude to bloodshed. And this was the
worse because his parents had been given refuge there (1 Sam. 22:3,4).
Perhaps the incident of 2 Sam. 23:20 occurred at this time.
Likewise when Rabbah is captured, David proudly puts the crown of the king on his head, grabs their spoil for himself (not following Abraham's example), “and he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon” (2 Sam. 12:31). Now all that is torture. It’s one thing to obey Divine commands about slaying enemies; it’s another to willfully torture them, Auschwitz-style. These incidents reveal David at his worst. And again- did he really have to ensure that every male in Edom was murdered (1 Kings 11:15,16)- was that really necessary? What about the mums, wives, sisters left weeping, and the fatherless daughters, left to grow up in the dysfunction of a leaderless Middle Eastern home? Those men were all somebody’s sons, brothers, fathers, grandfathers. Was David really obeying some Divine command here, or was this the dictate of his own anger and dysfunctional bloodlust? We get the impression this was another example of his wrong attitude to the shedding of blood (1 Chron. 22:8).
1Ch 18:3 David struck Hadadezer king of Zobah to Hamath-
Hadadezer = 'helped by Hadad', the sun god. 2 Chron. 8 shows how
Solomon sought to replicate what his father David did here. It describes the actions
of Solomon in the very language which is
used earlier about David.
2 Chron. 8:3 “Solomon went to Hamath Zobah” = 2 Sam. 8:3 “David smote also Hadadezer the son of Rehob king of Zobah”; 2 Chron. 8:3 "and prevailed" = same word 1 Sam. 17:30; 2 Chron. 8:8 Those “whom the children of Israel consumed not, did Solomon make to pay tribute” = 2 Sam. 8:6 “David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts”; 2 Chron. 8:14 “He appointed according to the ordinance of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges… for so had David commanded” = 1 Chron. 24:1; 2 Chron. 9:15,16 = 2 Sam.8:7 “David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem”.
As he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates-
1Ch 18:4 David took from him one thousand chariots, seven thousand
horsemen and twenty thousand footmen; and David hamstrung all the chariot
horses, but reserved of them enough for one hundred chariots-
See on :3. Notice how both David and Solomon dealt with the matter of
chariots and horses. Solomon’s weakness for horses was perhaps traceable
to David’s. Solomon unashamedly amassed horses and chariots, in direct
disobedience to Divine command (Dt. 17:16). When David his father had
captured 1000 chariots and horses, he hamstrung 900 of them and retained
100 of them (2 Sam. 8:4). He had a conscience about the matter, but
thought that 90% obedience wasn’t bad. And the hamstrung horses were
likely used for agricultural work and especially for breeding- breeding
yet more chariot horses. David’s 90% obedience lead to his son’s 100%
disobedience in this matter of chariot horses.
1Ch 18:5 When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of
Zobah, David struck of the Syrians twenty-two thousand men-
Again we must note that "thousand" refers to regiments / families and
is not necessarily to be taken as literally 1,000.
1Ch 18:6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians
became servants to David, and brought tribute. Yahweh gave victory to
David wherever he went-
This was short-lived, because Solomon's adversary Rezon established
himself at Damascus (1 Kings 11:23-25).
1Ch 18:7 David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of
Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem-
"Hadad" was the god of the sun, "Hadadezer" had not been 'helped by
Hadad' as his name means, and so David brought these golden imitations of
the sun to Yahweh's temple. It is perhaps questionable whether David
should have brought idols into Jerusalem; we note that later Judah
worshipped sun gods. David's actions here were not blessed, for the LXX
adds “And Susakim [i.e. Shishak] king of Egypt took them, when he went up
to Jerusalem in the days of Roboam the son of Solomon”. Likewise 1 Kings
14:26 LXX mentions that David took golden spears from Hadadezer: “And the
golden spears which David took from the hand of the servants of Adraazar
king of Soba and carried to Jerusalem, he took them all”. These
would not have been used as real spears, but were part of the worship of
the golden sun which was the main religion in Syria at the time. He would
have been better destroying them, rather than bringing idol paraphernalia
into Jerusalem. For it later contributed towards the freedom Judah felt to
worship sun gods.
1Ch 18:8 From Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took very
much brass, with which Solomon made the bronze laver, the pillars and the
vessels of brass-
2 Sam. 8:8 "From Betah".
LXX Tebah, a son of Nahor the Syrian (Gen. 22:24). As discussed on
:7, these were likely brass [better, 'copper'] idols or idol paraphernalia
which he would have been better destroying.
1Ch 18:9 When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had struck all the army
of Hadadezer king of Zobah-
Hamath came under tribute to David (2 Sam. 8:10), and Solomon, ever
seeking to re-live the work of his father David, made a point of building
forts there (1 Kings 4:24; 2 Chron. 8:4). But this external imitation of
the faith and works of his father wasn't the same as real spirituality;
and this is a warning to all those raised as believers. For when he
finally individuated as his own man, Solomon had no faith in Yahweh and
turned to idols
1Ch 18:10 he sent Hadoram his son to king David to greet him and to bless
him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him (for Hadadezer
had wars with Tou); and he had with him all kinds of vessels of gold and
silver and brass-
These vessels were devoted to God's service by David and then Solomon
dedicated them to the temple (1 Kings 7:51). The same phrase "of silver,
and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass" is used of the vessels taken
from Egypt and dedicated to the tabernacle (Ex. 11:2; 12:35; Josh. 6:19; 2
Sam. 8:10; 1 Kings 7:51). The generosity of others in Biblical history,
their right perspective on the wealth taken from this world, was to
inspire other believers in later history. And this is how the body of
Christ should function today, with members inspiring others to
spirituality.
1Ch 18:11 King David also dedicated these to Yahweh, with the silver and
the gold that he carried away from all the nations; from Edom, Moab, the
children of Ammon, the Philistines and from Amalek-
See on :10. David "subdued" the nations, using the word often used of
the command to subdue the nations of Canaan (Num. 32:22,29; Josh. 18:1).
He is presented as a second Joshua, subduing the land as it ought to have
been subdued, and therefore becoming what Adam ought to have been in Eden
(Gen. 1:28 s.w.). This is another indication that the garden of Eden was
effectively the eretz or land promised to Abraham. There is no record of David fighting Amalek again, so the spoil in
view may be that taken in 1 Sam. 30:16.
1Ch 18:12 Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah struck of the Edomites in
the Valley of Salt eighteen thousand-
2 Sam. 8:13 says that "David made himself a name when he returned from smiting the
Syrians in the Valley of Salt, even eighteen thousand men". This demonstrates that a "name" in Hebrew thought is not just a
lexical item. David made his name; it involves personal history,
character, reputation etc. These are all what the Yahweh Name is all
about. This is the reference of 2 Sam. 7:9, indicating that 1 Chron. 17 is
actually referring to events after 2 Sam. 8 and is not in chronological
sequence. Chronicles has “And Abishai the son of Zeruiah smote Edom
in the valley of salt, (to the number of) eighteen thousand men". Perhaps
Edom and Syria were confederate; or we should read with LXX, which had
"Edom" here rather than "the Syrians". We note that :13 goes on to talk
about Edom.
1Ch 18:13 He put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became servants to
David. Yahweh gave victory to David wherever he went-
This is framed in such terms as to show that Esau / Edom was indeed
now subject to Jacob as predicted in (Gen. 27:37-40), and Balaam’s
prophecy (Num. 24:17,18).
1Ch 18:14 David reigned over all Israel; and he executed justice and
righteousness to all his people-
David was motivated in doing this by realizing that this is how
Yahweh reigns (Ps. 33:5), and that by doing so he would help live out the
spirit of the promises to him, that his throne would be eternally
established; for that throne was all about justice and righteousness (Ps.
89:14). And so David's throne or way of rulership becomes the basis for
how his seed, the Lord Jesus, eternally reigns (Is. 9:7; 32:1; Jer.
23:5,6).
1Ch 18:15 Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud
was recorder-
The men who had been faithful to David during his long wilderness
years, when he seemed a lost cause with Saul certain to win against him (1
Sam. 27:1), were the very ones who were the rulers in his kingdom. Despite
the very evident weaknesses of men like Joab. And in the type this looks
ahead to we who shall be king-priests in the Lord's eternal kingdom (Rev.
5:10), having been loyal to Him and His cause in these apparently hopeless
wilderness years.
1Ch 18:16 Zadok son of Ahitub and Abimelech son of Abiathar were priests;
Shavsha was scribe-
We notice that no high priest is nominated. David effectively acted
as the high priest; see on :17. The "scribe" or historian was a senior
advisor in the Hebrew court (2 Sam. 8:17; 2 Kings 18:18,37; 2 Chron. 34:8)
because of the huge value attached to history in the Hebrew mind, and as
reflected in the Bible being largely history. Advice on how to act was to
be based upon historical, or as we would now say, "Biblical", precedent.
1Ch 18:17 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the
Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief around the king-
2 Sam. 8:18 has "David’s sons were chief ministers".
David knew God well enough to act like the High Priest even when he was not
a Levite (:17; 2 Sam. 6:13-20; and 2 Sam. 19:21 = Ex.22:28), he came to
understand that God did not require sacrifices, he came to see that the Law
was only a means to an end. David’s sons, although not Levites, were
“priests” (2 Sam. 8:18 RV). He could say that the Lord was his inheritance
[a reference to how he as the youngest son had lost his?], and how he
refuses to offer the sacrifices of wicked men for them (Ps. 16:4,5; 119:57)-
speaking as if he was a Levite, a priest, when he was not.
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