wherewith Solomon made the brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass. 9And when Tou king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah, 10he sent Hadoram his son to king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadarezer and smitten him; for Hadarezer had wars with Tou; and he had with him all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass. 11These also did king David dedicate unto the LORD, with the silver and the gold that he carried away from all the nations; from Edom, and from Moab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek. 12Moreover [1]Abishai the son of Zeruiah smote of the Edomites in the Valley of Salt eighteen thousand.
iv. 22) gives copper as an alternative rendering. The "brass" of the ancients (χαλκός, LXX.) corresponds rather to bronze.
the brasen sea, etc.] Cp. 2 Chr. iv. 11—18.
9. Tou] In 2 Sam. viii. 9 "Toi" (so Heb., but LXX. "Tou").
Hamath] see above ver. 3. Hamath is sometimes referred to as the northern boundary of Israel, cp. 1 Kin. viii. 65; 2 Kin. xiv. 25, 28.
10. Hadoram] In 2 Sam. viii. 10, "Joram." Both these forms are probably Heb. adaptations of the real name.
he had with him all manner of vessels] Such informal tribute was an acknowledgment of David's suzerainty made in order to claim David's protection in war. Cp. the action of Asa (1 Kin. xv. 18, 19) and of Ahaz (2 Kin. xvi. 7, 8). In all three cases the policy was the same, i.e. to acknowledge a distant suzerain and so gain the benefit of a valuable alliance while losing the minimum of independence.
11. from Amalek] So 2 Sam. viii. 12, but we have no record of any war of David with Amalek except the account in 1 Sam. xxx.
12. Abishai the son of Zeruiah] In 2 Sam. viii. 13 David, and in Ps. lx. (title) Joab, receives the credit of this victory. Abishai might have commanded in the battle, while Joab (cp. 1 Kin. xi. 16) completed the conquest of the country; but it is highly probable that the reading Abishai the son of Zeruiah has arisen here through a copyist's mistake and that the true reading is And when he (David) returned he smote Edom, etc.
of the Edomites] Lit. "of Edom," so Ps. lx. (title), but in 2 Sam. "of the Syrians," lit. "Aram." The two words "Edom" and "Aram" when written in Heb. are very much alike and are easily confused. The reading "Edom" is right here.
the Valley of Salt] Probably the marshy flat (Bädeker, Pal.5, p. 174) at the S. end of the Dead Sea. This valley is dominated by the Jebel
- ↑ Heb. Abshai.
