2 Samuel 8

1 Now after these things, it happened that David struck the Philistines, and he humbled them. And David took the bridle of tribute from the hand of the Philistines.

Some time later, David’s army attacked the Philistia [army] and defeated them. They took control over the entire Philistia area.

2 And he struck Moab, and he measured them with a line, leveling them to the ground. Now he measured with two lines, one to kill, and one to keep alive. And Moab was made to serve David under tribute.

David’s army also defeated the army of the Moab people-group. David forced their soldiers to lie down on the ground [close to each other]. His men killed two out of every three of them. The [other] Moab people [were forced to] accept David as their ruler, and they were forced to give to him [every year the] payment/tax [that he demanded].

3 And David struck Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah, when he set out to rule over the river Euphrates.

David’s army also defeated [the army of] Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, who ruled [the state of] Zobah [in Syria]. That happened when David went to rule again over the area at [the upper part of] the Euphrates River.

4 And from his troops, David seized one thousand seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand foot soldiers. And he cut the sinew of the leg in all the chariot horses. But he left aside enough of them for one hundred chariots.

David’s army captured 1,700 of Hadadezer’s soldiers who rode on horses, and 20,000 of his other soldiers. They also crippled/hamstrung most of the horses that pulled the chariots, but they left/spared enough horses to [pull] 100 chariots.

5 And the Syrians of Damascus arrived, so that they might bring reinforcements to Hadadezer, the king of Zobah. And David struck down twenty-two thousand men of the Syrians.

When [the army of] Syria came from Damascus [city] to help King Hadadezer’s [army], David’s soldiers killed 22,000 of them.

6 And David positioned a garrison in Syria of Damascus. And Syria served David under tribute. And the Lord assisted David in all things whatsoever that he set out to accomplish.

Then David stationed (groups of his soldiers/army camps) in their area, and the people of Syria were forced to accept David as their ruler, and to give to David’s government [every year] the payment/tax that he demanded. And Yahweh enabled David’s [army] to win victories wherever they went.

7 And David took the armbands of gold, which the servants of Hadadezer had, and he brought them to Jerusalem.

David’s soldiers took the gold shields that were carried by Hadadezer’s officials, and brought them to Jerusalem.

8 And from Betah and Beeroth, cities of Hadadezer, king David took an exceedingly great amount of brass.

They also brought [to Jerusalem] a lot of bronze [that they found] in Betah and Berothai, two cities that King Hadadezer [had previously] ruled.

9 Then Toi, the king of Hamath, heard that David had struck down the entire strength of Hadadezer.

When Toi, the king of the Hamath [city in Syria], heard that David’s [army] had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer,

10 And so, Toi sent his son Joram to king David, so that he might greet him with congratulations, and give thanks, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had struck him down. For indeed, Toi was the enemy of Hadadezer. And in his hand were vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and vessels of brass.

he sent his son Joram to greet King David and to (congratulate him/say that he was happy) about his army defeating Hadadezer’s army, which Toi’s [army] had fought many times. Joram brought to David many items/gifts made from gold, silver, and bronze.

11 And king David also sanctified these things to the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had sanctified from all the peoples whom he had subdued:

King David dedicated all those items to Yahweh. He also dedicated the silver and gold which his army had taken from the nations that they had conquered.

12 from Syria, and Moab, and the sons Ammon, and the Philistines, and Amalek, and from the best spoils of Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, the king of Zobah.

They had taken items from the Edom people-group and the Moab people-group, from the Ammon people-group, from the Philistia people, and from [the descendants of] Amalek, as well as from the people that Hadadezer [previously] ruled.

13 David also made a name for himself when he returned from seizing Syria, in the Valley of the Salt Pits, having cut down eighteen thousand.

When David returned [after defeating the armies of Syria], he became more famous because his army killed 18,000 soldiers from the Edom people-group in the Salt Valley [near the Dead Sea].

14 And he positioned guards in Edom, and he stationed a garrison. And all of Edom was made to serve David. And the Lord assisted David in all things whatsoever that he set out to accomplish.

David stationed (groups of his soldiers/army camps) throughout the Edom area, and forced the people there to accept him as their king. Yahweh enabled David’s [army] to win battles wherever they went.

15 And David reigned over all of Israel. And David accomplished judgment and justice with all his people.

David ruled over all the Israeli people, and he always did for them what was fair and just.

16 Now Joab, the son Zeruiah, was over the army. And Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was the keeper of records.

Joab was the army commander; Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was the man who reported to the people everything that David decided that they should do;

17 And Zadok, the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were the priests. And Seraiah was the scribe.

Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; Seraiah was the official secretary;

18 And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Cherethites and Pelethites. But the sons of David were priests.

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was the commander of (David’s bodyguards/the men who protected the king); and David’s sons were priests (OR, his administrators/advisors).