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THE MESSAGE

2 Samuel 8:1

In the days that followed, David struck hard at the Philistines— brought them to their knees and took control of the countryside.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Gath;   Metheg-Ammah;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Philistines, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Metheg-Ammah;   Philistines;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Israel;   Philistia, philistines;   Samson;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Amos, Theology of;   Israel;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Gath;   Metheg-Ammah;   Rabbah;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Cherethims;   Gath;   Metheg-Ammah;   Philistia;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ashdod;   Geshur;   Hadad-Ezer;   Hamath-Zobah;   King, Kingship;   Metheg-Ammah;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Israel;   Metheg-Ammah;   Moab, Moabites;   Philistines;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Methegammah ;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Da'vid;   Me'theg-Am'mah;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Philistim;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - On to Canaan;   Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Ammah;   Bit and Bridle;   David;   Metheg-Ammah;   Philistines;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - David;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
After this, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Metheg-ammah from Philistine control.
Hebrew Names Version
After this it happened that David struck the Pelishtim, and subdued them: and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Pelishtim.
King James Version
And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
Lexham English Bible
It happened afterwards that David attacked the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the hands of the Philistines.
English Standard Version
After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
New Century Version
Later, David defeated the Philistines, conquered them, and took the city of Metheg Ammah.
New English Translation
Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah from the Philistines.
Amplified Bible
Now it came about after this that David defeated the Philistines and subdued (humbled) them, and he took control of Metheg-ammah [the main city] from the hand of the Philistines.
New American Standard Bible
Now it happened afterward that David defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.
Geneva Bible (1587)
After this now, Dauid smote the Philistims, & subdued them, & Dauid tooke the bridle of bondage out of the hand of the Philistims.
Legacy Standard Bible
Now it happened afterwards, that David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.
Contemporary English Version
Later, David attacked and badly defeated the Philistines. Israel was now free from their control.
Complete Jewish Bible
Some time afterwards, David attacked the P'lishtim and subdued them; David took Meteg-Amah out of the hands of the P'lishtim.
Darby Translation
And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them; and David took the power of the capital out of the hand of the Philistines.
Easy-to-Read Version
Later David defeated the Philistines and took control of a large area of land around Gath.
George Lamsa Translation
AND it came to pass after this that David smote the Philistines and defeated them; and David took Ramath-gema from the Philistines.
Good News Translation
Some time later King David attacked the Philistines again, defeated them, and ended their control over the land.
Literal Translation
And it happened afterward, David struck the Philistines, and humbled them. And David took the Bridle of the Metropolis out of the hand of the Philistines.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And it fortuned after this, yt Dauid smote ye Philistynes, and discomfited them, and toke the brydell of bondage out of the Philistynes hande.
American Standard Version
And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines.
Bible in Basic English
And it came about after this that David made an attack on the Philistines and overcame them; and David took the authority of the mother-town from the hands of the Philistines.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
After this, now Dauid smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and Dauid toke the bridel of bondage out of the hand of the Philistines.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them; and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
King James Version (1611)
And after this it came to passe, that Dauid smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and Dauid tooke Metheg-Ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And it came to pass after this, that David smote the Philistines, and put them to flight, and David took the tribute from out of the hand of the Philistines.
English Revised Version
And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines.
Berean Standard Bible
Some time later, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Metheg-ammah from the hand of the Philistines.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe it was doon aftir these thingis, Dauid smoot Filisteis, and made low hem; and Dauid took awei the bridil of tribute fro the hond of Filisteis.
Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass afterwards that David smiteth the Philistines, and humbleth them, and David taketh the bridle of the metropolis out of the hand of the Philistines.
Update Bible Version
And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines.
Webster's Bible Translation
And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
World English Bible
After this it happened that David struck the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines.
New King James Version
1 Chronicles 18:1-13">[xr] After this it came to pass that David attacked the Philistines and subdued them. And David took Metheg Ammah from the hand of the Philistines.
New Living Translation
After this, David defeated and subdued the Philistines by conquering Gath, their largest town.
New Life Bible
After this David won the battle against the Philistines. And he took the most important city from the Philistines.
New Revised Standard
Some time afterward, David attacked the Philistines and subdued them; David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And it came to pass, after this, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, - and David took the bridle of the metropolis, out of the hand of the Philistines.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And it came to pass after this that David defeated the Philistines, and brought them down, and David took the bridle of tribute out of the hand of the Philistines,
Revised Standard Version
After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Meth'eg-am'mah out of the hand of the Philistines.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now after this it came about that David defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines.

Contextual Overview

1 In the days that followed, David struck hard at the Philistines— brought them to their knees and took control of the countryside. 2 He also fought and defeated Moab. He chose two-thirds of them randomly and executed them. The other third he spared. So the Moabites fell under David's rule and were forced to bring tribute. 3On his way to restore his sovereignty at the River Euphrates, David next defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob the king of Zobah. He captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand cavalry, and twenty thousand infantry. He hamstrung all the chariot horses, but saved back a hundred. 5When the Arameans from Damascus came to the aid of Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand of them. David set up a puppet government in Aram-Damascus. The Arameans became subjects of David and were forced to bring tribute. God gave victory to David wherever he marched. 7David plundered the gold shields that belonged to the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. He also looted a great quantity of bronze from Tebah and Berothai, cities of Hadadezer.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 2964, bc 1040, An, Ex, Is, 451

And after: 2 Samuel 7:9, 2 Samuel 21:15-22

Methegammah: or, the bridle of Ammah, 2 Samuel 2:24, 1 Chronicles 18:1-17, Gath, In the parallel passage of Chronicles, we read, "David took Gath and her towns;" and it is probable, that Gath and its districts were called Metheg-ammah in David's time; which, being unusual or becoming obsolete, in the time of the author of the Chronicles, led him thus to explain it.

Reciprocal: Genesis 19:37 - Moabites Genesis 22:17 - thy seed Genesis 27:29 - Let people Judges 13:5 - begin 2 Samuel 22:38 - General 2 Samuel 22:44 - head 2 Chronicles 26:6 - the wall of Gath Psalms 9:5 - rebuked Psalms 18:38 - General Psalms 18:43 - made Psalms 60:8 - triumph Psalms 68:30 - Rebuke Psalms 108:9 - Moab Psalms 118:10 - All nations Ezekiel 25:15 - to destroy Hebrews 11:33 - through Hebrews 11:34 - turned

Cross-References

Genesis 8:7
He sent out a raven; it flew back and forth waiting for the floodwaters to dry up. Then he sent a dove to check on the flood conditions, but it couldn't even find a place to perch—water still covered the Earth. Noah reached out and caught it, brought it back into the ship.
Genesis 8:20
Noah built an altar to God . He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, "I'll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I'll never again kill off everything living as I've just done.
Genesis 8:22
For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop."
Genesis 19:29
And that's the story: When God destroyed the Cities of the Plain, he was mindful of Abraham and first got Lot out of there before he blasted those cities off the face of the Earth.
Genesis 30:22
And then God remembered Rachel. God listened to her and opened her womb. She became pregnant and had a son. She said, "God has taken away my humiliation." She named him Joseph (Add), praying, "May God add yet another son to me."
Exodus 2:24
God listened to their groanings. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Exodus 14:21
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and God , with a terrific east wind all night long, made the sea go back. He made the sea dry ground. The seawaters split.
Numbers 22:32
God 's angel said to him: "Why have you beaten your poor donkey these three times? I have come here to block your way because you're getting way ahead of yourself. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she hadn't, I would have killed you by this time, but not the donkey. I would have let her off."
1 Samuel 1:19
Up before dawn, they worshiped God and returned home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with Hannah his wife, and God began making the necessary arrangements in response to what she had asked.
Nehemiah 13:14
Remember me, O my God, for this. Don't ever forget the devoted work I have done for The Temple of God and its worship.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And after this it came to pass,.... After David had rest from his enemies for a time, and after the conversation he had had with Nathan about building the house of God, and after the message sent to him from the Lord by that prophet, forbidding him to build, and David's prayer to the Lord upon it, the following events happened; and which are recorded to show that David's rest from his enemies did not last long, and that he had other work to do than to build the house of God:

that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them; these had been long and implacable enemies of Israel; Samson began to weaken them in his days; a war was waged between them and Israel in the times of Samuel and Saul, and the battle sometimes went on one side and sometimes on the other; but now David made an entire conquest of them: before they had used to come into the land of Israel, and there fight with Israel, but now David entered into their land, and took it from them:

and David took Methegammah out of the hands of the Philistines; the name of a province in Palestine, and from the parallel place in

1 Chronicles 18:1, it appears to be Gath, and its adjacent towns; but why that was called the bridle of Ammah, or the bridle of a cubit, as it may be rendered, is not easy to say. The conjecture of Kimchi is, that there was a pool or river of water, so Ammah is thought to signify; and Aquila renders it a water course, which passed through the city, having been brought from without it into it, the communication of which from place to place it may be David cut off, by stopping or turning its stream; but interpreters more generally suppose that Gath was built upon an hill called Ammah, see 2 Samuel 2:24; thought to be the same with the Amgaris of Pliny d though that is sometimes read Angaris, a mountain he places in Palestine; and that it was called Metheg, a bridle, because being a frontier city, and being very strong and powerful, erected into a kingdom, it was a curb and bridle upon the Israelites; but now David taking it out of their hands, opened his way for the more easy subduing the rest of their country: or the word may be rendered Metheg and her mother, that is, Gath, the metropolis, since that and her daughters, or towns, are said to be taken, 1 Chronicles 18:1; and Metheg might be one of them.

d Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 13.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Metheg-ammah must be the name of some stronghold which commanded Gath, and the taking of which made David master of Gath and her towns.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER VIII

David subdues the Philistines, 1;

and the Moabites, 2;

and the king of Zobah, 3, 4;

and the Syrians in general, 5-8.

Toi, king of Hamath, sends to congratulate him on his victories

over the king of Zobah, and sends him rich presents, 9-10.

David dedicates all the spoils to God, 11-13.

He garrisons Edom, 14;

and reigns over all Israel, 15.

An account of his chief officers, 16-18.

NOTES ON CHAP. VIII

Verse 2 Samuel 8:1. David took Metheg-ammah — This is variously translated. The Vulgate has, Tulit David fraenum tributi, David removed the bondage of the tribute, which the Israelities paid to the Philistines. Some think it means a fortress, city, or strong town; but no such place as Metheg-ammah is known. Probably the Vulgate is nearest the truth. The versions are all different. See the following comparison of the principal passages here collated with the parallel place in 1 Chr: -

2 Samuel 8:1 - David took Methegammah

1 Chronicles 18:1 - David took Gath and her towns.

2 Samuel 8:3. David smote Hadadezer

1 Chronicles 18:3; 1 Chronicles 18:3. David smote Hadarezer

2 Samuel 8:4. And David took from him 1000 and 700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot.

1 Chronicles 18:4; 1 Chronicles 18:4. And David took from him 1000 chariots, and 7000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot.

2 Samuel 8:6. Then David put garrisons in Syria

1 Chronicles 18:6. Then David put in Syria

2 Samuel 8:8. And from Betah and Berothai cities of Hadadezer.

1 Chronicles 18:8; 1 Chronicles 18:8. And from Tibhath and Chun cities of Hadarezer.

2 Samuel 8:9. When Toi heard that David had smitten Hadadezer

1 Chronicles 18:9; 1 Chronicles 18:9. When Tou heard that David had smitten Hadarezer

2 Samuel 8:10. Then Toi sent Joram his son

1 Chronicles 18:10; 1 Chronicles 18:10. He sent Hadoram his son

2 Samuel 8:12 - Syria and Moab

1 Chronicles 18:11 - Edom and Moab


2 Samuel 8:13. - Syrians, in the valley of salt, 18,000

1 Chronicles 18:12. - Edomites, in the valley of salt, 18,000

2 Samuel 8:17 - Ahimelech - and Seraiah was the scribe.

1 Chronicles 18:16; 1 Chronicles 18:16 - Abimelech - and Shausha was scribe.

2 Samuel 10:16. Shobach the captain

1 Chronicles 19:16; 1 Chronicles 19:16. Shophach the captain

2 Samuel 10:17. David passed over Jordan, and came הלאמה to Helam.

1 Chronicles 19:17. David passed over Jordan and came אלהם upon them


2 Samuel 10:18. David slew 700 chariots of the Syrians,

1 Chronicles 19:18; 1 Chronicles 19:18. David slew of the Syrians 7000 chariots,

2Sa. and 40,000 horsemen;

1Ch. and 40,000 footmen;

2Sa. and smote Shobach, &c.

1Ch. and killed Shophach, &c.


 
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