2 Samuel 8:18

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness to all his people. ¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel and did what was just and right for all his people. ¹⁵ And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people. ¹⁵ David was king over all Israel, and he did what was fair and right for all his people. ¹⁵ David reigned over all Israel; he guaranteed justice for all his people. ¹⁵ And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice to all his people. ¹⁵ David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness to all his people. ¹⁵So David reigned over all Israel, and continued to administer justice and righteousness for all his people. ¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. ¹⁵ And Dauid regnede on al Israel, and Dauid dide doom, and riytfulnesse to al his puple.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Benaiah: 1 Kings 1:44, 1 Kings 2:34, 1 Kings 2:35, 1 Chronicles 18:17

the Cherethites: 2 Samuel 15:18, 2 Samuel 20:7, 2 Samuel 20:23, 2 Samuel 23:20-23, 1 Samuel 30:14, Ezekiel 25:16, Zephaniah 2:5

chief rulers: or, princes, 2 Samuel 20:26

Reciprocal: Genesis 41:45 - priest of Genesis 41:50 - priest Genesis 47:22 - of the priests 1 Kings 1:8 - Zadok 1 Kings 1:38 - the Cherethites 1 Kings 4:5 - the principal 1 Chronicles 11:22 - Benaiah 2 Chronicles 12:10 - the chief Psalms 122:5 - the thrones Jeremiah 7:16 - I will

Cross-References

Psalms 121:8
The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

Psalms 121:8
Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in From this time forth and for evermore.

Psalms 121:8
The Lord will guard you as you come and go, both now and forever.

Psalms 121:8
The Lord will protect you in all you do, now and forevermore.

Psalms 121:8
The LORD will preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for ever.

Psalms 121:8
Yahweh will keep your going out and your coming in, From this time forth, and forevermore.

Psalms 121:8
The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in [everything that you do] From this time forth and forever.

Psalms 121:8
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalms 121:8
The Lord kepe thi goyng in and thi goyng out; fro this tyme now and in to the world.

Psalms 121:8
The LORD shall keep thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth and for evermore.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada [was] over both the Cherethites and Pelethites,.... These, according to Josephus k, were the king's bodyguards, and this man is expressly said to be set over his guards, 2 Samuel 23:22; and which some think were of the nation of the Philistines, famous for archery, and slinging of stones; and so the Targum renders it,

"was appointed over the archers and slingers;''

so "choriti" in Virgil l are quivers for arrows; the great use of which in fighting David had observed, and therefore got a select company of these men, partly to teach Israel, and partly to guard himself: but others are of opinion that David would never suffer such as were Heathens to be so near his person, and therefore take them to be Israelites; and so some Jewish writers say they were two families in Israel; which is much better than to interpret them as others do of the sanhedrim, and even of the Urim and Thummim, as in the Targum on

1 Chronicles 18:17;

1 Chronicles 18:17- :; and it is most probable that they were Israelites, who were David's guards, and consisted of the chiefs that were with him in Philistia, and particularly at Ziklag, which lay on the south of the Cherethites, 1 Samuel 30:14; and so had their name from thence; and among the chief of those that came to him at Ziklag there was one named Peleth, from whence might come the Pelethites, and they were all of them archers; see 1 Chronicles 12:2;

and David's sons were chief rulers; princes, princes of the blood, or "chief about the king", as in 1 Chronicles 18:17; they were constant attendants at court, waiting on the king, ready at hand to do what he pleased to order; they were the chief ministers, and had the management of the principal affairs at court. Abarbinel thinks that this respects not only David's sons, but Benaiah, and the family of the Cherethites and Pelethites, who had none of them particular posts assigned them, which were settled and known, as those before mentioned had, but were always near at hand, to do whatsoever the king commanded them; and which seems better to agree with the literal order and construction of the words; which are,

and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and Pelethites,

and the sons of David, [were] princes, or chief rulers; or priests, who according to Gussetius m brought the offerings or presents to the king, and did that to him the priests did to the Lord.

k Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect.4.) l Aeneid. 10. m Ebr. Comment. p. 366.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For a similar account of the officers of Solomon’s kingdom, see 1 Kings 4:1-6, where Jehoshaphat is still the recorder, and Benaiah is advanced to be captain of the host in the room of Joab. The recorder seems to have been a high officer of state, a kind of chancellor, whose office was to keep a record of the events of the kingdom for the king’s information, and hence, he would naturally be the king’s adviser. See Esther 6:1-2; Isaiah 36:22; 2 Chronicles 34:8. Such an officer is found among the ancient Egyptians and Persians.

Ahimelech the son of Abiathar - According to 1 Samuel 22:9-23, Abiathar, Zadok’s colleague, was the son of Ahimelech. Abiathar the son of Ahimelech continued to be priest through the reign of David. (Compare also 1 Kings 1:7, 1Ki 1:42; 1 Kings 2:22-27.) It almost necessarily follows that there is some error in the text.

The scribe - Or secretary of state 2 Kings 12:10; 2 Kings 18:37, different from the military scribe (Judges 5:14 note).

2 Samuel 8:18

The Cherethites and the Pelethites - See the marginal reference note.

Chief rulers - The word כהן kôhên, here rendered a “chief ruler,” is the regular word for a priest. In the early days of the monarchy the word כהן kôhên had not quite lost its etymological sense, from the root meaning to minister, or manage affairs, though in later times its technical sense alone survived.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 8:18. Benaiah — The chief of the second class of David's worthies. We shall meet with him again.

The Cherethites and the Pelethites — The former supposed to be those who accompanied David when he fled from Saul; the latter, those who came to him at Ziklag. But the Targum translates these two names thus, the archers and the slingers; and this is by far the most likely. It is not at all probable that David was without a company both of archers and slingers. The bow is celebrated in the funeral lamentation over Saul and Jonathan; and the sling was renowned as the weapon of the Israelites, and how expert David was in the use of it we learn from the death of Goliath. I take for granted that the Chaldee paraphrast is correct. No weapons then known were equally powerful with these; the spears, swords, and javelins, of other nations, were as stubble before them. The bow was the grand weapon of our English ancestors; and even after the invention of firearms, they were with difficulty persuaded to prefer them and leave their archery.