2 Samuel 8--David's Administration of Justice and Equity

2 Samuel 8
English Standard Version

David's Victories
8 After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.

2 And he defeated Moab and he measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.

3 David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates. 4 And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots. 5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. 6 Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went. 7 And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.

9 When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi sent his son Joram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze. 11 These also King David dedicated to the LORD, together with the silver and gold that he dedicated from all the nations he subdued, 12 from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

13 And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 14 Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.

David's Officials
15 So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people. 16 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, 17 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Seraiah was secretary, 18 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David's sons were priests.

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I took the title today from verse 15 (which we'll get to later in the article), but I think it's a good summary statement of this entire chapter as all of it speaks of David's administration of justice towards the LORD's enemies and mercy towards the people of the LORD.  David defeated many of the remaining kingdoms that were not defeated at the time of the Conquest.  First, David subdued the Philistines and they would not bother Israel for most of the reign of David.

Next, David defeated the Moabites (the kingdom that his great-grandmother, Ruth, was from.  The Moabites were put into subjugation and they were forced to pay tribute to David and the Israelites.  David also defeated the king of Zobah and hamstrung all but enough of the horses for 100 chariots so that they could no longer be a military super-power (probably most of you have never heard of them).  They must have been a protectorate of the Syrian empire, because the Syrians came to their defense, and David also defeated and subjugated the Syrians.  He put garrisons Amram of Damascus (the capital of the Syrian people) and they also became servants of the Israelites and were forced to pay tribute to King David.  He also captured all the silver and gold that was carried by Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, and took it back to Jerusalem (seemingly taking the entire treasury of that nation).

Soon other nations, even very strong ones, saw the military victories of David and decided to send messengers to make peace before war was made with them.  All the silver and gold that David took from these other nations he dedicated to the LORD (likely much of this becomes the source of the materials used to build the Temple.  Just like how the LORD caused the Egyptians to provide all the raw materials necessary to build the Tabernacle, so the LORD will cause the other nations around Israel to provide the raw materials necessary to build the Temple).

David even defeated the Edomites (the descendants of Esau) who have not been friendly towards the Israelites and have a history of allying themselves with the enemies of Israel.  David also put garrisons in Edom and all the people of Edom became his servants as well.

David was not able to administer justice and mercy to such a large kingdom all by himself, so the next passage focuses on naming some of the key members of David's administration.  First, we are already familiar with Joab, the commander of David's army.  Also listed here is Jehosaphat, the official historian and records keeper for the administration.  Next were Zadok and Ahimelech the priests (since they are mentioned here, they probably both served as high priest during David's administration).  Seraiah served as David's secretary.

This last person in the administration mentioned was very important to David, for David entrusted the care of his own sons to this man (probably not the best idea seeing as how his sons turned out).  This man's name was Benaiah.  Benaiah also had the important role of overseeing the Cherethites and the Pelethites.  Though I'm not exactly sure who the Cherethites and the Pelethites are, I would assume they would be equally important as the care of David's own children to be listed alongside them in the same sentence.  Many assume these are special, elite forces made up by subjugated Philistines who provided personal protection for David and his family.  While that's possible, I don't see that directly in the text (or any other text), so I can't say that for sure, but it would make sense if that's true to say that Benaiah was like the head of David's bodyguards and part of his duties was to personally watch over David's sons, any of whom could be the next heir to the throne since the LORD has now made a promise that one of David's sons will take the throne after him.  That would be quite the important role to have in the king's administration for sure.

The LORD blessed David in everything that he did, and we see a pattern in David's life that tells us why that would be.  Though we don't see David stop to ask the LORD whether to go to war against all these nations, we know that has always been his pattern in every battle (not just every war).  Every day he would ask the LORD if it was His will to do whatever seemed right to him, and He'd let the LORD have the last word on if his thoughts aligned with the LORD's thoughts.  That is why everything David set his hand to prospered, because David was careful to do all that the LORD commanded and to seek the LORD's will in everything he did.