2nd Samuel Chapter 8 verse 13 Holy Bible

ASV 2ndSamuel 8:13

And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting the Syrians in the Valley of Salt, even eighteen thousand men.
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BBE 2ndSamuel 8:13

And David got great honour for himself, when he came back, by the destruction of Edom in the valley of Salt, to the number of eighteen thousand men.
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DARBY 2ndSamuel 8:13

And David made him a name when he returned, after he had smitten the Syrians in the valley of salt, eighteen thousand [men].
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KJV 2ndSamuel 8:13

And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.
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WBT 2ndSamuel 8:13

And David made him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of Salt, being eighteen thousand men.
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WEB 2ndSamuel 8:13

David got him a name when he returned from smiting the Syrians in the Valley of Salt, even eighteen thousand men.
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YLT 2ndSamuel 8:13

And David maketh a name in his turning back from his smiting Aram in the valley of Salt -- eighteen thousand;
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 13. - From smiting of the Syrians; Hebrew, of Aram. Here "Edom" is certainly right (see 1 Chronicles 18:12), unless we accept Keil's conjecture, and suppose that "he smote Edom" has dropped out of the text, and must be inserted. In the superscription of Psalm we find the wars with Aram-Naharaim (Mesopotamia) and Aram-Zobah coupled with this smiting of Edom in the valley of salt, which lay to the south of the Dead Sea, and was a fatal place to the Edomitos in their war subsequently with Amaziah (2 Kings 14:7). Such a double victory over the Arameans first, and immediately afterwards over Edom, would account for the "name," that is, the reputation, which David gained. The course of events seems to have been as follows. The Edomites, believing that David was engaged in a struggle beyond his powers with the Syrians, took the opportunity to invade Israel. But the campaign in Aram was quickly decided, and David was able to send Abishai with a detachment of his forces to repel the Edomites. On hearing of his approach, they retired before him, and, making a stand in their own territories, were defeated in the valley of salt, with the loss of eighteen thousand men (1 Chronicles 18:12). In this place the victory is ascribed to David, because it was won by his general acting under his orders. For some unexplained reason, the feelings of the Israelites against Edom were very vindictive, and Joab followed with larger forces, and not only slew twelve thousand in a second battle (Psalm 60, title), but remained six months in the country, ruthlessly putting every male to death (1 Kings 11:15, 16). From this time the Edomites and Israelites were implacable foes, and in later Jewish literature the Jews gave vent to their intense hatred of the Roman empire by giving it the name of Edom.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(13) When he returned from smiting of the Syrians.--Possibly, from the similarity in the original between Syria and Edom (see 2Samuel 8:3; 2Samuel 8:12), the words "he smote Edom" have dropped out of the text, but this supposition is not necessary. The course of affairs appears to have been as follows:--the war was originally undertaken against the Ammonites (2Samuel 10:1-12), who had obtained the aid of the Syrians. In the first campaign their combined armies were defeated (2Samuel 10:13-14), and they sought aid from every quarter, from the tribes beyond the Euphrates, on the north (2Samuel 10:16), and from the Edomites on the south. David first inflicted a crushing defeat upon the allies near Hamath, and then "returned" to the south, where he again met them in "the valley of salt"--the Arabalt south of the Dead Sea, this latter army being naturally chiefly composed of Edomites, and so called in 1Chronicles 18:12, and in the title of Psalms 60, but here spoken of as Syrians because the whole confederacy is called by the name of its most powerful member. David himself returned from the southern campaign; but what was done by his general, Abishai, under his orders, is naturally said to have been done by him. Meantime, when this first battle, attended with the slaughter of 18,000 men, had been won by Abishai, Joab, the general-in-chief, being set free by the victories in the north, gained another battle in the same locality, killing 12,000 (Psalms 60, title). The power of Edom was now completely broken, and the whole forces of Israel were mustered under Joab to overrun their country and destroy all its male inhabitants (1Kings 11:15-16), certain of them, however, excepted (1Kings 11:17), and their descendants in after ages were relentless foes of Israel. (Comp. the prophecy of Isaac, Genesis 27:40.) . . .