Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 8:4
And David took from him a thousand [chariots], and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David hamstrung all the chariot [horses], but reserved of them [for] a hundred chariots.
4. a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen ] The Heb. text as it stands can only mean a thousand and seven hundred horsemen; but it seems best to follow the text of the LXX. and of 1Ch 18:4 in reading a thousand chariots and seven thousand horsemen.
houghed ] Or hamstrung; disabled by cutting the back sinews of their hind legs. Cp. Jos 11:6; Jos 11:9.
reserved ] To grace his triumph.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Seven hundred horsemen – It should be seven thousand, as in 1Ch 18:4.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. A thousand chariots] It is strange that there were a thousand chariots, and only seven hundred horsemen taken, and twenty thousand foot. But as the discomfiture appears complete, we may suppose that the chariots, being less manageable, might be more easily taken, while the horsemen might, in general, make their escape. The infantry also seem to have been surrounded, when twenty thousand of them were taken prisoners.
David houghed all the chariot horses] If he did so, it was both unreasonable and inhuman; for, as he had so complete a victory, there was no danger of these horses falling into the enemy’s hands; and if he did not choose to keep them, which indeed the law would not permit, he should have killed them outright; and then the poor innocent creatures would have been put out of pain. But does the text speak of houghing horses at all? It does not. Let us hear; vayeakker David eth col harecheb, And David disjointed all the chariots, except a hundred chariots which he reserved for himself. Now, this destruction of the chariots, was a matter of sound policy, and strict piety. God had censured those who trusted in chariots; piety therefore forbade David the use of them: and lest they should fall into the enemy’s hands, and be again used against him, policy induced him to destroy them. The Septuagint render the words nearly as I have done, .
He kept however one hundred; probably as a sort of baggage or forage wagons.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Chariots; which word is fitly supplied out of 1Ch 18:4, such substantives being oft understood in the Hebrew language, as Gen 26:30; 2Sa 21:16.
Seven hundred horsemen, or seven hundred companies of horsemen, i. e. in all seven thousand; as it is 1Ch 18:4; there being ten on each company, and each ten having a ruler or captain, Exo 18:21; Deu 1:15. Or these seven hundred were the chief and the rulers of the rest, and the remaining six thousand three hundred were the common horsemen, subject to their commanders.
Houghed, i.e. cut the sinews of their legs, that they might be useless for war. Compare Jos 11:6.
All the chariot horses, except the following reserve. Chariots are here put for chariot horses, as they are 1Sa 13:5; 2Sa 10:18; Psa 76:6. David did this because he could not keep them for his own use, Deu 17:16.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And David took from him a thousand [chariots], and seven hundred horsemen,…. “Chariots” are not in the text here, it is only 1700 “horsemen”; but it is supplied from 1Ch 18:4; where the word is expressly mentioned, and there the horsemen are said to be seven thousand as in the Septuagint version here, and in Josephus m; which may be reconciled by observing, with Kimchi and Abarbinel, that here the chief officers are meant, there all the chariots and horsemen that were under their command are mentioned, which together made up that large number; or else here are meant the ranks and companies of horse David took, which were seven hundred; and these having ten in a company or rank, made seven thousand; and there the complement of soldiers in those companies and ranks are intended:
and twenty thousand footmen; the same as in 1Ch 18:4; and so in Josephus n:
and David houghed all the chariot [horses]; or hamstrung them, as Joshua was ordered to do with respect to the Canaanites, Jos 11:6; he did not kill them, which might seem cruel and unmerciful to the brute creatures, but hamstrung them, that they might be useless for war; and the reason of it was, that horses might not be multiplied in Israel for that purpose, that so their trust and confidence might not be placed in them; see De 17:16;
but reserved of them [for] an hundred chariots; for his own use, not for war, but for grandeur; which accounts in some measure for the number of chariots and horses Solomon had, 1Ki 4:26; the number of horses reserved is supposed to be four hundred, four horses being used in a chariot, which Jarchi gathers from 2Ch 1:17.
m Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 1.) n Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 1.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) A thousand chariots.The word chariots has evidently dropped out of the text here, but is rightly inserted, following the LXX. and 1 Chron.; 700 horsemen should also be changed to 7,000, in accordance with 1 Chron., this being a more fitting proportion to 20,000 infantry in the plains of Syria, and the difference being only in two dots over the letter marking the numeral in Hebrew.
Houghed, i.e., hamstrung, to render them incapable of use in war. (Comp. Jos. 11:6; Jos. 11:9.) This is meant to apply not only to the chariot horses, but to all those of the cavalry. Whether Davids reservation of the number needed for 100 chariots was wrong or not, is not said. David probably felt the need of these horses as a means of more rapid communication with the distant parts of his increasing empire; yet this act may have been the entering wedge for Solomons direct violation of Deu. 17:16, by sending to Egypt to multiply horses to himself.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Houghed all the chariot horses Cut the tendons of the ham, or the sinews of the hinder hoofs a practice of ancient warfare. See Jos 11:6; Jos 11:9. But the word horses is not in the Hebrew, and , to root up, may also mean to destroy. Hence Clarke, Parkhurst, and Furst render:
David destroyed (or disjointed) all the chariots. Josephus also says: “He took a thousand of his chariots and destroyed the greater part of them, and ordered that no more than one hundred should be kept.” He would not have Israel trust in chariots. Compare Psa 20:7; Isa 30:1. Keil translates and explains as follows: “David lamed all the cavalry; that is, he made the war chariots and cavalry perfectly useless by laming the horses.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Sa 8:4. A thousand chariots The word chariots, though not in the Hebrew, is rightly supplied from the parallel place, 1Ch 18:4. Instead of seven hundred horsemen, says Houbigant, I read also as in the parallel place seven thousand, for the horses were always more than the chariots. These are in the number of those parts of the sacred writings, which to my apprehension demonstrate their divine origin. It is utterly abhorrent from all the principles of human policy, to make either creatures or utensils, when once become our own secure property, either wholly useless, or less useful to all the purposes for which either human contrivance has fitted, or Providence appointed them; and therefore David’s burning so many chariots, and maiming so many horses taken from the enemy in battle, could only arise from a principle of obedience to the commands of Almighty God, expressly enjoining such a conduct to his people.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Sa 8:4 And David took from him a thousand [chariots], and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot [horses], but reserved of them [for] an hundred chariots.
Ver. 4. And David took from him a thousand chariots. ] As 1Ch 18:4 . And the seven hundred horsemen were ranks of horsemen, ten in a rank, and so make seven thousand (ib.). Josephus saith that he slew five thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen. Of David’s houghing the horses he maketh no mention, because it might seem to have been unwisely done, though in obedience to God’s will, and according to Joshua’s practice. It is well observed concerning Josephus, that writing the antiquities of his own nation with an intention to communicate them to others, he described them as stately as he could; and when he thought the simplicity of the Scripture did not suffice to the commendation of things done amongst his Hebrews, he either added or detracted from the holy history; and therefore he is to be read with discretion.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
seven hundred. =1Ch 18:47; 1Ch 18:000; but Hebrew f = 7 and J = 700 are easily mistaken one for the other. See note on 1Ki 4:26. [f and J represent Hebrew characters]
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
from him: or, of his
chariots: As 1Ch 18:4, seven hundred. In the parallel place in Chronicles it is “seven thousand horsemen, a far more probable number. The letter , zayin, with a dot upon it stands for seven thousand, and the final letter , noon, for seven hundred. The great similarity of these letters might easily cause the one to be mistaken for the other, and so produce an error in this place. David houghed, Deu 17:16, Jos 11:6, Jos 11:9, Psa 20:7, Psa 33:16, Psa 33:17
reserved: 1Ki 10:26
Reciprocal: 2Sa 10:18 – fled 1Ki 4:26 – forty thousand Jer 17:25 – riding
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Sa 8:4. David took from him a thousand chariots The word chariot is not in the Hebrew, but is well supplied by our translators from 1Ch 18:4, in which book many things are explained which are briefly related here; seven hundred horsemen Or rather, seven hundred companies of horsemen, that is, in all, seven thousand, as it is 1Ch 18:4, there being ten in each company, and each ten having a ruler or captain. David houghed all the chariot-horses That is, cut the sinews of their legs, or their hamstrings, that they might be of no use in war; but reserved of them for a hundred chariots Probably, as a monument of his victory, not for war; God having forbid them to multiply horses, Deu 17:16.