2 Samuel 8:4

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.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8:4 David would have crippled . . . horses to prevent their reuse by the enemy and because kings in Israel were not to accumulate horses (Deut 17:16).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, bought the horses of the chariots.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

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; ויעקר דוד את כל הרכב 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, και παρελυσε Δαυιδ παντα τα ἁρματα.

He kept however one hundred; probably as a sort of baggage or forage wagons.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(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 David’s 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 Solomon’s direct violation of Deu_17:16, by sending to Egypt to “multiply horses to himself.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 Ch1 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 Ch1 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 Deu 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, Kg1 4:26; the number of horses reserved is supposed to be four hundred, four horses being used in a chariot, which Jarchi gathers from Ch2 1:17.

(m) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 1.) (n) Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. sect. 1.)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Seven hundred horsemen - It should be seven thousand, as in 1Ch 18:4.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

A thousand. Protestants supply chariots, (Haydock) after the Septuagint and 1 Paralipomenon (xviii. 4.) which have 7000 horsemen. See how we have attempted to reconcile these texts, 1 Kings xiii. 5. Perhaps the numbers were expressed by single letters; and the Hebrew final n, (700) has been mistaken for z, (7000) both here and [in] chap. x. 18. Literis numeralibus non verbis antiquitus numeri concipiebantur. (Scaliger, apud Walton prol.) --- "Will any other hypothesis so naturally solve this repeated difficulty?" (Kennicott, Diss. on 1 Chronicles xi. p. 96 and 463.) --- Kimchi thinks that the king’s horse-guards are only specified here; and Salien supposes, that those who fought on chariots are also included in Chronicles, as they are often styled horsemen, Isaias xxi. 7, 9. (Menochius) --- Houghed. Aquila, "destroyed." He rendered them unfit for war, as Josue had don, (Josue xi. 6.) supposing that this was the import of the decree, forbidding many horses to be kept, Deuteronomy xvii. 16. --- Horses is not expressed in Hebrew, though the Protestants supply the word; as also, for. We should translate literally, "He left out of them 100 chariots;" (Haydock) as we read elsewhere, that Adarezer had 1000. (Menochius) --- But this expression being unintelligible, no less than, "he houghed all the chariots," as the text stands at present in the original, may lead us to suspect that this verse has been inaccurately printed. Septuagint, "David paralyzed, (or rendered useless) all the chariots; and 100 chariots were reserved for himself out of them." Josephus says the rest of the 1000 chariots were burnt, 5000 horse slain, and 20,000 foot. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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 עקר, 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.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen. The word "chariots" is inserted in the Authorized Version after "thousand," from the parallel place in 1Ch_18:4, where also it is said that David captured seven thousand horsemen. The numbers of the Chronicler are more in proportion to one another than those mentioned here, provided we assume that the word "chariots" ought to be supplied, which, as it is not the only difference, is uncertain. Until the Arabs invented our present system of notation, the ancient methods of representing numbers were so liable to error that little dependence can be placed upon them. The Hebrews used their letters for numerals, but after 400 their system breaks down. Any number higher than 400 can be represented only by long sums in arithmetic, or by an intricate system of points above and below, which were sure to get into confusion. David houghed all the chariot horses.

There is good reason for concluding that the word used here, recheb, is a collective, and signifies animals used either for riding or driving. What David reserved was not a hundred chariots, but a hundred riding horses, which would be useful to him for rapid communication, and could scarcely be regarded as a violation of the command in Deu_17:16. Both the Authorized and Revised Versions are wrong, but the Authorized Version at least makes the word recheb have the same meaning in both clauses, whereas the Revised Version makes it signify chariot horses in the first clause, and the chariots themselves in the second. The defeat by David, with infantry only, of an army provided with so powerful a force of cavalry and chariots, proves his great military skill, and their capture hears even more emphatic testimony to his generalship. In the Psalms we find horses often referred to as objects regarded with terror, and which gave a great advantage to their enemies, (Psa_20:7 Psa_33:17 Psa_76:6 Psa_147:10) but over which they had triumphed by Jehovah"s aid. This method, however, of rendering them useless, though practised by Joshua, (Jos_11:6) was most cruel; as the poor things, unable to move about with the sinews of their hind legs severed, would perish of hunger.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Seven hundred - Or, seven hundred companies of horsemen, that is, in all seven thousand; as it is 1 Chron. xviii, 4, there being ten in each company, and each ten having a ruler or captain. Houghed - That is, cut the sinews of their legs, that they might be useless for war.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Dovid destroyed all the chariot [horses]. Because [of the verse], "He must not acquire an abundance of horses for himself"

[With] one hundred chariot [horses] remaining. That he required for his riding entourage. [The word] chariot [refers to] four horses as it is said, (Divrei Hayomim II, 1:17) "Chariot for six hundred silver pieces and horses for one hundred and fifty." From here we learn that a chariot refers to four horses.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.