Now after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines. Jump to: Barnes • Benson • BI • Cambridge • Clarke • Darby • Ellicott • Expositor's • Exp Dct • Gaebelein • GSB • Gill • Gray • Haydock • Hastings • Homiletics • JFB • KD • Kelly • KJT • Lange • MacLaren • MHC • MHCW • Parker • Poole • Pulpit • Sermon • SCO • TTB • WES • TSK EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE) (1-3) Reduction of the Philistines, Moabites, and Arameans of Zobah.(1) Now after this it came to pass.—Literally, And it befel afterwards. This expression does not put the contents of this chapter into direct chronological sequence with those of the last. (Comp. Note on 1Chronicles 17:1.) The formula of the original history, from which both Samuel and Chronicles have derived a chief part of their substance, has been taken over without modification, after the manner of Oriental compilers. We may, therefore, regard the phrase as a mere mark of transition in the narrative. Gath and her towns.—Heb., her daughters, that is, outlying dependencies. Samuel has, “And David took the bridle [control, supremacy] of the metropolis [mother-city] out of the hand,” &c. The chronicler or his authority has interpreted this curious expression (mètheg hā’ammāh). If at the time Gath was the chief city of Philistia, and David made it recognise his suzerainty by payment of tribute, the phrases of both books are intelligible. In Solomon’s time Gath was ruled by a king, Achish (1Kings 2:39), but he was hardly independent of Solomon. ( Comp. 1Kings 4:24. ) The general sense is the same if mètheg hā’ammāh be rendered the bridle of the arm—i.e., the sovereign control, or supremacy. 1 Chronicles 18:1. Now after this David smote the Philistines — After the sweet communion he had had with God by the word and prayer, as is recorded in the foregoing chapter, he went on in his work with an extraordinary vigour and courage, conquering and to conquer. The reader will find all this chapter explained in the notes on 2 Samuel 8. Nevertheless we shall here make two or three short observations upon some parts of it.18:1-17 David's victories. - This chapter is the same as 2Sa 8. Our good fight of faith, under the Captain of our salvation, will end in everlasting triumph and peace. The happiness of Israel, through David's victories, and just government, faintly shadowed forth the happiness of the redeemed in the realms above.Gath and her towns - In Samuel, Methegammah (see the marginal reference note).Compare the marginal references and notes. The writer here adds one or two touches, and varies in one or two of the numbers. CHAPTER 181Ch 18:1, 2. David Subdues the Philistines and Moabites. 1. David … took Gath and her towns—The full extent of David's conquests in the Philistine territory is here distinctly stated, whereas in the parallel passage (2Sa 8:1) it was only described in a general way. Gath was the "Metheg-ammah," or "arm-bridle," as it is there called—either from its supremacy as the capital over the other Philistine towns, or because, in the capture of that important place and its dependencies, he obtained the complete control of his restless neighbors.David subdueth the Philistines and the Moabites; smiteth Hadarezer and the Syrians, 1 Chronicles 18:1-8. Tou sendeth Hadoram with presents to bless David: the presents and spoil David dedicated to God, 1 Chronicles 18:9-11. He putteth garrisons in Edom, 1 Chronicles 18:12,13. David’s officers, 1 Chronicles 18:14-17. (a) Which 2Sa 8:1 calls the bridle of bondage, because it was a strong town and kept the country around it in subjection. EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES) Ch. 1 Chronicles 18:1-13 (= 2 Samuel 8:1-14). A Summary of David’s Foreign Wars1. after this] The phrase is adopted from 2 Samuel 8:1 and probably came originally from a still earlier book of annals, in which the context may have been different. We cannot therefore say at what period of David’s reign the conquest of Gath took place. took Gath and her towns] In 2 Samuel 8:1, took the bridle of the mother city (R.V.), a poetical expression which the Chronicler has turned into prose.Verse 1. - Took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines; literally, her daughters. The compiler of Chronicles gives us this plain statement where, in the parallel place, we find, "took Metheg-ammah," or more exactly, Metheg-ha-ammah, the explanation of which word (see 2 Samuel 8:1) is not yet ascertained. Its literal signification is "the bridle or curb of the mother city," and may mark a special strong position which commanded Gath, or it may describe Gath as owning itself to such a position. Gesenius understands it to mean that David "subjected the metropolis of the Philistines to himself," quoting the Arabian proverb, To give one s bridle to any one, as equivalent to submitting to him. He quotes also Job 30:11. It may be noted that Ammah is spoken of (2 Samuel 2:24) as the name of a hill, otherwise unknown, however. Although David subdued so many places, he reigned over them, i.e, over many of them, still by "their own kings" (1 Kings 4:24; 2 Chronicles 9:26). Hence we find Gath with a king still in 1 Kings 2:39. The combining of ונוראות גּדלּות with שׁם לך לשׂוּם as one sentence, "to make Thee a name with great and fearful deeds," is made clearer in 2nd Samuel by the interpolation of לכם ולעשׂות, "and for you doing great and fearful things." This explanation, however, does not justify us in supposing that ולעשׂות has been dropped out of the Chronicle. The words ונוראות גּדלּות are either to be subordinated in a loose connection to the clause, to define the way in which God has made Himself a name (cf. Ew. 283), or connected with שׂוּם in a pregnant sense: "to make Thee a name, (doing) great and fearful things." But, on the other hand, the converse expression in Samuel, "fearful things for Thy land, before Thy people which Thou redeemedst to Thee from Egypt (from) the nations and their gods," is explained in Chronicles by the interpolation of לגרשׁ: "fearful things, to drive out before Thy people, which ... nations." The divergences cannot be explained by the hypothesis that both texts are mutilated, as is sufficiently shown by the contradictions into which Thenius and Bertheau have fallen in their attempts so to explain them. All the remaining divergences of one text from the other are only variations of the expression, such as involuntarily arise in the endeavour to give a clear and intelligible narrative, without making a literal copy of the authority made use of. Among these we include even להתפּלּל עבדּך מצא, "Thy servant hath found to pray" (1 Chr. , as compared with להתפּלּל את־לבּו עבדּך מצא, "Thy servant hath found his heart," i.e., found courage, to pray (2 Samuel 7:28); where it is impossible to decide whether the author of the books of Samuel has added את־לבּו as an explanation, or the author of the Chronicle has omitted it because the phrase "to find his heart" occurs only in this single passage of the Old Testament. להת עבדּך מצא signifies, Thy servant has reached the point of directing this prayer to Thee. 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