2 Samuel 10:19

And when all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were smitten before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) Servants to Hadarezer.—The vassal kings, who had been tributary to Hadarezer, now transferred their allegiance to David; but it is not said that Hadarezer himself became a tributary, though it is plain from 2Samuel 8:3-7, that he was greatly weakened and suffered the loss of large booty. From 1Kings 11:23-24, it is plain that an escaped dependent of Hadarezer maintained himself in the territory of Damascus as an enemy of Israel; it is also stated in 1Kings 4:21, that Solomon “reigned over all kingdoms” from the Euphrates to the border of Egypt. It is therefore probable that Hadarezer also acknowledged the suzerainty of David and Solomon.

Benson Commentary

2 Samuel 10:19. The kings that were servants to Hadarezer — He being the most powerful prince in those parts, it appears there were several petty kings that were subject to him. They made peace with Israel, and served them — As it is likely Hadarezer himself also did: whereby God fulfilled his promise to Abraham, (which was renewed to Joshua,) of enlarging the dominion of his posterity as far as Euphrates. See Genesis 15:18; Joshua 1:2-4. Wonderful to reflect on! kingdoms and vast tracts of country, which were promised by God, ages before, to the posterity of a man who had not one foot of property in them, we see here all falling, with a very particular exactness, under the dominion of one of the posterity of him to whom they had been promised! So faithful is God, and all his purposes will be fulfilled! Thus, in the space of nineteen or twenty years, David had the happiness of finishing gloriously eight wars, all righteously undertaken, and all honourably terminated; namely, 1st, The civil war with Ish-bosheth: 2d, The war against the Jebusites: 3d, Against the Philistines and their allies: 4th, Against the Philistines alone: 5th, Against the Moabites: 6th, Against Hadadezer: 7th, Against the Idumeans: 8th, Against the Ammonites and Syrians. We shall soon see this last entirely completed, by the conquest of the kingdom of the Ammonites, abandoned by their allies. What glory for the monarch of Israel, had not the splendour of this illustrious epocha been obscured by a complication of crimes, of which one could never have even suspected him! See Delaney.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:15-19 Here is a new attempt of the Syrians. Even the baffled cause will make head as long as there is any life in it; the enemies of the Son of David do so. But now the promise made to Abraham, Ge 15:18, and repeated to Joshua, Jos 1:4, that the borders of Israel should extend to the river Euphrates, was performed. Learn hence, that it is dangerous to help those who have God against them; for when they fall, their helpers will fall with them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Servants to Hadarezer - This gives us an idea of the great power of Hadarezer, and consequently of the strength of Israel in David's victorious reign.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16. Hadarezer sent and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the river—This prince had enjoyed a breathing time after his defeat (2Sa 8:3). But alarmed at the increasing power and greatness of David, as well as being an ally of the Ammonites, he levied a vast army not only in Syria, but in Mesopotamia, to invade the Hebrew kingdom. Shobach, his general, in pursuance of this design, had marched his troops as far as Kelam, a border town of eastern Manasseh, when David, crossing the Jordan by forced marches, suddenly surprised, defeated, and dispersed them. As a result of this great and decisive victory, all the petty kingdoms of Syria submitted and became his tributaries (see on [272]1Ch 19:1).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The kings that were servants to Hadarezer, to wit, for that time, or in that expedition to which he hired them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And when all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer,.... That were subject to him, and at his beck and command, at least were hired by him into his service:

saw that they were smitten before Israel; could not stand their ground against them, being too powerful for them:

they made peace with Israel, and served them; became tributaries to them, whereby the promise of the land of Canaan made to Abraham and his seed, as reaching to the river Euphrates, had its accomplishment, Genesis 15:18,

so the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more; who standing by themselves, they were soon and easily conquered by David's forces, as recorded in the following chapters.

Geneva Study Bible

And when all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were smitten before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19. the kings that were servants to Hadarezer] His vassals and tributaries transferred their allegiance to David. According to ch. 2 Samuel 8:6 (assuming it to refer to the same war), the kingdom of Damascus was completely subjugated and secured by military stations. Both there and here it is implied that Hadadezer himself still maintained his independence in Zobah.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - The kings... served them. It is evident from this that the petty kings of Rehob, Tob, and Maacah had been subject to Hadarezer; they now acknowledged the supremacy of David, and paid to him the tribute which they had previously paid to Zobah, and would be bound to supply him with a contingent of men in case of a war in their neighbourhood. The wars with Damascus and Edom, mentioned in 2 Samuel 8:5, 13, probably followed immediately upon Hadarezer's defeat, but are not referred to here, as the interest now centres in David's personal conduct.



2 Samuel 10:19

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"And when all the kings, the vassals of Hadarezer, saw that they were smitten before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and became subject to them; and Aram was afraid to render any further help to the Ammonites." It might appear from the first half of this verse, that it was only the vassals of Hadarezer who made peace with Israel, and became subject to it, and that Hadarezer himself did not. But the last clause, "and the Aramaeans were afraid," etc., shows very clearly that Hadarezer also made peace with the Israelites, and submitted to their rule; so that the expression in the first half of the verse is not a very exact one.