Bible Strands
2 Samuel 8:4
David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes David’s campaign against Hadadezer, king of Zobah, immediately following the account of Hadadezer’s march to the Euphrates.
The words — וַ/יִּלְכֹּ֨ד (va/i.yil.Kod) means “and he captured,” and אֶ֤לֶף ('E.lef) means “one thousand,” anchoring the verse in specific quantitative reporting.
The thread — The tactical destruction of enemy mounts parallels Joshua 11:9, while the deliberate limitation of retained horses aligns with Deuteronomy 17:16’s restriction on royal cavalry acquisition.
Why it lands — The text records a precise logistical action to disable enemy charioteers while keeping a hundred horses, requiring a reader to note how military restraint and royal policy intersect in the narrative.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Joshua 11:6 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for by this time tomorrow I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn up their chariots.”
- Joshua 11:9 Joshua treated them as the LORD had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned up their chariots.
- Deuteronomy 17:16 But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’
- 1 Kings 10:26 Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
- 1 Chronicles 18:4 David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots.
- Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- Psalms 33:16 No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.