2 Samuel 8:3-12

2 SAMUEL—NOTE ON 2 Samuel 8:3 Zobah and Damascus were both in Syria. Zobah was in the northern part of the Lebanon Valley (see Joshua 11:17), in what is now called the Bekaa Valley. Having captured chariot horses, David apparently decided to experiment with a small chariot force. He may have hamstrung the other horses (2 Samuel 8:4) to keep them from being used again by enemy soldiers. He may also have recalled the warnings of Moses that future Israelite kings should not be tempted to acquire many horses (Deuteronomy 17:16). The hamstrung horses supposedly could have been used as farm or pack horses. Hamath was on the middle Orontes River; it bordered Zobah on the north.