David's kingdom
2 SAMUEL 8
DAVID THE CONQUEROR
DAVID DEFEATS PHILISTINES, MOAB
Later, David attacked a group of Philistines and captured their town of Gath and the outlying communities. He also defeated the army of the neighboring country of Moab. He executed two out of every three soldiers he captured. David ordered them to lie on the ground. Then he stretched a rope over them. He let the soldiers under one length of rope live. Then he executed the unlucky soldiers under the next two lengths of rope.SYRIANS FALL TO DAVID
David also killed the Syrian king of Zobah. His name was Hadadezer, the son of Rehob. The king was on his way to strengthen his position along a river. David captured 1,700 cavalrymen and 20,000 infantrymen. He crippled most of their horses by cutting the hamstring tendons in the thighs. But he spared enough to pull 100 chariots. In the battle, Arameans from Damascus came to reinforce Hadadezer’s army. David killed 22,000 of them. Then David set up Israelite outposts in the Aramean territory and the people paid taxes to Israel, as tribute to a superior nation. David always won. God saw to it.GOLD AND SILVER RESERVED FOR SACRED USE
David confiscated the ceremonial gold shields of Hadadezer’s officials and brought them to Jerusalem David took a lot of bronze from the towns of Betah and Berothai. King Toi from the city of Hamath heard David crushed the entire army of Hadadezer. He was happy about that because he had fought Hadadezer many times. Toi sent his son Joram to congratulate King David and to bring him gifts of gold, silver, and bronze. David reserved these gifts for sacred use, dedicated to the LORD. He did that for all the gold, silver, and bronze he collected from the surrounding nations: Moab, Ammon, the Philistines, Amalek, and from King Hadadezer of Zobah.BECOMING THE FAMOUS CONQUEROR
David was making a name for himself. He killed 18,000 people of Edom in Salt Valley. He set up outposts throughout Edom and the people did whatever David ordered them to do. They served Israel. David won battles wherever he fought. God saw to it. For other Bible versions see Bible Gateway.Map of David hiding in Maon Desert
Map of David hiding in Maon Desert
Map of David hiding in the Maon Desert
Badlands of Israel
On the run from King Saul in Gibeah, David moves his men south to the Maon wasteland. It's not wasted time. He meets and marries a widow, whose husband he almost murdered over an insult. David's men had been voluntarily looking after a team of shepherds caring for a huge flock owned by a rich man named Nabal. That's Hebrew for "fool," and he qualified.Payday for the shepherd
At a shepherd's payday, which is the sheep-shearing season, David sent messengers to Nabal to ask for some food for the service they provided. Nabal, drunk from celebrating his good luck, essentially called David a runaway slave. When David's messengers returned with the insult, David told his men to arm themselves. They were going to kill Nabal's entire family. Nabal's wife, Abigail, intercepted David. She brought an apology and supplies:- 200 loaves of bread,
- 2 large animal skins full of wine,
- 5 butchered sheep ready to cook,
- 1 50-pound (23-kg) sack of roasted grain [6]
- 100 clusters of raisins,
- 200 pressed cakes of dried figs.
I almost killed your family
David told Abigail, “Thank God, the LORD of Israel, for sending you to me today. Thanks for coming here and for bringing some common sense with you. You kept me from killing people so I could take revenge and save face. I’ll tell you something. As sure as the LORD lives, if you hadn’t come to meet me like this today, I would have killed every male in Nabal’s family by morning.” When Abigail returned home and told her husband he nearly died, he died. It sounds like he may have had a stroke, because he seemed to become paralyzed, dying so after. David married the widow, "beautiful and intelligent woman" (1 Samuel 25:3). For other Bible versions, see Bible Gateway.David hides in Maon Desert
Ramah to Bethlehem to anoint David king
Ramah to Bethlehem to anoint David king
Map of Ramah to Bethlehem to anoint David king of Israel
Samuel had a trip to make, from his hometown of Ramah, north of Jerusalem, to Bethlehem, a half-day's walk south. Here's part of the story, from 1 Samuel 16.Story behind the map
The LORD asked Samuel, “Why are you still mourning Saul? I fired him. He’s not the king anymore. What’s it going to take to get you past this? Put some olive oil in a container, an animal horn. Take it with you to Bethlehem. I want you to meet Jesse and his sons who live there. I have picked one of Jesse’s sons as king.” Samuel said, “If Saul hears about this, he’ll kill me.” But the LORD said, “Take a calf with you. Tell people you’ve come to offer a sacrifice to the LORD. Invite Jesse and his sons to the sacrificial meal. I’ll show you what to do. You’re going to use that olive oil to anoint the one I have chosen as king.” Samuel did what the LORD said. He went to Bethlehem. City leaders were afraid to ask why he came there. Shaking with fear they said, “Did you come in peace?” Samuel said, “Yes. I came to sacrifice this calf to the LORD. Ritually cleanse yourselves for worship and you can join me.” Samuel invited Jesse and his sons to the meal and led them through their cleansing rituals.Sizing up Jesse's boys
When Jesse and his boys arrived, Samuel was impressed by Jesse’s son Eliab. Samuel thought, “He has to be the one the LORD picked.” The LORD told Samuel, “Don’t judge this man by how good he looks or how tall he is. I didn’t pick him. I don’t judge people like humans do. They judge by what they can see on the outside. The LORD judges by what’s on the inside—the heart with its character, integrity, and courage."Map of Samuel’s world
Map of Samuel's world
Map of Samuel's world
God picks three longshot characters to star in the stories of 1 Samuel, which we track on 3D-style maps customized for each Bible chapter. Those three men—Samuel, Saul, and David—are longshots in the sense that if God ever bets on a horserace, he’ll pick the one with the worst odds. It seems God likes to win big. And he likes to make a splash that people will notice. These stories are action dramas about the morphing of Israel’s 12 tribes into one united nation under God.Mapping Samuel's story
It all begins with Samuel as a longshot baby born to an infertile woman. Once he’s able to eat solid food, his mother gives him back to God. She takes him to the worship center, where he’s raised by Eli, a priest who did a bad job raising his own two sons. They grew up to become corrupt priests. But somehow, Samuel grew into a wonderful priest and prophet.Tracking Saul
Israel’s first king, Saul, was a shy donkey herder until Samuel anointed him king—a job Saul didn’t want. When Samuel called in Israel’s tribal leaders and announced Saul as king, Saul wasn’t there. He was hiding among the baggage of the travelers. It seems a fair guess he was hanging with the donkeys who had hauled the baggage. King Saul made two huge mistakes. He disobeyed God’s strict orders. And he got insanely jealous of David’s popularity. He seemed to devote more time to hunting David than to preparing for the threat of Philistines living next door, along the coastland. David never showed any desire to kill Saul. Philistines killed him and three of his sons.Tracking David
The Goliath Killer was the last son of nine—the runt of a shepherd’s family at a time when shepherds had only one way to go on the social ladder. Up. When the famous prophet and priest Samuel came to meet the family so he could anoint a future king, David’s dad called in all his sons but David. The youngest stayed with the livestock until Samuel insisted on meeting him, too. By the last chapter in the book, Samuel and Saul are dead. So, David is no longer a refugee on the run from the king. He’s an experienced raider of non-Israelite towns. And he shares the livestock he takes with his friends and the leaders of his own tribe of Judah. That sets him up for the story that continues in 2 Samuel, when those friends will crown him king of Judah. Other tribes will follow later, to make him king of all Israel.ONE BOOK SPLIT IN TWO
First and Second Samuel were written as one book. But it was too long to fit on a single scroll. So, when Jewish scholars translated it into the international language of the day, Greek, in the decades before Jesus was born, they split it into two books. They did the same with the books of Kings and Chronicles. The story begins here, in 1 Samuel 1. So do the Bible maps of Samuel's world. To compare the story to other Bible versions, try Bible Gateway.Samuel's World
Battle of Elah
Battle of Elah
In the Battle of Elah, David and Goliath fought to settle the dispute between Philistines and Israelites. It didn't stop the war. The idea was for just one man to die. That way, the Philistine and Israelite armies wouldn't have to continue their war. More likely, though, the Philistines just wanted to put the fear of Dagon into the Israelites. They did it by introducing them to someone no one would want to meet on the battlefield. Goliath.
David killed Goliath with one stone fired from a sling, the ancient version of mobile artillery.
Philistines were supposed to surrender to Israel and live under the thumb of their king.
Instead, they ran away. Israelite soldiers chased them all day long. They ran them to the gates of their walled cities of Gath and Ekron. Those were the two Philistine cities closest to the battlefield.
David's story comes to life—bigger than life—in 1 Samuel 17.
Map Philistines capture Israel’s Ark of Covenant
Map Philistines capture Israel's Ark of Covenant
Philistines crush Israel’s army at the city of Ebenezer then steal the chest that holds the 10 Commandments, Israel’s most sacred object...the Ark of the Covenant. Philistines pass it around from city to city because people get sick wherever it goes. No one wants it. In the end, they give it back. By the time it reaches Jerusalem, it traveled 100 miles (160 km). The story appears in 1 Samuel 4-5.
Philistines capture Ark of the Covenant
Map Persian province of Judah
Map Persian province of Judah
Map of the Persian province of Judah
After the Jewish nation of Judah fell to Babylonian invaders in 586, many survivors lived in exile. Some returned 50 years later, when Persians freed them.
It was only a partial freedom. The Jews lived for the next 200 years as a tiny province of Persia: Yehud, which is translated "Judah" or "Judea."
It was roughly a 40-mile-wide square plug of ground (60 km), in territory that became known as Palestine. The Jewish province included Jerusalem and beyond, into what are now central parts of Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Jerusalem is where Jews sacrificed animals to God. So when the Jews returned, they built a new temple and later restored some of the walls around the city, but not to the larger size it was before the defeat.
Map of Judah as a Persian province
Map of Hosea’s world
Map of Hosea's world
Map of Hosea's world of Israel and Judah and surrounding countries in the mid-700s BC.
Map Bethlehem to Jerusalem
Map Bethlehem to Jerusalem
Map Bethlehem to Jerusalem.
Israel’s new ruler is coming.
He’ll come from Judah’s smallest clan.
And from Bethlehem, called Ephrathah.
His story started long ago,
In very ancient times. Micah 5:2
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, in the province of Judea, when Herod the Great was king of the Jews. Later, a group of wise men known as magi showed up in Jerusalem. They came from a distant land somewhere in the east. 2They started asking around, “Where’s the boy who’s going to become king of the Jews?” We saw the sign of his birth: a rising star. We came to honor him.”
When Herod heard about this, he was not a happy king. The people of Jerusalem got upset too. Herod called a meeting of all the top priests and Jewish religion scholars known as scribes. He asked them where the Messiah was going to be born. They said, “One of the prophets predicted he would be born in Bethlehem, in Judea. Here’s what the prophets wrote:
‘Bethlehem of Judea, you’re no smalltime prince of a town. You’re going to produce a king who will lead my people of Israel like a shepherd.’” Matthew 2:1-6