II Samuel 8:16
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Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
The chief ministers were the following: - Joab (see at Sa2 2:18) was "over the army," i.e., commander-in-chief. Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, of whom nothing further is known, was mazcir, chancellor; not merely the national annalist, according to the Septuagint and Vulgate (ἐπὶ τῶν ὑπομνημάτην, ὑπομνηματόγραφος; a commentariis), i.e., the recorder of the most important incidents and affairs of the nation, but an officer resembling the magister memoriae of the later Romans, or the waka nuvis of the Persian court, who keeps a record of everything that takes place around the king, furnishes him with an account of all that occurs in the kingdom, places his vis upon all the king's commands, and keeps a special protocol of all these things (vid., Chardin, Voyages v. p. 258, and Paulsen, Regierung der Morgenlnder, pp. 279-80).
Open source ↗David having sought first the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, settling the ark as soon as he was himself well settled, we are here told how all other things were added to him. Here is an account, I. Of his conquests. He triumphed, 1. Over the Philistines (Sa2 8:1). 2. Over the Moabites (Sa2 8:2). 3. Over the king of Zobah (Sa2 8:3, Sa2 8:4). 4. Over the Syrians (Sa2 8:5-8, Sa2 8:13). 5. Over the Edomites (Sa2 8:14). II. Of the presents that were brought him and the wealth he got from the nations he subdued, which he dedicated to God (Sa2 8:9-12). III. Of his court, the administration of his government (Sa2 8:15), and his chief officers (Sa2 8:16-18). This gives us a general idea of the prosperity of David's reign.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
Now David had said, “Whoever is the first to strike down a Jebusite will become chief commander.” And Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, and he became the chief.
And say to Amasa, ‘Aren’t you my flesh and blood? May God punish me, and ever so severely, if from this time you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab!’”