Today, I am reading and commenting on  2 Samuel 8-11.

My first thought on reading today’s passage was, to ask why David went to war with the Moabites?  After all, he had placed his parents into the care of the king of Moab while he was on the run from King Saul.  Of course, We are not told what happened to David’s parents after he put them into the care of the king of Moab.  I came across a reference which says that there is a Jewish tradition that David’s parents were killed while they were in Moab.  If that were true it would explain David’s harsh treatment of the Moabites.  We also do not know why David went to war against Hadadezer, unless that war came after his war against he Ammonites, which is mentioned later in today’s passage.  Something I would not rule out as the writer(s) do not have the same concern with chronological order that we do today.  Which brings me to another interesting point about the accounts of David’s wars.  Nahash was the name of the king of the Ammonites whose attack on Jabesh-Gilead led to Saul establishing his kingship.  Some commentators think that Hanun, whom David went to war against, was the son of the Nahash whom Saul had warred against.  I think that this is unlikely.  I believe that the Nahash with whom David was friendly was the son or grandson of the man with whom Saul made war.

Usually I try to make a point about what the passage teaches us about how we should live our lives.  However, today I am going to write about what the passage tells us about what happened.  As I read about Mephibosheth in today’s passage I thought it supported my thoughts that David’s interaction with Abner would have peacefully brought the House of Saul under David’s kingship if Joab had not killed Abner.  It seems to me that while David was overjoyed that he was able to show grace to his friend Jonathan’s son, he was seeking any descendant of Saul through whom he could show that he held no animosity towards those who had remained loyal to King Saul.  Further, as I read the account here I cannot help but try to understand what happened between Mephibosheth, Ziba, and David when David fled from Absalom (and when he then returned to Jerusalem).  I am not sure that I understand what is going on relative to that, but reading this, knowing about that later incident makes it seem like there is some tension between what Ziba “owned” before Mephibosheth was brought before David and was then given into the ownership of Mephibosheth.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.