John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 9. When Toi king of Hamath , etc.] Which was another small kingdom in Syria, perhaps lately erected to defend themselves against Hadadezer, and this the first king of it, at least the first we hear of; his name is Tou in ( 1 Chronicles 18:9); where in the Targum he is called king of Antioch.
Hamath lay to the north of the land of Canaan; (see Gill on “ Numbers 34:8”): it is said to be three days’ journey from Tripoli, and that it stands in the midway to Aleppo, on a very goodly plain, replenished with corn and cotton wool, but very much in ruins, and falls more and more to decay: at this day (says my author, who travelled in those parts in the beginning of the seventeenth century) there is scarce one half of the wall standing, which hath been very fair and strong. The king of this place heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer ; the news of which soon reached him, he being in the neighbourhood.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 9-14 - All the precious things David was master of, were dedicated things they were designed for building the temple. The idols of gold Davi destroyed, 2Sa 5:21, but the vessels of gold he dedicated. Thus, in the conquest of a soul by the grace of the Son of David, what stands in opposition to God must be destroyed, every lust must be mortified an crucified, but what may glorify him must be dedicated; thus the property of it is altered. God employs his servants in various ways some, as David, in spiritual battles; others, as Solomon, in spiritual buildings; and one prepares work for the other, that God may have the glory of all.
Original Hebrew וישׁמע8085 תעי8583 מלך4428 חמת2574 כי3588 הכה5221 דוד1732 את853 כל3605 חיל2426 הדדעזר׃1909
