2Sa 8:16-18 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 16. Joab-was over the host ] General and commander-in-chief over all the army. Ahilud-recorder ] mazkir, remembrancer ; one who kept a strict journal of all the proceedings of the king and operations of his army; a chronicler. See the margin.

‏ 2 Samuel 8:16-18

Verse 16. Joab-was over the host] General and commander-in-chief over all the army.

Ahilud-recorder] mazkir, remembrancer; one who kept a strict journal of all the proceedings of the king and operations of his army; a chronicler. See the margin.

Verse 17. Seraiah-the scribe] Most likely the king's private secretary. See the margin.

Verse 18. Benaiah] The chief of the second class of David's worthies. We shall meet with him again.

The Cherethites and the Pelethites] The former supposed to be those who accompanied David when he fled from Saul; the latter, those who came to him at Ziklag. But the Targum translates these two names thus, the archers and the slingers; and this is by far the most likely. It is not at all probable that David was without a company both of archers and slingers. The bow is celebrated in the funeral lamentation over Saul and Jonathan; and the sling was renowned as the weapon of the Israelites, and how expert David was in the use of it we learn from the death of Goliath. I take for granted that the Chaldee paraphrast is correct. No weapons then known were equally powerful with these; the spears, swords, and javelins, of other nations, were as stubble before them. The bow was the grand weapon of our English ancestors; and even after the invention of firearms, they were with difficulty persuaded to prefer them and leave their archery.