2 Samuel 8:2-4

Contemporary English Version

²David also defeated the Moabites. Then he made their soldiers lie down on the ground, and he measured them off with a rope. He would measure off two lengths of the rope and have those men killed, then he would measure off one length and let those men live. The people of Moab had to accept David as their ruler and pay taxes to him.

³David set out for the Euphrates River to build a monument^[a] there. On his way,^[b] he defeated the king of Zobah, whose name was Hadadezer the son of Rehob. ⁴In the battle, David captured 1,700 cavalry^[c] and 20,000 foot soldiers. He also captured war chariots, but he destroyed all but 100 of them.^[d]

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Footnotes

8.3 monument: Kings sometimes set up monuments in lands they had conquered.
8.3 David … way: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. It may have been Hadadezer who was going to the Euphrates River. And he may have gone there either to build a monument or to put down a rebellion.
8.4 1,700 cavalry: Hebrew; one ancient translation and 1 Chronicles 18.4 “1,000 chariots and 7,000 cavalry.”
8.4 He also captured … them: Or “He crippled all but 100 of the horses.”