2 Samuel 8:13

DAVID'S VICTORY OVER THE EDOMITES

"And David won a name for himself. When he returned he slew eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went."

Evidently the reason for the inclusion of this episode at this point in the narrative lies in its contrast with the conquest of the extreme northeast just related. "The Valley of Salt lay in the extreme south of the Arabah, southward from the Dead Sea."[17] Two great victories of the Israelites were won in this valley. In addition to this one, "Two centuries later, Amaziah king of Judah defeated another 10,000 Edomites and captured Sela."[18]

"David slew eighteen thousand of the Edomites" (2 Samuel 8:13). The avid seekers of `contradictions' or `discrepancies' are diligent to point out that David is here said to have slain those Edomites, but that 1 Chronicles 18:13 ascribes the victory to Abishai, and that 1 Kings 11:15-16 and the heading of Psalms 60 declare that it was Joab who did it! However, as Willis noted, "David was involved as king, Joab as commander of the army, and Abishai had charge of that particular battle."[19] In the same way it is correct to say that President Bush, Secretary of Defense Cheney, or General Schwartzkopf won the victory in Desert Storm.