2 Samuel 8:13

13. Gat him a name Or, made him a monument, for שׁם , name, is sometimes used in this sense. On his return he erected a memorial of his triumphs, and probably also celebrated them with a grand triumphal procession and a splendid exhibition of his spoils.

From smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt But the Syrians were not smitten in the valley of salt, for this valley is undoubtedly the great plain to the south of the Dead Sea, which abounds in rock salt and brackish springs and streams. Here, at a later day, Amaziah slew ten thousand Edomites. 2 Kings 14:7. The text of this verse is therefore faulty, and to be corrected from the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 18:12, which says that Abishai, the brother of Joab and a distinguished warrior of David’s army, “slew of the Edomites in the valley of salt eighteen thousand men.” The difference between את אדם , the Edomites, and את ארם , the Syrians, is so slight that a copyist might easily mistake one for the other. Read therefore: From smiting the Edomites in the valley of salt. 1 Kings 11:15-16, affords a few more items of this Edomite war. Joab remained there with the host of Israel for six months, until he had smitten every male. So David, Joab, and Abishai are all spoken of as engaged in the conquest of Edom: David, as the royal head of the army and the nation; Joab, as captain or chief general; and Abishai, as having in this war signalized his valour by daring exploits, and leading his division of men into positions which met the chief brunt of the battle. To celebrate these victories David composed Psalms 60:0.