Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
he smote Moab, and measured them with a line—This refers to a well-known practice of Eastern kings, to command their prisoners of war, particularly those who, notorious for the atrocity of their crimes or distinguished by the indomitable spirit of their resistance, had greatly incensed the victors, to lie down on the ground. Then a certain portion of them, which was determined by lot, but most commonly by a measuring-line, were put to death. Our version makes him put two-thirds to death, and spare one-third. The Septuagint and Vulgate make one-half. This war usage was not, perhaps, usually practised by the people of God; but Jewish writers assert that the cause of this particular severity against this people was their having massacred David's parents and family, whom he had, during his exile, committed to the king of Moab.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing 2 Samuel 8:2:
2 Samuel 8:1
2 Kings 1:1
2 Kings 21:13
1 Chronicles 11:22
1 Chronicles 18:2
Isaiah 16:1
Ezekiel 24:6
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