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David arbitrarily killed 2/3 of the prisoners of war in

NIV 2 Samuel 8:2 David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.

The he hamstrung almost all the horses in

NIV 2 Samuel 8:4 David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.

To hamstring a horse and leave it crippled is terribly cruel. If he had killed all the prisoners and horses, that would make more sense. Why the arbitrariness? Why the cruel treatment of horses? What's to be accomplished by these cruel acts that he could not accomplish without them?

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  • He crushed their might to prevent them from gathering strength following their defeat, and then rising up against the Israelites. He preferred to spare their lives as much as possible, but not to the extent to which it might eventually backfire on his nation.
    – Lucian
    Commented Oct 9, 2020 at 17:08
  • Tony - What translation of 2 Samuel 8:4 is being "quoted" in your question? Thanks for sharing!
    – חִידָה
    Commented Oct 9, 2020 at 19:40

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In the Ivri (עִבְרִי) / Hebrew (ἑβραιου) text of 2 Samuel 8:4 - The chariot horses are not "hamstrung". David (דָּוִד) has the chariot horses sterilized / "Neutered" ( יְעַקֵּר ).

  • "And-Neutered" ( Va-Ye'aqer, וַיְעַקֵּר ) [https://www.pealim.com/dict/5081-leaker/]

2 Samuel 8:4 [MT]

"And David took from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen; and David neutered all the chariot horses, and reserved of them for a hundred chariots." ( וַיִּלְכֹּ֨ד דָּוִ֜ד מִמֶּ֗נּוּ אֶ֚לֶף וּשְׁבַע־מֵאוֹת֙ פָּרָשִׁ֔ים וְעֶשְׂרִ֥ים אֶ֖לֶף אִ֣ישׁ רַגְלִ֑י וַיְעַקֵּר דָּוִד֙ אֶת־כָּל־הָרֶ֔כֶב וַיּוֹתֵ֥ר מִמֶּ֖נּוּ מֵ֥אָה רָֽכֶב )

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David hamstring all but a hundred of the horses because he had no more use of them than such and was likely making sure not to cause offence unto God concerning what was commanded of them in Deuteronomy 17:16 KJB "But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way."

And logically we can assume that he spared only a select number of the Moabites for the same reasons as he did unto the horses. That such a number would be satisfactory to his purposes and possibly pleasing unto God.

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