And it came to pass after this, that David defeated the Philistines, and humbled them, and took away Geth, and her daughters out of the hands of the Philistines,

And it cometh to pass after this, that David smiteth the Philistines, and humbleth them, and taketh Gath and its small towns out of the hand of the Philistines;

And it came about after this that David made an attack on the Philistines and overcame them, and took Gath with its daughter-towns out of the hands of the Philistines.

Now after these things, it happened that David struck the Philistines, and he humbled them, and he took Gath and her daughters from the hand of the Philistines.

Gath and her towns - In Samuel, Methegammah (see the marginal reference note).

David - took Gath and her towns - See the comparison between this chapter and 2-Samuel 8:1 (note), etc., in the notes on the latter.

Now after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took (a) Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines.
(a) Which (2-Samuel 8:1) calls the bridle of bondage, because it was a strong town and kept the country around it in subjection.

See Chapter Introduction

This chapter is the same as 2 Samuel 8. Our good fight of faith, under the Captain of our salvation, will end in everlasting triumph and peace. The happiness of Israel, through David's victories, and just government, faintly shadowed forth the happiness of the redeemed in the realms above.

DAVID SUBDUES THE PHILISTINES AND MOABITES. (1-Chronicles 18:1-2)
David . . . took Gath and her towns--The full extent of David's conquests in the Philistine territory is here distinctly stated, whereas in the parallel passage (2-Samuel 8:1) it was only described in a general way. Gath was the "Metheg-ammah," or "arm-bridle," as it is there called--either from its supremacy as the capital over the other Philistine towns, or because, in the capture of that important place and its dependencies, he obtained the complete control of his restless neighbors.

The events recorded in these three chapters are all narrated in the second book of Samuel also, and in the same order. First, there are grouped together in our 18th chapter, and in 2 Sam 8, in such a manner as to afford a general view of the whole, all the wars which David carried on victoriously against all his enemies round about in the establishment of the Israelitish rule, with a short statement of the results, followed by a catalogue of David's chief public officials. In 1 Chron 19 and in 2 Sam 10 we have a more detailed account of the arduous war against the Ammonites and Syrians, and in 1-Chronicles 20:1-3 and 2-Samuel 12:26-31 the conclusion of the war with the capture of Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites; and finally, in 1-Chronicles 20:4-8, we have a few short accounts of the victories of the Israelitish heroes over giants from the land of the Philistines, which are inserted in 2-Samuel 21:18-22 as a supplement to the last section of David's history. Apart from this last section, which is to be regarded even in the Chronicle as an appendix, we find the arrangement and succession of the events to be the same in both books, since the sections which in 2-Samuel 9:1-13 and 2-Samuel 11:1-12, 2-Samuel 11:25, stand between the histories of the wars, contain sketches of David's family life, which the author of the Chronicle has, in accordance with his plan, omitted. Even as to individual details the two narratives are perfectly agreed, the divergences being inconsiderable; and even these, in so far as they are original, and are not results of careless copying, - as, for instance, the omission of the word נציבים, 1-Chronicles 18:6, as compared with 1-Chronicles 18:13 and 2-Samuel 8:6, and the difference in the numbers and names in 1-Chronicles 18:4, 1-Chronicles 18:8, as compared with 2-Samuel 4:4, 2-Samuel 4:8, are, - partly mere explanations of obscure expressions, partly small additions or abridgments. For the commentary, therefore, we may refer to the remarks on 2nd Samuel, where the divergences of the Chronicle from the record in Samuel are also dealt with. With 1-Chronicles 18:1-13 cf. 2-Samuel 8:1-14; and with the register of public officials, 2-Samuel 18:14-17, cf. 2-Samuel 8:15-18.
Examples of paraphrastic explanation are found in 1-Chronicles 18:1, where the figurative expression, David took the bridle of the mother out of the hands of the Philistines, i.e., deprived them of the hegemony, is explained by the phrase, David took Gath and her cities out of the hands of the Philistines, i.e., took from the Philistines the capital with her daughter cities; and in 1-Chronicles 18:17, כּהנים is rendered by, the first at the king's hand. Among the abridgments, the omission of David's harsh treatment of the Moabites who were taken prisoners is surprising, no reason for it being discoverable; for the assertion that the chronicler has purposely omitted it in order to free David from the charge of such barbarous conduct, is disposed of by the fact that he does not pass over in silence the similar treatment of the conquered inhabitants of Rabbah in 1-Chronicles 20:3. Instead of this, the chronicler has several historical notes peculiar to himself, which are wanting in the text of Samuel, and which prove that the author of the Chronicle has not derived his account from the second book of Samuel. Such, e.g., is the statement in 1-Chronicles 18:8, that Solomon caused the brazen sea and the pillars and vessels of the court of the temple to be made of the brass taken as booty in the war against Hadadezer; in 1-Chronicles 18:11, the word מאדום, which is wanting in Samuel, as מארם, which in 1-Chronicles 18:11 of that book is used in place of it, probably stood originally in the Chronicle also. Such also are the more accurate statements in 1-Chronicles 18:12 as to the victory over the Edomites in the Valley of Salt (see on 2-Samuel 8:13).