On comparing this whole chapter with 2 Samuel 8:3-13; and 1 Chronicles 19 with 1 Chronicles 18, it seems not improbable that they are two accounts of one and the same war; the former account 2 Samuel 8:3-13 being inserted out of its chronological order. The numbers slain on both occasions, 42,000 2 Samuel 8:4-5, 40,2 Samuel 8 2 Samuel 10:18, 700 2 Samuel 8:4; 2 Samuel 10:18, the seat of war, the mention of the Euphrates, the persons engaged - David, Joab, and Abishai on one side, Hadarezer and the vassal kings on the other - are too similar to make it probable that they belong to two different wars.