Betah and from Berothai. — There is no satisfactory clue to the situation of these places. For Betah 1 Chronicles 18:8 has Tibhath in the Hebrew, a mere transposition of the letters; and for Berothai, Chun. Berothah is mentioned in Ezekiel 47:16, as on the boundary of Palestine between Hamath and Sibraim. It is said in 1 Chronicles 18:8, that “Solomon made the brazen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass,” of “the exceeding much brass” here captured. The LXX., and from it the Vulgate, has inserted the same notice here. It is very doubtful whether the metal intended was brass (copper and zinc) or simply copper, or, more probably, bronze (copper and tin). Some centuries earlier great quantities of copper were carried from Syria to Egypt.
Related Commentaries of 2 Samuel 8:8
2 Samuel 8:8
8 And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass.