1 Kings 11:15

 1 Kings 11:15

For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;

a. NASB 1995: For it came about, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, and had struck down every male in Edom  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV: For it happened, when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army had gone up to bury the slain, after he had killed every male in Edom  [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified Bible: For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of Israel’s army went up to bury the slain, he slew every male in Edom.   [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. The Rubin Edition, The Early Prophets, 1 & 2 Kings, Rabbinic Commentary: It happened when David was in Edom, when Joab, the commander of the army, went up to bury the slain (for he had killed all the males of Edom). [The ArtScroll Series/Rubin Edition THE PROPHETS: KINGS Copyright 2006 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

e. ESV: For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, 

a. [For it] came to pass [Strong: 1961  hâyâh, haw-yaw; a primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):—beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.]

b. [when] David [Strong: 1732 Dâvid, daw-veed'; rarely (fully); דָּוִיד Dâvîyd; from the same as H1730; loving; David, the youngest son of Jesse:—David.]

c. was [Strong: 1961  hâyâh, haw-yaw; a primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):—beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.]

d. in [Strong: 854 ʼêth, ayth; probably from H579; properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), near; hence, generally, with, by, at, among, etc.:—against, among, before, by, for, from, in(-to), (out) of, with. Often with another prepositional prefix.]

e. Edom [Strong: 123 ʼĔdôm, ed-ome'; or (fully) אֱדוֹם ʼĔdôwm ; from H122; red (see Genesis 25:25); Edom, the elder twin-brother of Jacob; hence the region (Idumaea) occupied by him:—Edom, Edomites, Idumea.]

1). Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges: The time alluded to is the period of David’s conquests (2 Samuel 8:14), when it is said that all Edom became his servants. The LXX. says ‘when David destroyed Edom,’ which was perhaps the fact, as this verse shews, but is not stated in the earlier history. He conquered the land, and put garrisons of his own men throughout it.

a). 2 Samuel 8:13, 14 And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.

8:14 And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's servants. And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.

2. “...and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;”

a. [and] Joab [Strong: 3097 Yôwʼâb, yo-awb'; from H3068 and H1; Jehovah-fathered; Joab, the name of three Israelites:—Joab.]

b. [the] captain [Strong: 8269 sar, sar; from H8323; a head person (of any rank or class):—captain (that had rule), chief (captain), general, governor, keeper, lord,(-task-)master, prince(-ipal), ruler, steward.]

c. [was] gone up [Strong: 5927 ʻâlâh, aw-law'; a primitive root; to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount); used in a great variety of senses, primary and secondary, literal and figurative:—arise (up), (cause to) ascend up, at once, break (the day) (up), bring (up), (cause to) burn, carry up, cast up, shew, climb (up), (cause to, make to) come (up), cut off, dawn, depart, exalt, excel, fall, fetch up, get up, (make to) go (away, up); grow (over) increase, lay, leap, levy, lift (self) up, light, (make) up, × mention, mount up, offer, make to pay, perfect, prefer, put (on), raise, recover, restore, (make to) rise (up), scale, set (up), shoot forth (up), (begin to) spring (up), stir up, take away (up), work.]

d. [to] bury [Strong: 6912 qâbar, kaw-bar'; a primitive root; to inter:—× in any wise, bury(-ier).]

e. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

f. [the] slain [Strong: 2491 châlâl, khaw-lawl'; from H2490; pierced (especially to death); figuratively, polluted:—kill, profane, slain (man), × slew, (deadly) wounded.]

1). Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges: The slain were the Israelites who had fallen in David’s war with Edom. To bury these the captain of the host was appointed, and he abode after that work was over, till all were cut off, or driven away, from whom there could be any fear of resistance.

g. [after he had] smitten [Strong: 5221 nâkâh, naw-kaw'; a primitive root; to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively):—beat, cast forth, clap, give (wounds), × go forward, × indeed, kill, make (slaughter), murderer, punish, slaughter, slay(-er, -ing), smite(-r, -ing), strike, be stricken, (give) stripes, × surely, wound.]

h. every [Strong: 3605  kôl, kole; or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל kôwl; from H3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):—(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

i. male [Strong: 2145 zâkâr, zaw-kawr'; from H2142; properly, remembered, i.e. a male (of man or animals, as being the most noteworthy sex):—× him, male, man(child, -kind).]

j. [in] Edom [Strong: 123 ʼĔdôm, ed-ome'; or (fully) אֱדוֹם ʼĔdôwm ; from H122; red (see Genesis 25:25); Edom, the elder twin-brother of Jacob; hence the region (Idumaea) occupied by him:—Edom, Edomites, Idumea.]

1). Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges: This can only mean, as just stated, those persons who were likely to rebel against Israel. The narrative in 2 Samuel 8:14 implies that those who submitted were left, and put under tribute to Israel.

2). Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers: The war here described is briefly noted, with some differences of detail, in 2Samuel 8:12-14, 1Chronicles 18:11-13, and Psalms 60 (title and 1Kings 11:8).