heartoflesh
Puritan Board Junior
In my reading of 2 Samuel this morning I was a bit taken back by 12:31. As my NASB reads...
"He also brought out the people who were in it, and set them under saws, sharp iron instruments, and iron axes, and made them pass through the brickkiln. And thus he did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem."
My initial thought was-- wow, this seems almost Saddam Husseinish. Was David just having a really bad day or what? Then as I began to research the verse I discovered that most modern translations give a very different meaning to this verse, such as the NIV...
"and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. He did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem."
So I'm wondering from you scholars, what should be the right reading of this verse? Was David rendering torturous death or putting them in workcamps?
"He also brought out the people who were in it, and set them under saws, sharp iron instruments, and iron axes, and made them pass through the brickkiln. And thus he did to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem."
My initial thought was-- wow, this seems almost Saddam Husseinish. Was David just having a really bad day or what? Then as I began to research the verse I discovered that most modern translations give a very different meaning to this verse, such as the NIV...
"and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. He did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem."
So I'm wondering from you scholars, what should be the right reading of this verse? Was David rendering torturous death or putting them in workcamps?