2 Samuel 5:8

The gutter. The word thus translated occurs elsewhere only in Ps. 42:7, where it is rendered “waterspout.” The term is now thought to apply to the water shaft of the ancient city. To bring water into the city from the spring Gihon, which was without the city gates, the Jebusites had cut a conduit some 50 ft. (15.2 m.) through the rock to a place where the water was collected in a reservoir. This, in turn, was connected by a 40-ft. (12.2-m.) vertical shaft with the foot of a stairway or ramp that led into the city. Women in the city would descend to the top of the shaft, drop their buckets into the cistern, and thus secure water without the necessity of venturing outside the city. By making one’s way through the watercourse and up the shaft, it might be possible to enter the Jebusite capital.

The verse presents some difficulties of translation. It would seem, from a comparison with 1 Chron. 11:6, that David made a proposal to his men promising that the man who accomplished the feat of entering the city should be “chief and captain.” According to 1 Chron. 11:6, “Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief.” It thus appears that Joab secured his position as commander of the armies of David from his successful capture of the Jebusite stronghold.

The lame and the blind. After an entrance into the city had been gained, it would probably be a comparatively easy task to open the gates to the main body of David’s forces, since, perhaps, only a small force of defenders would be on the city walls. The Jebusites had hurled at David the taunt that the lame and the blind would be sufficient to hold the city against him (see on v. 6); hence David now appears to use that term for the city’s defenders.

That are hated of David’s soul. This is a translation of the marginal reading of the Hebrew text. The text itself reads, “They hate the soul of David.”

The blind and the lame. The meaning of the proverbial expression thus introduced is not clear. To “house,” the LXX adds, “of the Lord.”