King Tou or Toi is the name of a king of

Hama , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...

th, an ancient city located in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. He is referred to in

2 Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Book ...

8:9-10 as "Toi" ( ''Tō‘î'') and

1 Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...

18:9-10 as "Tou" ( ''Tō‘ū''). Both biblical accounts state that Tou paid homage to

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, king of Israel, because he had defeated the army of Tou's enemy,

Hadadezer Hadadezer (; "he god Hadad is help"); also known as Adad-Idri ( akk, 𒀭𒅎𒀉𒊑, dIM-id-ri), and possibly the same as Bar-Hadad II ( Aram.) or Ben-Hadad II ( Heb.), was the king of Aram Damascus between 865 and 842 BC. The Hebrew Bible st ...

, king of

Zobah Zobah or Aram-Zobah ( ʾ''Ărām-Ṣōḇāʾ'') was an early Aramean state mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, which extended north-east of biblical King David's realm. A. F. Kirkpatrick, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (1896), pla ...

Biblical text (KJV)

2 Samuel 8:9-10 reads: 9 Now when Tou king of Hamath heard how David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah; 10 He sent Joram his son to king David, to enquire of his welfare, and to congratulate him, because he had fought against Hadarezer, and smitten him; (for Hadarezer had war with Tou;) and with him all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass. See also Wikisource: 1 Chronicles 18

Context

According to biblical studies professor

Gershon Galil Gershon Galil is Professor of Biblical Studies and Ancient History and former chair of the Department of Jewish History at the University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel. Gershon Galil earned his doctorate from the Hebrew University in J ...

, "the Empire of David is a realistic historical phenomenon and the biblical description of its formation and consolidation is possible and reasonable ... Eight inscriptions recently discovered at different sites clearly indicate that a large kingdom named Palistin existed in northwestern Syria and southern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. This is the reference to the ancient kingdom of Palistin, recently proposed by several scholars, which encompassed the cities Hamath, Aleppo and Carchemish," Prof. Galil says. "This kingdom was inhabited by different groups including Sea Peoples. They invaded the Levant in the 12th century BC, conquered vast areas, destroyed kingdoms and took over their lands." Gilil notes that "some of these inscriptions open with the words 'I am Tai(ta) the Hero, King of Palistin'. Given our philological and historical knowledge, it's clear that Tai(ta) should be identified with Toi, mentioned in the Book of Samuel and in Chronicles."ScienceDaily.com
The history of King David
published 15 December 2014, accessed 23 February 2020 Palistin was one of the Syro-Hittite states which emerged in Syria after the

Late Bronze Age collapse The Late Bronze Age collapse was a time of widespread societal collapse during the 12th century BC, between c. 1200 and 1150. The collapse affected a large area of the Eastern Mediterranean (North Africa and Southeast Europe) and the Near East ...

. OUP Oxford, 2012 It dates to at least the 11th century BC and is known primarily through the inscriptions of its king Taita and his wife.

Analysis

The text tells that King

successfully defeated an enemy of Tou's, Hadarezer, the king of

. To congratulate David (and remind him that he was friendly to David), he sent his son

Hadoram Hadoram ( he, ''Hăḏōrām'') is the son of Joktan mentioned in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. One of Shem's sons was Arpachshad. One of Arpachshad's grandsons was Eber. Eber had two sons: ...

as an ambassador and with him a (presumably) large tribute, made mostly up of ''vessels of gold and silver and brass''. David added them to his treasury, after rededicating them.

References

{{reflist Monarchs of the Hebrew Bible Syro-Hittite kings Aramean kings 11th-century BC Aramean kings