Lives of Scripture

Joram, also called Hadoram, was the son of Toi, king of Hamath. When Toi learned that David had defeated Hadadezer, king of Zobah -- a rival who had also warred against Hamath -- he sent his son Joram to David "to greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had defeated him" (2 Samuel 8:10). Joram brought with him articles of silver, gold, and bronze as gifts. David received these alongside plunder from the many nations he had subdued -- Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, Amalek, and the spoil of Hadadezer himself -- and dedicated them to the LORD, the same treasure his son Solomon later drew on for the temple (2 Samuel 8:11-12; 1 Chronicles 18:8, 11). Joram's brief appearance is a diplomatic footnote to David's wider military success, but it marks a real moment: a foreign king's own son personally acknowledging that Israel's God-given victories were significant enough to require tribute and goodwill, not hostility. The parallel account in 1 Chronicles 18:10 preserves the same episode almost word for word, confirming its place in the record of David's reign at its height.