War with the Philistines

17 Now when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, (A)all the Philistines went up to seek out David; and when David heard about it, he went down to the (B)stronghold. 18 Now the Philistines came and overran (C)the Valley of Rephaim. 19 So (D)David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You hand them over to me?” And (E)the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you.” 20 Then David came to (F)Baal-perazim and [a]defeated them there; and he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore he named that place [b]Baal-perazim. 21 And the Philistines abandoned their idols there, so (G)David and his men carried them away.

22 Now (H)the Philistines came up once again and overran the Valley of Rephaim. 23 So (I)David inquired of the Lord, but He said, “You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the baka-shrubs. 24 And it shall be, when (J)you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the baka-shrubs, then you shall [c]act promptly, for then (K)the Lord will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.” 25 Then David did so, just as the Lord had commanded him; he struck and killed the Philistines from [d](L)Geba [e]as far as (M)Gezer.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 5:20 Lit David struck
  2. 2 Samuel 5:20 I.e., the master of breakthroughs
  3. 2 Samuel 5:24 Or pay attention
  4. 2 Samuel 5:25 In 1 Chr 14:16, Gibeon
  5. 2 Samuel 5:25 Lit until you come to

War with the Philistines

17 When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David as king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David, but David heard and went down to the stronghold.[a] 18 Now the Philistines had come, and they spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. 19 And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go up to the Philistines? Will you give them into my hands?” Yahweh said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give[b] the Philistines into your hand.” 20 So David came to Baal Perazim and defeated them there; and David said, “Yahweh has burst through my enemies before me like the bursting of water.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.[c] 21 They had left their idols there, so David and his men carried them away.

22 Once again[d] the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. 23 So David inquired of Yahweh, but he said, “You shall not go up. Rather, go around to their rear and come to them from opposite the balsam trees. 24 And it shall be[e] that when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then pay attention, for then Yahweh has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” 25 So David did thus, just as Yahweh had commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Geba all the way[f] to Gezer.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 5:17 Thought by many to be the stronghold of Masada
  2. 2 Samuel 5:19 Literally “giving I will give”
  3. 2 Samuel 5:20 Baal Perazim may mean “the master of the bursting through”
  4. 2 Samuel 5:22 Literally “And they again did again”
  5. 2 Samuel 5:24 Literally “And it shall happen”
  6. 2 Samuel 5:25 Literally “as you go up”