2 Samuel 5:22-25 NVT

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:22-23

( 1 Chronicles 14:13 , 1 Chronicles 14:14 ). ( THE VALLEY OF REPHAIM .) Renewed conflict. 1 . The life of a godly man on earth is a warfare which is perpetually renewed. Hardly has one conflict been passed through before another awaits him with old or new and more formidable foes: the world, the flesh, the devil; ignorance, idolatries, oppressions, sin and misery of all kinds ( 1 Samuel 17:1-11 ). Yea, each day the "good warfare" begins afresh. "The approach of duty is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:23

Thou shalt not go up. The attack in front is forbidden, and the answer shows that the priest with the ephod did more than give a mere affirmative or negative reply. For David receives full instructions. Taking advantage of the valleys, he is to creep round into the rear of the Philistines, and approach them under cover of a thicket of baca trees. Mulberry trees; Hebrew, baca trees. This suggests the idea that David's place of attack was the Baca valley ( Psalms 84:6 ), and that there... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:24

The sound of a going; Hebrew, a marching. Under the cover of this thicket David was to wait until he heard the sound as of the regular tramp of an army in the tops of the baca trees. It would be in the morning that the wind would shake the treetops, but the sound was to be something more than the soft whispers of a gentle breeze. A gale was to put them into sudden motion, and then the soldiers would know that their Jehovah had gone forth to battle, and David must immediately bestir ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:24

Divine omens of coming victory. "When thou hearest the sound of marching … then is the Lord gone out before thee," etc. (Revised Version). The Philistines were a brave and determined people, not easily beaten. Repulsed and scattered "as the breach of waters," they reunite and return. David, inquiring of God, receives directions differing from those given him on the former occasion. He is instructed not to "go up" to the higher ground occupied by the Philistines, but to make a circuit to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:24-25

( 1 Chronicles 14:15-17 ). ( THE VALLEY or REPHAIM .) Signs. "The sound of a going" (as of footsteps, 5:4 ; 2 Samuel 6:13 ) "in the beginnings" (on the tops or at the entrance of the grove) "of the baca trees," which David heard, was a sign appointed by God, occurring, either by his extraordinary and miraculous operation for a special purpose; or by his ordinary operation in nature and providence (the rustling of the leaves in a still season by a fresh breeze, such as, in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:25

From Geba until thou some to Gazer. In 1 Chronicles 14:16 "Gibson" is substituted for "Geba," and it is one of those corrections which a commentator is inclined to adopt, because it makes all things easy. For Gibeon lay directly on the road from the Rephaim valley towards Gazer, and the armies must have passed it in the fight. But if "Geba" be the right reading here, then the battle must have been most sternly contested. For it is the "Gibeah of Benjamin," Hebrew, "Geba of Benjamin,"... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 5:23

The mulberry trees - Rather, the Bacah-tree, and found abundantly near Mecca. It is very like the balsam-tree, and probably derives its name from the exudation of the sap in drops like tears when a leaf is torn off. Some think the valley of Baca Psalms 84:6 was so called from this plant growing there. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 5:25

Geba - Better, as in marginal reference “Gibeon.” Gazer should be “Gezer” (Joshua 10:33, etc.); it lay between the nether Bethhoron and the sea; on the direct route therefore which the Philistines, fleeing from Gibeon, would take. The exact site has now been identified (1 Kings 9:16). read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 5:22-23

2 Samuel 5:22-23. And spread themselves The expression intimates, that they were very numerous, and made a very formidable appearance. So we read, Revelation 20:9, of the enemies of the church going up on the breadth of the earth. But the wider they spread themselves, the fairer mark they are for God’s arrows. And when David inquired of the Lord Though he had been successful before, yet he would attempt nothing further without God’s direction; to whom he knew he owed his former victory.... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 5:24

2 Samuel 5:24. When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops, &c. The Hebrew, בראשׁי , beroshee, here translated tops, may properly be rendered, in the beginnings, or, among the first of the mulberry-trees; that is, in the very entrance of the place where these trees were, or among those which were first in order, and by which the grove was entered. So that God gives David for a sign, the sound of many men’s feet walking, not on the tops of the trees, (for men do not walk... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:22-23

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:23

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:24

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:24

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:24-25

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:25

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 5:23

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 5:25

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 5:22-23

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 5:24

Group of Brands