2 Samuel 5:23

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.

2 Samuel 5:23 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 5:23

And when David inquired of the Lord
For though he had success before, and got the victory, he would not engage again with them without having the mind and will of God, on whom he knew victory alone depended:

he said, thou shalt not go up;
that is, directly, and in a straight line:

[but] fetch a compass behind them;
and get to the rear of them, instead of falling upon them in the front:

and come upon them over against the mulberry trees:
which grew in the valley of Rephaim, and near where the Philistines had pitched.

2 Samuel 5:23 In-Context

21 They had left their idols there, so David and his men carried them away.

22 {Once again} [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} 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} to Gezer.