2 Samuel 5:23

23 And David inquired of Jehovah; and he said, Thou shalt not go up; turn round behind them and come upon them opposite the mulberry-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 And they left their images there, and David and his men took them away.

22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

23 And David inquired of Jehovah; and he said, Thou shalt not go up; turn round behind them and come upon them opposite the mulberry-trees.

24 And it shall be, when thou hearest a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself; for then will Jehovah have gone forth before thee, to smite the army of the Philistines.

25 And David did so, as Jehovah had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou comest to Gezer.