2 Samuel 5:23

23 When David inquired of Yahweh, he said, You shall not go up: make a circuit behind them, and come on them over against 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 They left their images there; and David and his men took them away.

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

23 When David inquired of Yahweh, he said, You shall not go up: make a circuit behind them, and come on them over against the mulberry trees.

24 It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then you shall bestir yourself; for then is Yahweh gone out before you to strike the host of the Philistines.

25 David did so, as Yahweh commanded him, and struck the Philistines from Geba until you come to Gezer.