2 Samuel 5:23

5:17-25 The Philistines considered not that David had the presence of God with him, which Saul had forfeited and lost. The kingdom of the Messiah, as soon as it was set up in the world, was thus attacked by the powers of darkness. The heathen raged, and the kings of the earth set themselves to oppose it; but all in vain, Ps 2:1, &c. The destruction will turn, as this did, upon Satan's own kingdom. David owns dependence on God for victory; and refers himself to the good pleasure of God, Wilt thou do it? The assurance God has given us of victory over our spiritual enemies, should encourage us in our spiritual conflicts. David waited till God moved; he stirred then, but not till then. He was trained up in dependence on God and his providence. God performed his promise, and David failed not to improve his advantages. When the kingdom of the Messiah was to be set up, the apostles, who were to beat down the devil's kingdom, must not attempt any thing till they received the promise of the Spirit; who came with a sound from heaven, as of a rushing, mighty wind, Ac 2:2.

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.

23 . Thou shalt not go up ] The addition of the Sept. “ to meet them ” is needed to complete the sense. This answer implies the same question as in 2 Samuel 5:19 . fetch a compass behind them ] Go round to their rear. “Compass” in old English means “circuit;” and “to fetch a compass” means “to make a circuit or detour,” “to go round.” In Chron. the same manœuvre is described in different words: “Go not after them: turn away from them and come upon them,” &c. mulberry trees ] So the Jewish commentators explain the word bâcâ which is found only here and in the parallel passage of Chronicles. Probably however a tree called bâcâ by the Arabs, resembling the balsam shrub, is meant. The name is derived from bâcâh , “to weep,” from the tear-like sap which exudes when a leaf is torn off. “The valley of Baca” ( Psalm 84:6 ) may have been named from these trees, and the Psalmist refers to it with a play upon its etymological significance, “valley of weeping.”

Verse 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 ( Psalm 84:6 ), and that there was such a valley, though this is not certain. For the Revised Version translates "valley of weeping," concluding that baca is not there a proper name. By baca trees the LXX. and Vulgate "pear trees," but as bacah means "to weep," it is probably some balsamic shrub, from which a resin exudes. The Revised Version puts here in the margin, "balsam trees." Dr. Tristram thinks it was a sort of aspen, but the authority of the Vulgate is great in such matters, as Jerome obtained his information in Palestine itself. 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 Psalm 84:6 was so called from this plant growing there.

The hold - Not the same place which is so named in 2 Samuel 5:7 , 2 Samuel 5:9 , but probably the cave (or hold) of Adullam 2 Samuel 23:13 . The invasion most probably took place before David had completed his buildings in the city of David; and is probably referred to in 2 Samuel 23:8-17 .

David inquired once more of the Lord what he was to do, and received this answer: "Thou shalt not go up (i.e., advance to meet the foe, and attack them in front); turn round behind them, and come upon them (attack them) opposite to the Baca-shrubs." בּכאים, a word which only occurs here and in the parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 14:14 , is rendered ἀπίους, pear-trees, by the lxx, and mulberry-trees by the Rabbins. But these are both of them uncertain conjectures. Baca, according to Abulfadl, is the name given in Arabic to a shrub which grows at Mecca and resembles the balsam, except that it has longer leaves and larger and rounder fruit, and from which, if a leaf be broken off, there flows a white pungent sap, like a white tear, which is all probability gave rise to the name בּכא equals בּכה, to weep (vid., Celsii, Hierob. i. pp. 338ff., and Gesenius, Thes. p. 205).