2 Samuel 5:21 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.

NIV: The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.

NASB: And the Philistines abandoned their idols there, so David and his men carried them away.

CSB: The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.

NLT: The Philistines had abandoned their idols there, so David and his men confiscated them.

KJV: And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.

NKJV: And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away.

This is the first battle recorded after David became king of the united tribes of Israel. The Philistines know how dangerous David is, and they don't want him defending so much territory. So, they attack quickly. After checking with God, David leads his army to the Philistine encampment and wins (2 Samuel 5:17–19).

David describes the battle, saying, "The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood" (2 Samuel 5:20). The battle is apparently sudden, devastating, and overwhelming. The surviving Philistines are left with no option but to run for their lives, leaving their sacred idols behind them.

Many armies in this era brought idols with them to battle, seeking the favor of their gods. Such idols can be large or small, most were small enough to be carried. Enemy idols captured in battle are sometimes kept in the temple of the victor's gods as evidence that they have defeated the gods of their enemies.

Many years earlier, the Philistines had taken captive the ark of Covenant in this way, only to discover that the ark of the God of Israel was too powerful even to keep within the borders of their nation (1 Samuel 4). David's men now gather up the abandoned idols of the Philistines and, according to 1 Chronicles 14:12, burn them.

To continue the story of how God blesses David, the text describes a second battle against the Philistines in the same place. This time, God seems to give David insight into the divine angel-army fighting alongside the army of His people (2 Samuel 5:22–25).

Second 2 Samuel 5:17–25 explains how David confronts the Philistines as king of Israel. He has been fighting the Philistines since he was a boy (1 Samuel 17), and one of the reasons Israel has accepted him as king is because of his reputation as a military commander (2 Samuel 3:17–19; 5:2). This section is repeated in 1 Chronicles 14:8–17. The battles continue a series of examples of how God is blessing David's new kingship (2 Samuel 5). Second Samuel 5—10 describes David's successes as a man and a king. Second Samuel 11—24 describes his failures and their consequences.

Second Samuel 5 is a series of vignettes describing how God blesses David after his inauguration as king over the nation. David took Jerusalem from the Jebusites and made the city the nation's capital (2 Samuel 5:6–9). His first international ally, Hiram, king of Tyre, built his palace (2 Samuel 5:11). His family grew: exponentially (2 Samuel 5:13–16)! And he soundly beat his enemies (2 Samuel 5:17–25). David did all this because of God's favor, to bless the nation, not through his own skill or because of any good in him (2 Samuel 5:10, 12). First Chronicles 11:1–9 and 14:1–17 also record these events.

Second Samuel 5 is a pivot point for all of Israel's history. After Saul's son Ish-bosheth is killed, no opposition remains to David's kingship (2 Samuel 4:5–6). Convinced by Abner before his death to follow David (2 Samuel 3:17–19), the elders of Israel gather at Hebron to anoint David king over the entire nation. David moves his capital to Jerusalem and defends the nation against the Philistines. Now, he has enough security to bring the ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:1–15). The following chapters seem to collectively describe David's accomplishments (2 Samuel 5:9—10:19) and his mistakes (2 Samuel 11—20).

Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.