of that place [1]Baal-perazim. 12And they left their gods there; and David gave commandment, and they were burned with fire. 13And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley. 14And David inquired again of God; and God said unto him, Thou shalt not go up after them: turn away from them, and come upon them over against the [2]mulberry trees. 15And it shall be, when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go
Probably the scene of the victory was a hill deeply scarred with watercourses. The force with which God broke through the army of the Philistines is compared with that of a torrent bursting forth from the hill-side or forcing its way through all obstacles. Baal-perazim = the Lord of breakings forth, i.e. upon the foe.
12. David gave commandment, and they were burned] In 2 Sam. v. 21 (R.V.) David and his men took them away. The Chronicler alters this statement so as to make David's conduct agree with the Law (Deut. vii. 5, 25) which enjoined that graven images were to be burnt with fire.
13. yet again] This invasion of "all the Philistines" (ver. 8) was too serious to be repelled by a single defeat.
in the valley] in 2 Sam. v. 22, in the valley of Rephaim, as in ver. 9 above.
14. Thou shalt not go up after them] In 2 Sam. v. 23 the words after them are connected with the following verb: Thou shalt not go up: make a circuit behind them. In Samuel the command is to assail the rear of the enemy, in Chronicles to avoid the rear (which was perhaps protected by a rear-guard) and to attack (presumably) the flank. The reading in Chronicles is to be preferred as a harder reading, which yields good sense on examination.
from them] The Heb. word suggests that David occupied a commanding position from which he would be tempted to attack.
over against the mulberry trees] Render, along, parallel to. The line of David's attack is to be parallel to a line of mulberry trees (or to a ridge on which mulberry trees stood) situate probably at right angles to the line of the Philistine march. Thus David's advance would be concealed from the Philistines until the very moment of the attack, which would fall on the flank of the Philistine march.
mulberry trees] or, as mg., balsam trees. Some kind of tree or shrub from which gum exudes seems to be meant.
15. the sound of marching] the sound of the wind in the trees is tobe taken as an omen from Jehovah, indicating the favourable moment for the assault. The Targ., characteristically, has the sound of angels coming to thy help.
