2 Samuel 5:21

2 Samuel 5:21 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.
• New International Version (NIV)The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away.

Context of 2 Samuel 5:21

19So David asked the Lord, “Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord replied to David, “Yes, go ahead. I will certainly hand them over to you.” 20So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. “The Lord did it!” David exclaimed. “He burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” So he named that place Baal-perazim (which means “the Lord who bursts through”). The Philistines had abandoned their idols there, so David and his men confiscated them. 22But after a while the Philistines returned and again spread out across the valley of Rephaim. 23And again David asked the Lord what to do. “Do not attack them straight on,” the Lord replied. “Instead, circle around behind and attack them near the poplar trees.

2 Samuel 5:21 word by word

וַיַּעַזְבוּ־שָׁ֖ם אֶת־עֲצַבֵּיהֶ֑ם וַיִּשָּׂאֵ֥ם דָּוִ֖ד וַאֲנָשָֽׁיו׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And there they leftעָזַב‛âzab · to leave: forsakeH5800
• their imagesעָצָב‛âtsâb · idolH6091
• and Davidדָּוִדdâvid dâvîyd · DavidH1732
• and his menאֱנוֹשׁ'ĕnôsh · humanH582
• burnedנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: bearH5375

Cross-references for 2 Samuel 5:21

• Deuteronomy 7:5This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols.
• 1 Samuel 5:2They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside an idol of Dagon.
• 1 Chronicles 14:11So David and his troops went up to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. “God did it!” David exclaimed. “He used me to burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” So they named that place Baal-perazim (which means “the Lord who bursts through”).
• Isaiah 37:19And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands.
• Isaiah 46:1Bel and Nebo, the gods of Babylon, bow as they are lowered to the ground. They are being hauled away on ox carts. The poor beasts stagger under the weight.
• Jeremiah 43:12He will set fire to the temples of Egypt’s gods; he will burn the temples and carry the idols away as plunder. He will pick clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks fleas from his cloak. And he himself will leave unharmed.

Commentaries on 2 Samuel 5:21

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21They left their images - It was the custom of most nations to carry their gods with them to battle: in imitation of this custom the Israelites once took the ark and lost it in the field; see 1 Samuel 4:10, 1 Samuel 4:11.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21And there they left their images - An indication of the precipitancy of their flight, and the suddenness with which the Israelites burst upon them like a “breach of waters.” The King James Version rendering “Burned them,” does not give a translation (compare the margin), but a gloss, warranted by the explanation given in marginal referencesRead the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-25Verses 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, Psa 2:1, &c. The destruction will turn, as this did, upon Satan's own kingdom. David owns dependence on God for victory; and refers…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21David … carried them away: David took the Philistines' idols as revenge for their earlier capture of the ark during Eli's time (1 Samuel 4:1b–11). Instead of keeping the idols as trophies, David burned them (1 Chronicles 14:12).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2121. there they left their images--probably their "lares" or household deities, which they had brought into the field to fight for them. They were burnt as ordained by law (De 7:5).Read the comment

Topics related to 2 Samuel 5:21

• Iconoclasm
• Philistines
• Prayer
• Rain

In the dictionaries

• David
• Compass
• Fetch
• Rephaim, Valley of
• Genealogy
• Samuel, Books of
• Philistines
• Rephaim, the Valley of

Commentaries on 2 Samuel 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings