2nd Samuel Chapter 5 verse 23 Holy Bible
And when David inquired of Jehovah, he said, Thou shalt not go up: make a circuit behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry-trees.
read chapter 5 in ASV
And when David went for directions to the Lord, he said, You are not to go up against them in front; but make a circle round them from the back and come on them opposite the spice-trees.
read chapter 5 in BBE
And David inquired of Jehovah; and he said, Thou shalt not go up; turn round behind them and come upon them opposite the mulberry-trees.
read chapter 5 in DARBY
And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.
read chapter 5 in KJV
And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up: but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry-trees.
read chapter 5 in WBT
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.
read chapter 5 in WEB
and David asketh of Jehovah, and He saith, `Thou dost not go up, turn round unto their rear, and thou hast come to them over-against the mulberries,
read chapter 5 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 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.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(23) Shall not go up.--The enemy, on the same battle-expound, would have prepared for attack from the same direction as before; consequently David is directed to go round them and attack them unexpectedly from the opposite quarter.
