Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 14:15
As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move out to battle, because this will mean that God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses David, specifying the exact auditory signal that will precede the Israelite assault on the Philistine camp. This instruction follows David’s second inquiry after God’s initial command to bypass a direct confrontation and maneuver around the enemy.
The words — The Hebrew קֹל הַצְּעָדָה (kol ha-tze'adah) literally renders "the sound of marching," and הַבְּכָאִים (ha-beqa'im) identifies the balsam trees as the location of that sound.
The thread — This motif of a divinely sent auditory phenomenon marking intervention appears in Isaiah 13:4 and Acts 2:2, where sudden noise signals God’s active presence against opposing forces.
Why it lands — The text commands immediate movement upon hearing the signal, establishing that the battle belongs to God rather than human tactics. It requires the reader to abandon independent strategy and act only when the divine sign is explicitly given.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And it shall be, when thou shalt hear a sound of going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle: for God is gone forth before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 13:4 Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations gathered together! The LORD of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.
- Acts 2:2 Suddenly a sound like a mighty rushing wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
- 2 Kings 19:7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”
- Isaiah 45:1 This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut:
- Micah 2:12 I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will collect the remnant of Israel. I will bring them together like sheep in a pen, like a flock in the midst of its pasture—a noisy throng.
- Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
- Leviticus 26:36 As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.
- Judges 4:14 Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.
- Judges 7:9 That night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up and go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.
- Judges 7:15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Get up, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”