Bible Strands
2 Samuel 23:13
At harvest time, three of the thirty chief men went down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a company of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator reports that during the harvest season, three of David’s thirty elite commanders descended to him in the cave of Adullam while Philistine forces occupied the Valley of Rephaim. This report follows Shammah’s defensive stand and precedes the clarification that David was holed up in a stronghold with a Philistine garrison at Bethlehem.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יֵּרְד֨וּ (va/i.ye.re.Du) literally means "and they went down," describing the physical descent of the commanders to David. The noun קָצִיר֙ (ka.Tzir) denotes "the harvest," establishing the seasonal timing of the event.
The thread — The cave of Adullam reappears as David’s refuge in 1 Samuel 22:1, while the Valley of Rephaim is previously noted as a Philistine encampment site in 2 Samuel 5:18. The location Adullam also appears in the conquest list of Joshua 12:15.
Why it lands — The text records a tactical movement of loyal commanders to a vulnerable leader during a critical agricultural season under enemy occupation. It demands recognition of how David’s leadership and the loyalty of his men functioned within immediate military and seasonal pressures.
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 three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 22:1 So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.
- 2 Samuel 5:18 Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
- Joshua 12:15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;
- Joshua 15:35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,
- 2 Samuel 5:22 Once again the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
- 1 Chronicles 11:15 Three of the thirty chief men went down to David, to the rock at the cave of Adullam, while a company of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.
- 1 Chronicles 14:9 Now the Philistines had come and raided the Valley of Rephaim.
- Isaiah 17:5 as the reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the ears with his arm, as one gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.
- Micah 1:15 I will again bring a conqueror against you, O dweller of Mareshah. The glory of Israel will come to Adullam.