Bible Strands
2 Samuel 5:18
Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the Philistines advancing into the Valley of Rephaim immediately after David’s anointing and his retreat to the stronghold. This military positioning establishes the immediate crisis that prompts David’s next inquiry to the Lord.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַ/יִּנָּטְשׁ֖וּ (va/i.yi.na.te.Shu) literally means “they were spread out,” describing the Philistines’ tactical deployment. The place name רְפָאִים (re.fa.'Im) identifies the specific valley where this opposing force assembled.
The thread — The Valley of Rephaim appears in Joshua 15:8 as a geographic boundary near Jerusalem and in Genesis 14:5 as the ancestral territory of the Rephaites. Joshua 17:15 also references the region when discussing tribal inheritance and settlement.
Why it lands — The text states that a hostile army has positioned itself against David’s new seat of power, requiring a direct response. A reader must acknowledge the reality of organized opposition before receiving the divine command to engage.
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
The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
Cross-references
- Joshua 15:8 From there the border went up the Valley of Ben-hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem) and ascended to the top of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom on the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.
- Genesis 14:5 In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
- Joshua 17:15 Joshua answered them, “If you have so many people that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go to the forest and clear for yourself an area in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”
- 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.
- Joshua 18:16 Then it went down to the foot of the hill that faces the Valley of Ben-hinnom at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim and ran down the Valley of Hinnom toward the southern slope of the Jebusites and downward to En-rogel.
- 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.
- 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.