Bible Strands
2 Samuel 5:24
As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because this will mean that the LORD has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses David during a campaign against the Philistines, issuing tactical instructions immediately after David inquires how to engage the enemy (2 Samuel 5:23).
The words — The text centers on קוֹל צְעָדָה (kol tze'adah, "sound of marching") and בְּרָאשֵׁי הַבְּכָאִים (be-ra'shei ha-beka'im, "tops of the balsam trees") as the specific auditory and geographical markers God provides.
The thread — This reliance on divine auditory signs to confirm military action recurs when the Lord causes the Arameans to hear a phantom army (2 Kings 7:6) and when Gideon returns to camp after hearing a dream and its interpretation (Judges 7:15).
Why it lands — The verse demands immediate movement triggered by a specific, observable sign that confirms the Lord has gone out ahead of the troops to strike the enemy camp.
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 let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 7:6 For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.”
- 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 7:15 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.”
- 1 Samuel 14:9 If they say, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stay where we are and will not go up to them.
- 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.”
- Philippians 2:11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.