David Defeats the Philistines in the Valley of Rephaim

2 Samuel 5; 23:13-17 ; 1 Chronicles 11:15-19; 14:10-17

Soon after David became king over all Israel, the Philistines sent forces into the central hill country to find David. No doubt their intent was to keep the newly unified nation of Israel from becoming too powerful under David’s rule and to ensure their own power in the region. But David heard about their plan and “went down to the stronghold” before the Philistines reached the Valley of Rephaim, where they spread out their forces. It is possible that “the stronghold” mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:17 is referring to his recently captured city of Jerusalem, which is referred to as a “fortress” in verse 7, but it is more likely that this term is referring instead to the cave at Adullam. In 2 Samuel 23:13-14, the writer recounts how three of David’s mighty men came to him at Adullam while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim, and this is likely referring to the same event described in 2 Samuel 5. This is further supported by David’s question to the Lord in 2 Samuel 5:19 regarding whether he should “go up” to fight the Philistines. It is unlikely that David would have used the term “go up” to refer simply to going out to the Valley of Rephaim from Jerusalem. The writer also notes in 23:14 that the Philistines had posted a garrison in Bethlehem, so David likely had to bypass Bethlehem to reach Jerusalem from Adullam. Given that Bethlehem was David’s hometown, however, he was almost certainly very familiar with alternate routes around the town. After reaching Jerusalem, David led his forces in a frontal attack against the Philistines at a place that came to be called Baal-perazim (“Lord of bursting forth”), and David’s forces defeated the Philistines. Sometime later the Philistines again arrayed their forces in the Valley of Rephaim, and apparently David was at Jerusalem at the time. This time, however, he led his forces around to the rear of the Philistine forces and waited for the sound of marching in the tops of the nearby balsam trees, which signaled to him that the Lord had gone out before him to strike down the Philistines. David’s forces were again victorious over the Philistines and struck them down from Gibeon (per the Septuagint; Hebrew reads Geba) to Gezer.

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Poster Map of Israel and Judah

Soon after King Solomon of Israel died, the nation of Israel divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah (1 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 10; also see map). Initially Moab remained subject to Israel, and Edom remained subject to Judah, but by 848 B.C.–the approximate era displayed on this map–both nations had revolted and reasserted their independence, as did the city of Libnah (2 Kings 1:1; 8:20-22; 2 Chronicles 21:8-10; also see map). By this time Moab had also expanded its domain northward, seizing the territory allotted to the tribe of Reuben. This area had formerly been under Moab’s control until the Amorite king Sihon captured the region sometime before Israel crossed the Arnon River on their way to the Promised Land (Numbers 21:26; also see map). The borders between all of the nations included in this map shifted from time to time, but generally they remained as shown here until the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians in the final decades of the eighth century B.C.

This map is designed to be printed at 24 in. x 36 in., but it may scale acceptably at larger or smaller sizes as well.

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The Battle at the Pool of Gibeon

2 Samuel 2

Sometime during David’s reign in Hebron, a group of soldiers led by Joab traveled north to the town of Gibeon, where some soldiers led by Abner, the commander over Ish-bosheth’s forces, had already gathered. The two sides agreed to a contest of young champions, but the contest ended with all the champions slaughtering each other. This led to a fierce battle among the rest of the soldiers, with Joab’s men pursuing Abner’s men most likely westward, since David’s men had probably positioned themselves to the east of Abner’s men after arriving at Gibeon, thus blocking their escape route back to Mahanaim. Abner killed Joab’s brother Asahel during the pursuit and continued to flee to the hill of Ammah. There Abner’s men took a stand on the top of the hill to defend him against Joab’s men. Abner then called out to Joab and convinced him to call a truce. Abner and his men returned to Mahanaim, and Joab returned to count his men. Then Joab and his men traveled to Bethlehem and buried Asahel in his father’s tomb there. After this Joab and his forces returned to David at Hebron. The hill of Ammah, where Abner’s men took their stand, is specifically described as lying “before Giah on the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.” Though the term “wilderness” (midbar) is almost always used to refer to locations east of the Central Ridge Route, which runs north-south along the watershed of Israel, the patriarch Reuben also used the term to refer to the area of Dothan, which is west of the watershed (Genesis 37:22; see map here), to indicate that it was sparsely populated. It is possible, then, that the wilderness of Gibeon similarly referred to the sparsely populated, hilly region lying to the west of Gibeon and the watershed. Thus the “way to the wilderness of Gibeon” could have been the ancient route that passed through this area, which was later paved by the Romans. Based on these assumptions, this author has found that the most logical location for the hill of Ammah is the slope immediately northwest of the junction where the road heading southwest from Gibeon meets the way to the wilderness of Gibeon. This, then, coincides perfectly with the location of el-Qubeiba, which has been identified as a very viable candidate for the town called Emmaus in the New Testament (Luke 24:13-36). So it is possible that the hill of Ammah is the same as the town of Emmaus, and this is further supported by the clear similarities between the Hebrew name Ammah and the Greek name Emmaus. The site of el-Qubeiba had been regarded as Emmaus since as far back as the Crusader era and probably much earlier, since the Crusaders noted that they found a Roman fort there called Castellum Emmaus (see an excellent summary in J. Carl Laney’s doctoral dissertation here). Finally, the word Giah, typically translated as a placename in 2 Samuel 2:24, may instead be referring to the valley or the entrance to the valley that runs parallel to the way to the wilderness of Gibeon.

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David and Ish-bosheth

2 Samuel 2-4

Soon after Saul was killed in battle against the Philistines, David and his family moved to Hebron. There the people of Judah, David’s tribe, anointed him king over Judah. It seems that David then made an indirect offer to Jabesh-gilead to come under his rule as well, but Abner, the son of Saul’s commander, had already set up Saul’s son Ish-bosheth as king over all the other tribes. (The name Ish-bosheth, meaning “man of shame,” may have originally been Esh-baal, as in 1 Chronicles 8:33; 9:39, and was modified by later copyists of Scripture, perhaps to denigrate any association with the name Baal.) A long war ensued between David and Ish-bosheth. During this time, some of Ish-bosheth’s men traveled to Gibeon under the command of Abner, and they faced off at a pool against some of David’s men under the command of Joab, one of David’s nephews (1 Chronicles 2:15-16). Abner suggested that they have a contest between their respective champions, and twelve men were selected from each side to fight. David’s men killed all twelve of Abner’s men, and this led to a fierce battle between all the soldiers. Joab’s brother Asahel was killed in the fighting. Eventually Abner called for Joab to end the fighting between the two armies, and he agreed. Abner’s men then marched all night, making their way through the Jordan Valley (“the Arabah”) and continuing the next morning until they reached Mahanaim. Joab’s men traveled to Bethlehem and buried Asahel in his father’s tomb in Bethlehem, and then they continued to Hebron. Over time David became stronger and stronger, while Ish-bosheth became weaker and weaker.

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Land Unconquered by the End of Saul’s Reign

Joshua 13:1-6; Judges 1:21-36

Though Numbers 32 and Joshua 13-20 carefully detail the boundaries of each Israelite tribe’s allotted land (see map), much of this land was still occupied by Canaanites, and the Israelites often struggled to establish dominion over their inheritance. In particular, the lands along the Mediterranean Sea, in the plain of Bashan, and in the Jezreel and Sorek Valleys proved to be very difficult for the Israelites to occupy. In some cases the Israelites were eventually able to drive out the Canaanites, but in other cases they were only ever able to subject them to forced labor while still allowing them to remain in the land. Some areas proved so difficult that the Israelites never fully succeeded in gaining control over them during the settlement period (i.e., the time of the judges). Such was the case with Philistia, which led much of the tribe of Dan to relocate to an area just south of Mount Hermon in the far north. The book of Judges explains that ultimately the Lord allowed many of these foreign peoples to remain in the land both as a punishment for the Israelites’ imitation of their sinful practices and also “in order to test Israel, whether or not they would take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their ancestors did” (Judges 2:18-23). Though individual towns no doubt changed hands during this time and the Philistines even managed to capture some of the central hill country for a time (1 Samuel 13-14; see map), for the most part the area controlled by the Israelites remained largely unchanged for much of the time of the judges through the time of Saul, Israel’s first king. This was also one of the primary reasons the Israelites eventually asked for a king–they wanted someone to lead them in battle against their enemies (1 Samuel 8).

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