Fort

How Nave’s arranged it

• (A military defense)
• Field fortificationsDeuteronomy 20:19Deuteronomy 20:202 Kings 25:1Ezekiel 4:2Ezekiel 17:17Ezekiel 26:8
• Defenses of cities2 Chronicles 26:15Isaiah 25:12
• See Castles
• See Towers
• See Walls
• Erected in vineyards and herding grounds2 Chronicles 26:10Isaiah 5:2Matthew 21:33Mark 12:1Luke 20:9
• Caves used forJudges 6:21 Samuel 23:29Isaiah 33:16
• FIGURATIVE
• Of God's care2 Samuel 22:22 Samuel 22:32 Samuel 22:47Psalms 18:2Psalms 31:3Psalms 71:3Psalms 91:2Psalms 144:2Proverbs 18:10Nahum 1:7

The passages, in Bible order (26)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Deuteronomy 20:19

   When you lay siege to a city for an extended time while fighting against it to capture it, you must not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them, because you can eat their fruit. You must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field human, that you should besiege them?

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 20:192 voices

   “But fruit-bearing trees were to be carefully spared; and, indeed, in warm countries like India, where the people live much more on fruit than we do, the destruction of a fruit tree is considered a sort of sacrilege.

   “The Logos in his goodness, richly equipped with love of humankind, teaches that it is not right to cut down cultivated trees, still less to cut crops for purposes of vandalism before harvest, and even less still to destroy, root and branch, cultivated fruit, whether of the land or of the soul. It does not even allow the razing of enemy land. Yes, and farmers find their profit from the law.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 20:19→

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2. Deuteronomy 20:20

   But you may destroy the trees that you know do not produce fruit. Use them to build siege works against the city that is waging war against you, until it falls.

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Judges 6:2

   and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.

   Verse page →Original language →

4. 1 Samuel 23:29

   And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En-gedi.

   ›Commentary on 1 Samuel 23:292 voices

   “And David went up from thence,.... From the wilderness of Maon, having had a narrow escape for his life: and dwelt in strong holds in Engedi; another place in the tribe of Judah, and which lay in the wilderness of Judah, and from whence that is called the wilderness of Engedi; and here Dr. Lightfoot (w) thinks he penned the sixty third psalm, Psa 63:1, the wilderness about Engedi being the most desert of all other places, that being upon the borders of the dead sea; of this place; see Gill on Jos 15:62. (w) Works, vol. 1. p. 58.

   “En-gedi (the fountain of the kid), anciently called Hazezon-Tamar Gen 14:7 from the palm-trees which used to grow there, still preserves its name in Ain-Djedy. It is about 200 yards from the Dead Sea, about the center of its western shore. It is marked by great luxuriance of vegetation, though the approach to it is through most dangerous and precipitous passes. The country is full of caverns, which serve as lurking places for outlaws at the present day.

   Everything gathered on 1 Samuel 23:29→

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5. 2 Samuel 22:2

   He said: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.

   ›Commentary on 2 Samuel 22:21 voice

   The fifth song is in Second Samuel, when "David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul." He said, "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God will be my protector."

   Everything gathered on 2 Samuel 22:2→

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6. 2 Samuel 22:3

   My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence.

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7. 2 Samuel 22:47

   The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock! And may God, the Rock of my salvation, be exalted—

   Verse page →Original language →

8. 2 Kings 25:1

   So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.

   ›Commentary on 2 Kings 25:12 voices

   “What think you of Nebuchadnezzar? Have you not heard from Scripture that he was bloodthirsty, fierce, with the disposition of a lion? Have you not heard that he disinterred the kings? Have you not heard that he brought the people away into captivity? Have you not heard that he put the king's sons to the sword before Zedekiah's eyes and then blinded him? Have you not heard that he shattered the cherubim?

   “And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign,.... Of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah. From hence to the end of 2Ki 25:7, the account exactly agrees with Jer 52:4.

   Everything gathered on 2 Kings 25:1→

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9. 2 Chronicles 26:10

   Since he had much livestock in the foothills and in the plain, he built towers in the desert and dug many cisterns. And since he was a lover of the soil, he had farmers and vinedressers in the hill country and in the fertile fields.

   ›Commentary on 2 Chronicles 26:101 voice

   “Built towers in the desert - For the defense of his flocks, and his shepherds and husbandmen. And in Carmel - Calmet remarks that there were two Carmels in Judea: one in the tribe of Judah, where Nabal lived, and the other on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, near to Kishon; and both fertile in vines. He loved husbandry - This is a perfection in a king: on husbandry every state depends.

   Everything gathered on 2 Chronicles 26:10→

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10. 2 Chronicles 26:15

    And in Jerusalem he made skillfully designed devices to shoot arrows and catapult large stones from the towers and corners. So his fame spread far and wide, for he was helped tremendously so that he became powerful.

    ›Commentary on 2 Chronicles 26:152 voices

    “And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers, and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal,.... Such as with the Romans were called "catapultae", "ballistae" (u), "scorpiones" (w), &c. and by this it appears that these were not first invented in Greece and Rome, but in Judea.

    “Uzziah’s engines seem to have corresponded respectively to the Roman balista and catapulta. The balista, which threw stones, was known to the Assyrians as early as the time of Sardanapalus I, the contemporary of Jehoshaphat. The catapult is not represented either on the Assyrian or the Egyptian sculptures. It would seem on the whole most probable that both kinds of engines were invented in Assyria and introduced from thence into Palestine.

    Everything gathered on 2 Chronicles 26:15→

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11. Psalms 18:2

    The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 18:22 voices

    "The Lord is my rock and my fortress." Dwelling among the crags and mountain fastnesses of Judea David had escaped the malice of Saul, and here he compares his God to such a place of concealment and security. Believers are often hidden in their God from the strife of tongues and the fury of the storm of trouble. The clefts of the Rock of Ages are safe abodes. "My deliverer, " interposing in my hour of peril. When almost captured the Lord's people are rescued from the hand of the mighty by him who is mightier still.

    “Unless one has a horn with which to rout his enemies, he is not worthy to be offered to God. That is why the Lord is described as a horn to those who believe in him; and it was with the horns of the cross that he routed his enemies. On the cross he confounded the devil and his entire army. To be sure, Christ was crucified in his body, but on the cross, it was he who was crucifying there the devils. It was not a cross; it was a symbol of triumph, a banner of victory.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 18:2→

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12. Psalms 31:3

    For You are my rock and my fortress; lead me and guide me for the sake of Your name.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 31:32 voices

    “For thou art my rock and my fortress. Here the tried soul avows yet again its full confidence in God. Faith's repetitions are not vain. The avowal of our reliance upon God in times of adversity is a principle method of glorifying him. Active service is good, but the passive confidence of faith is not one jot less esteemed in the sight of God. The words before us appear to embrace and fasten upon the Lord with a fiducial grip which is not to be relaxed.

    “Now, through all the verses occurring here, at any rate, we learn the measure of his prudence: his appeal for divine assistance is made on the basis not of his own virtue but of God's name and of God's righteousness and because he hoped in …

    Everything gathered on Psalms 31:3→

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13. Psalms 71:3

    Be my rock of refuge, where I can always go. Give the command to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 71:32 voices

    “DAVID, in his younger days, had been obliged to hide himself away with his followers in the great caverns and rocks of his native land. In the cave of Adullam, by the rocks of the wild goats, he had dwelt amid the most stern surroundings of Nature. No doubt he had climbed aloft upon the mountain's side and then had penetrated into one cave after another and treated them as chambers of his house of rock.

    “Be thou my strong habitation,.... This is very appropiately said, when David was driven out of his dwelling place, and palace at Jerusalem, by his son, as Kimchi observes.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 71:3→

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14. Psalms 91:2

    I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

    ›Commentary on Psalms 91:22 voices

    “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress. To take up a general truth and make it our own by personal faith is the highest wisdom. It is but poor comfort to say 'the Lord is a refuge, 'but to say he is my refuge, is the essence of consolation. Those who believe should also speak—"I will say ", for such bold avowals honour God and lead others to seek the same confidence.

    “He shall say to the Lord: You are my upholder and my refuge, my God. For many enemies pursue me: therefore you are my refuge. I will hope in him. He did not say, "I hope"; but, "I will hope." For as long as we sin, we do not hope: if we cease to sin, we hope.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 91:2→

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15. Psalms 144:2

    He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. He is my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

    ›Commentary on Psalms 144:22 voices

    “My goodness,.... Not only good, but goodness itself; the donor of all the blessings of goodness to him; the author of all goodness in him; the provider of all goodness for him, laid up to be used hereafter. The Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it my mercy, properly enough; that is, the God of "my mercy", as in Psa 59:10; who is all mercy, full of mercy, rich and plenteous in it; which is abundant, and from everlasting to everlasting.

    “There was a special hand of God inclining the people of Israel to be subject to David, pursuant to the promise God had made him; and it was typical of that great act of divine grace, the bringing of souls into subjection to the Lord Jesus and making them willing in the day of his power.

    Everything gathered on Psalms 144:2→

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16. Proverbs 18:10

    The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 18:101 voice

    “STRONG towers were a greater security in a bygone age than they are now. Then when troops of marauders invaded the land, strong castles were set upon the various hilltops, and the inhabitants gathered up their little wealth and fled there at once. Castles were looked upon as being very difficult places to attack. And ancient troops would rather fight a hundred battles than endure a single siege. Towns which would be taken by modern artillery in twelve hours held out for twelve years against the most potent forces of the ancient times.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 18:10→

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