2 Samuel 21:15
in 2 Samuel 21Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines; but David became exhausted.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. And David waxed faint;
KJV
Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 21
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This, like the preceding paragraph 2Sa 21:1-14, is manifestly a detached and unconnected extract. It is probably taken from some history of David’s wars, apparently the same as furnished the materials for 2 Sam. 5; 8; 23:8-39. There is no direct clue to the time when the events here related took place, but it was probably quite in the early part of David’s reign, while he was still young and active, after the war described in 2 Sam.
This site's exposition
went down, and his servants with him
on 2 Samuel 21:15-16
War with the Philistines resumes, and this time David himself grows faint in the field, an old soldier's admission the text states without embarrassment. Ishbi-benob, one of the giant's line, moves to kill him while he is weakened, carrying a spear of three hundred shekels of brass and armed with a new sword. The threat lands at the point where David is most exposed, worn from decades of exactly this kind of war, the same war that began at Gath a generation earlier with one shepherd and one stone.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
David, though old, desired not a writ of ease from the public service, but he went down in person to fight against the Philistines (Senescit, non segnescit -- He grows old, but not indolent ), a sign that he fought not for his own glory (at this age he was loaded with glory, and needed no more), but for the good of his kingdom.
1 Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the L ORD . And the L ORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:90%@v1
Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel--Although the Philistines had completely succumbed to the army of David, yet the appearance of any gigantic champions among them revived their courage and stirred them up to renewed inroads on the Hebrew territory.
Moreover the Philistines had yet war - There is no mention of this war in the parallel place, 1Ch 20:4, etc. David waxed faint - This circumstance is nowhere else mentioned.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Everything that the king had commanded. To eulogize them in all of the cities of Yisroel.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתְּהִי־ | vatehi- | and it belonged | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| ע֧וֹד | od | again | H5750 → | 490 times |
| מִלְחָמָ֛ה | milchamah | war | H4421 → | 320 times |
| לַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖ים | lapelishtim | to the Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וַיֵּ֨רֶד | vaiyered | and he went down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| דָּוִ֜ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וַעֲבָדָ֥יו | vaavadav | and servants his | H5650 → | 799 times |
| עִמּ֛וֹ | imo | with him | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| וַיִּלָּחֲמ֥וּ | vaiyilachamu | and they fought | H3898 → | 177 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| פְּלִשְׁתִּ֖ים | pelishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| וַיָּ֥עַף | vaiyaaf | and he was weary | H5888 → | |
| דָּוִֽד׃ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
וַתְּהִי־and it belonged
vatehi-H1961 →3559 times
ע֧וֹדagain
odH5750 →490 times
מִלְחָמָ֛הwar
milchamahH4421 →320 times
לַפְּלִשְׁתִּ֖יםto the Philistines
lapelishtimH6430 →287 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וַיֵּ֨רֶדand he went down
vaiyeredH3381 →381 times
דָּוִ֜דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
וַעֲבָדָ֥יוand servants his
vaavadavH5650 →799 times
עִמּ֛וֹwith him
imoH5973 →1050 times
וַיִּלָּחֲמ֥וּand they fought
vaiyilachamuH3898 →177 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֖ים[the] Philistines
pelishtimH6430 →287 times
וַיָּ֥עַףand he was weary
vaiyaafH5888 →
דָּוִֽד׃David
davidH1732 →999 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 71:9Do not discard me in my old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.
it leads to
- Isaiah 46:4
Even to your old age, I will be the same, and I will bear you up when you turn gray. I have made you, and I will carry you; I will sustain you and…
- 2 Timothy 1:12
For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have…
- Psalms 71:18
Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.
- Psalms 92:13–15
Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
- Psalms 90:10
The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty if we are strong— yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
- Isaiah 46:4
Through
2 Samuel 5:17When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they all went in search of him; but David learned of this and went down to the stronghold.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 23:14
At that time David was in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was at Bethlehem.
- 1 Chronicles 14:8–9
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they all went in search of him; but David learned of this and went out to face them.
- 1 Chronicles 11:16
At that time David was in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was at Bethlehem.
- 2 Samuel 23:14
Where this verse is studied
About 2 Samuel
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.