2 Samuel 5:20
in 2 Samuel 5So David went to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, the LORD has burst out against my enemies before me.” So he called that place Baal-perazim.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there; and he said, Jehovah hath broken mine enemies before me, like the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baal-perazim.
KJV
And David came to Baal–perazim, and David smote them there, and said, The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baal–perazim.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 5
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe Lord hath broken forth - He very properly attributes the victory of Jehovah, without whose strength and counsel he could have done nothing. Baal-perazim - The plain or chief of breaches, because of the breach which God made in the Philistine army; and thus he commemorated the interference of the Lord.
This site's exposition
Shall I go up to the Philistines
on 2 Samuel 5:19-21
David enquires of the Lord before he moves, the pattern that runs through both books, and the answer here is as direct as the question: Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand. Victory comes at once, and David names the place for what happened there, Baal-perazim, the Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. The Philistines leave their images behind in the flight, and David and his men burn them rather than keep them as spoil, the plain course commanded for Canaan's gods in Deuteronomy 7:25 and too rarely kept elsewhere in Israel's history.
This site's exposition
the LORD has burst out against my enemies
Albert Barnes renders Baal-perazim master of breaches and places it on a hill near Gibeon. Matthew Henry pictures a dam giving way, the gap widening once the water breaks through. John Wesley hears David giving God the whole victory.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
I could not have done it if he had not done it before me; he opened the breach like the breach of waters in a dam, which when once opened grows wider and wider." The principal part of the work was God's doing; nay, he did all; what David did was not worth speaking of; and therefore, Not unto us, but unto the Lord, give glory.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Here we have only the heads of their address, containing the grounds they went upon in making David king. Their relation to him was some inducement: " We are thy bone and thy flesh (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
Baal-perazim-Whither the Philistines were come from the valley of Rephraim, 1 Chron. xiv, 11. Baal-perazim, signifies the master of the breaches: So he ascribes all to God.
And David came to Baalperazim,....
If God work in us both to will and to do, it does not follow that we must sit still, as those that have nothing to do, but we must therefore, work out our own salvation with all possible care and diligence, Phil. ii. The sound of the going was, (1.) A signal to David when to move; it is comfortable going out when God goes before us.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Baal-perazim - Master or possessor of breaches, equivalent to place of breaches. It was on a hill near Gibeon (see the marginal reference).
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּבֹ֨א | vaiyavo' | and he went | H935 → | 2568 times |
| דָוִ֥ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| בְּבַֽעַל־ | bevaal- | in Baal | H1188 → | 8 times |
| פְּרָצִים֮ | peratzim | Perazim | H1188 → | 8 times |
| וַיַּכֵּ֣ם | vaiyakem | and he struck down them | H5221 → | 499 times |
| שָׁ֣ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| דָּוִד֒ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| פָּרַ֨ץ | paratz | he has burst through | H6555 → | 49 times |
| יְהוָ֧ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֹיְבַ֛י | ʾoyevai | enemies my | H341 → | 282 times |
| לְפָנַ֖י | lefanai | <to> before me | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| כְּפֶ֣רֶץ | keferetz | like a bursting out of | H6556 → | |
| מָ֑יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֗ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| קָרָ֛א | kara' | someone called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| שֵֽׁם־ | shem- | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| הַמָּק֥וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| הַה֖וּא | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| בַּ֥עַל | baal | Baal | H1188 → | 8 times |
| פְּרָצִֽים׃ | peratzim | Perazim | H1188 → | 8 times |
וַיָּבֹ֨אand he went
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
דָוִ֥דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
בְּבַֽעַל־in Baal
bevaal-H1188 →8 times
פְּרָצִים֮Perazim
peratzimH1188 →8 times
וַיַּכֵּ֣םand he struck down them
vaiyakemH5221 →499 times
שָׁ֣םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
דָּוִד֒David
davidH1732 →999 times
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
פָּרַ֨ץhe has burst through
paratzH6555 →49 times
יְהוָ֧הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֹיְבַ֛יenemies my
ʾoyevaiH341 →282 times
לְפָנַ֖י<to> before me
lefanaiH6440 →2123 times
כְּפֶ֣רֶץlike a bursting out of
keferetzH6556 →
מָ֑יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֗ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
קָרָ֛אsomeone called
kara'H7121 →733 times
שֵֽׁם־[the] name of
shem-H8034 →864 times
הַמָּק֥וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
הַה֖וּא<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
בַּ֥עַלBaal
baalH1188 →8 times
פְּרָצִֽים׃Perazim
peratzimH1188 →8 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Isaiah 28:21For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 14:11
So David and his men went up to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, God has burst out against my enemies by my hand.” So they called that…
- Joshua 10:12
On the day that the LORD gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley…
- Joshua 10:10
And the LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the ascent to Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and…
- 1 Chronicles 14:16
So David did as God had commanded him, and they struck down the army of the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.
- 2 Samuel 5:25
So David did as the LORD had commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.
- 1 Chronicles 14:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.