1 Chronicles 14:14
New International Version
so David inquired of God again, and God answered him, “Do not go directly after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the poplar trees.

New Living Translation
And once again David asked God what to do. “Do not attack them straight on,” God replied. “Instead, circle around behind and attack them near the poplar trees.

English Standard Version
And when David again inquired of God, God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come against them opposite the balsam trees.

Berean Standard Bible
So David again inquired of God, who answered him, “Do not march up after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.

King James Bible
Therefore David inquired again of God; and God said unto him, Go not up after them; turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.

New King James Version
Therefore David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.

New American Standard Bible
David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the baka-shrubs.

NASB 1995
David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

NASB 1977
And David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them, and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

Legacy Standard Bible
So David again asked of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go directly up after them; circle around from behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

Amplified Bible
So David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “Do not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

Christian Standard Bible
So David again inquired of God, and God answered him, “Do not pursue them directly. Circle around them and attack them opposite the balsam trees.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So David again inquired of God, and God answered him, “Do not pursue them directly. Circle around them and attack them opposite the balsam trees.

American Standard Version
And David inquired again of God; and God said unto him, Thou shalt not go up after them: turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry-trees.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And David asked again of LORD JEHOVAH, and he said to him: “Do not go up, but turn yourselves from them and go take them from their front.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And David enquired of God again; and God said to him, Thou shalt not go after them; turn away from them, and thou shalt come upon them near the pear trees.

Contemporary English Version
David asked God what he should do, and God answered, "Don't attack them from the front. Circle around behind them where the balsam trees are.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And David consulted God again, and God said to him: Go not up after them, turn away from them, and come upon them over against the pear trees.

English Revised Version
And David inquired again of God; and God said unto him, Thou shalt not go up after them: turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Once more David asked God. God answered him, "Don't go after them. Circle around, and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

Good News Translation
Once more David consulted God, who answered, "Don't attack them from here, but go around and get ready to attack them from the other side, near the balsam trees.

International Standard Version
When David asked God about it, God told him, "Don't directly attack them. Instead, go around them and come up against them opposite those balsam trees.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And David inquired again of God; and God said unto him: 'Thou shalt not go up after them; turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry-trees.

Literal Standard Version
and David asks again of God, and God says to him, “Do not go up after them, turn around from them, and you have come to them from the front [[or in front]] of the mulberries;

Majority Standard Bible
So David again inquired of God, who answered him, “Do not march up after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.

New American Bible
and again David inquired of God. But God answered him: Do not try to pursue them, but go around them and come against them near the balsam trees.

NET Bible
So David again asked God what he should do. This time God told him, "Don't march up after them; circle around them and come against them in front of the trees.

New Revised Standard Version
When David again inquired of God, God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come on them opposite the balsam trees.

New Heart English Bible
And David inquired again of God; and God said to him, "You shall not go up after them. Turn away from them, and come at them opposite the balsam trees.

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore David inquired again of God: and God said to him, Go not up after them; turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.

World English Bible
David inquired again of God; and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them. Turn away from them, and come on them opposite the mulberry trees.

Young's Literal Translation
and David asketh again of God, and God saith to him, 'Do not go up after them, turn round from them, and thou hast come to them from over-against the mulberries;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Two Victories over the Philistines
13Once again the Philistines raided the valley. 14So David again inquired of God, who answered him, “Do not march up after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. 15As 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 marched out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”…

Cross References
2 Samuel 5:23
So David inquired of the LORD, who answered, "Do not march straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees.

1 Chronicles 14:13
Once again the Philistines raided the valley.

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 marched out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines."


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore David inquired again of God; and God said to him, Go not up after them; turn away from them, and come on them over against the mulberry trees.

enquired

1 Chronicles 14:10
And David inquired of God, saying, Shall I go up against the Philistines? and wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto him, Go up; for I will deliver them into thine hand.

Psalm 27:4
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.

turn away

Joshua 8:2-7
And thou shalt do to Ai and her king as thou didst unto Jericho and her king: only the spoil thereof, and the cattle thereof, shall ye take for a prey unto yourselves: lay thee an ambush for the city behind it…

John 9:6,7
When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, …

Jump to Previous
Attack Balsam Circle David Directions Face Front Inquired Mulberries Mulberry Mulberry-Trees Opposite Over-Against Round Spice-Trees Straight Trees Turn Turning
Jump to Next
Attack Balsam Circle David Directions Face Front Inquired Mulberries Mulberry Mulberry-Trees Opposite Over-Against Round Spice-Trees Straight Trees Turn Turning
1 Chronicles 14
1. Hiram's kindness to David
2. David's fortune in people, wives, and children
8. His two victories against the Philistines














(14) Therefore David enquired.--The first half of this verse is fuller and clearer than in Samuel. The second half must be adjusted by comparison with the older text, which reads, "Thou must not go up [LXX., "to meet them "]; go round to their rear, and come upon them in front of the baca trees." Probably the terms rendered "after them" and "from them" should be slightly modified and transposed in our text. This will give, "Go not up against them; go round to their rear," &c., as in Samuel.

Mulberry trees.--The traditional Jewish rendering of beka'im, a Hebrew word only occurring here and in the parallel passage of Samuel. Probably the kind of balsam tree called b?k? by the Arabs is meant. It sheds a gum like tears, whence its name. (Heb., b?k?, "to weep.") (Comp. Psalm 84:6.)

Verse 14. - Go not up after them; turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. The meaning of the directions as here given is sufficiently evident, yet it is somewhat more forcibly expressed in the parallel place, "Thou shalt not go up," i.e. "against the Philistines" (see our tenth verse, and note the form of David's inquiry); "but fetch a compass behind them." The mulberry trees were evidently behind the Philistines. The Hebrew word for the trees here spoken of is הַבְּכָאִים, and the correct rendering of it is probably neither "mulberry" nor, as the Septuagint and Vulgate translate, "pear" trees. But judging from the probable derivation (בָּכָה, to weep), they were trees of the balsam species, and it seems that this is as far as we can safely conjecture. One of the latest authorities (see Condor's 'Handbook to the Bible,' p. 398, 2nd edit.) pronounces it an "unknown species." The tree, strange to say, is only mentioned here and in the parallel place. A summary of opinions as to the tree intended may be found in Smith's 'Bible Dictionary,' 2:439, and this is just sufficient to show that it is not as yet identified with any semblance of certainty. However, it is easy to understand hew the balsam species, from which the exuding gum resembles "tears," might come by the name set forth in the present Hebrew root.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
So David
דָּוִיד֙ (dā·wîḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1732: David -- perhaps 'beloved one', a son of Jesse

again
ע֤וֹד (‘ō·wḏ)
Adverb
Strong's 5750: Iteration, continuance, again, repeatedly, still, more

inquired
וַיִּשְׁאַ֨ל (way·yiš·’al)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7592: To inquire, to request, to demand

of God,
בֵּֽאלֹהִ֔ים (bê·lō·hîm)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

who
הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים (hā·’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative

answered
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

him,
לוֹ֙ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

“Do not
לֹ֥א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

march up
תַֽעֲלֶ֖ה (ṯa·‘ă·leh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

after them,
אַֽחֲרֵיהֶ֑ם (’a·ḥă·rê·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 310: The hind or following part

but circle around
הָסֵב֙ (hā·sêḇ)
Verb - Hifil - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 5437: To turn about, go around, surround

them
מֵֽעֲלֵיהֶ֔ם (mê·‘ă·lê·hem)
Preposition-m | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

and attack
וּבָ֥אתָ (ū·ḇā·ṯā)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

them
לָהֶ֖ם (lā·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 1992: They

in front of
מִמּ֥וּל (mim·mūl)
Preposition-m
Strong's 4136: Abrupt, a precipice, the front, opposite

the balsam trees.
הַבְּכָאִֽים׃ (hab·bə·ḵā·’îm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1057: The weeping tree


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OT History: 1 Chronicles 14:14 David inquired again of God (1 Chron. 1Ch iCh i Ch 1 chr 1chr)
1 Chronicles 14:13
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