And they left there their gods, and David commanded that they should be burnt.

And they left their gods there; and David commanded, and they were burned with fire.

And they leave there their gods, and David speaketh, and they are burnt with fire.

And the Philistines did not take their images with them in their flight; and at David's orders they were burned with fire.

And they left behind their gods in that place, and so David ordered them to be burned.

When they had left their gods there - The practice of carrying images of the gods to battle was common among the nations of antiquity, and arose from the belief that there was virtue in the images themselves, and that military success would be obtained by means of them.

when they had left their gods--(See on 2-Samuel 5:21).