And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.

And when David inquired of Jehovah, he said, Thou shalt not go up: make a circuit behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry-trees.

And David consulted the Lord: Shall I go up against the Philistines, and wilt thou deliver them into my hands? He answered: Go not up against them, but fetch a compass behind them, and thou shalt come upon them over against the pear trees.

And David inquired of Jehovah; and he said, Thou shalt not go up; turn round behind them and come upon them opposite the mulberry-trees.

and David asketh of Jehovah, and He saith, 'Thou dost not go up, turn round unto their rear, and thou hast come to them over-against the mulberries,

And when David went for directions to the Lord, he said, You are not to go up against them in front; but make a circle round them from the back and come on them opposite the spice-trees.

Then David consulted the Lord, "Shall I ascend against the Philistines, and will you deliver them into my hands?" And he responded: "You shall not ascend against them; instead, circle behind their back. And you shall come to them from the side opposite the balsam trees.

The mulberry trees - Rather, the Bacah-tree, and found abundantly near Mecca. It is very like the balsam-tree, and probably derives its name from the exudation of the sap in drops like tears when a leaf is torn off. Some think the valley of Baca Psalm 84:6 was so called from this plant growing there.

Fetch a compass behind them - When they may be had, God will not work without using human means. By this he taught David caution, prudence, and dependence on the Divine strength.

And when David inquired of the Lord,.... For though he had success before, and got the victory, he would not engage again with them without having the mind and will of God, on whom he knew victory alone depended:
he said, thou shalt not go up; that is, directly, and in a straight line:
but fetch a compass behind them; and get to the rear of them, instead of falling upon them in the front:
and come upon them over against the mulberry trees: which grew in the valley of Rephaim, and near where the Philistines had pitched.

David inquired once more of the Lord what he was to do, and received this answer: "Thou shalt not go up (i.e., advance to meet the foe, and attack them in front); turn round behind them, and come upon them (attack them) opposite to the Baca-shrubs." בּכאים, a word which only occurs here and in the parallel passage in 1-Chronicles 14:14, is rendered ἀπίους, pear-trees, by the lxx, and mulberry-trees by the Rabbins. But these are both of them uncertain conjectures. Baca, according to Abulfadl, is the name given in Arabic to a shrub which grows at Mecca and resembles the balsam, except that it has longer leaves and larger and rounder fruit, and from which, if a leaf be broken off, there flows a white pungent sap, like a white tear, which is all probability gave rise to the name בּכא = בּכה, to weep (vid., Celsii, Hierob. i. pp. 338ff., and Gesenius, Thes. p. 205).

Go up - Directly against them, as the following words explain it. Behind - Where they least expect thee; God's purposes and promises do not exclude men's endeavours.