23 so David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, "Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees.
23 And when David enquired 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.
23 And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, "You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees.
23 David again prayed to God.
23 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, and He said, "You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees.
23 And again David asked the Lord what to do. "Do not attack them straight on," the Lord replied. "Instead, circle around behind and attack them near the poplar trees.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Samuel 5:23
Commentary on 2 Samuel 5:17-25
(Read 2 Samuel 5:17-25)
The Philistines considered not that David had the presence of God with him, which Saul had forfeited and lost. The kingdom of the Messiah, as soon as it was set up in the world, was thus attacked by the powers of darkness. The heathen raged, and the kings of the earth set themselves to oppose it; but all in vain, Acts 2:2.