II Samuel 21:15 · Bible study
2 Samuel 21:15 Commentary: David's Faint in Battle
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
David, the giant-slayer, becomes exhausted in battle. This verse marks a turning point, the king's weakness becomes a lesson in reliance on God through others.
Research Summary
- Meaning: David, Israel’s warrior king, becomes exhausted in battle, signaling his aging and need for rescue, which leads to his men forbidding him from future combat.
- Key words: 'faint' (יָּ֥עַף H5888) expresses complete exhaustion; 'again' (עוֹד H5750) marks recurring Philistine aggression.
- Main debate: Whether this battle occurred early in David’s reign (so fatigue from exertion) or late in his life (indicating declining strength).
- Theological theme: Human frailty of even the greatest leader; God’s deliverance through the community; the wisdom of accepting limitations.
- Best use: Preaching or teaching on aging, humility, teamwork in ministry, and trusting God when personal strength fails.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Once again the Philistines waged war against Israel, and David and his servants went down and fought against the Philistines; but David became exhausted.
WEB World English Bible 2000
The Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. David grew faint;
KJV King James Version 1769
Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And the Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. And David waxed faint;
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And again have the Philistines war with Israel, and David goeth down, and his servants with him, and they fight with the Philistines; and David is weary,
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought with the Philistines. And David was exhausted.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And the Philistines made war again against Israel, and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. And David growing faint,
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y como los Filisteos tornaron á hacer guerra á Israel, descendió David y sus siervos con él, y pelearon con los Filisteos: y David se cansó.
E quando os filisteus voltaram a fazer guerra a Israel, desceu Davi e seus servos com ele, e lutaram com os filisteus: e Davi se cansou.
Les Philistins firent encore la guerre à Israël. David descendit avec ses serviteurs, et ils combattirent les Philistins. David était fatigué.
Es erhob sich aber wieder ein Krieg von den Philistern wider Israel; und David zog hinab und seine Knechte mit ihm und stritten wider die Philister. Und David ward müde.
Voorts hadden de Filistijnen nog een krijg tegen Israel. En David toog af, en zijn knechten met hem, en streden tegen de Filistijnen, dat David moede werd.
I Filistei mossero di nuovo guerra ad Israele; e Davide scese con la sua gente a combattere contro i Filistei. Davide era stanco;
I była zasię wojna między Filistynami i Izraelem; i ciągnął Dawid i słudzy jego z nim, a walczył przeciwko Filistynom, tak, że ustał Dawid.
И открылась снова война между Филистимлянами и Израильтянами. И вышел Давид и слуги его с ним, и воевали с Филистимлянами; и Давид утомился.
非利士人 與 以色列 人打仗；大衛 帶領 僕人 下去，與 非利士人 接戰，大衛 就疲乏了。
And the Philistines went to war again with Israel; and David went down with his people, and while they were at Gob they had a fight with the Philistines:
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · II Samuel 21:15
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that this verse records a moment of genuine physical exhaustion for David. Gill attributes it to the king 'being in the decline of life,' while Keil and Delitzsch note that he 'was exhausted in this fight.' Matthew Henry places the event in David's later years, observing that even the greatest warrior has limits. Barnes calls the passage a 'detached and unconnected extract' from a chronicle of David's wars, underscoring its historical rather than theological framing. The consensus holds that David's faint is a plain, unvarnished fact of human frailty: the same man who struck Goliath now cannot finish a battle. This exhaustion prompts his men to protect him, which is the narrative's pivot.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Early reign / physical exhaustion: 1 Chronicles 20:4 places these battles after Rabbah, when David was still active; the faint could be from the exertion of one fight
- Late reign / aging weakness: Context in the appendix of 2 Samuel, the men's fear for his life (v.17), and echoes in Psalms 71 about old age
What is clear: David grew faint during battle and needed rescue, marking a shift in his military role from active fighter to protected leader.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| David's physical condition | David was genuinely exhausted and unable to continue fighting | Some see it as temporary fatigue from a hard battle; others read it as signs of advancing age and long-term decline |
| Timing of the battle | These events belong to the Philistine wars during David's reign | Gill connects them to the early post-Rabbah period (1 Chronicles 20:4); Barnes and Keil-Delitzsch place them in David's later years based on the context in 2 Samuel 21 |
| Significance of the faint | The faint shows David's human limitation and leads to his protection by the men | Some emphasize it as a natural consequence of age; others see a divine warning that the king's role is changing |
| Role of the giants | The Philistines had champions of extraordinary size | Whether these are literal descendants of the Rephaim (Keil & Delitzsch) or representatives of a ongoing threat (Matthew Henry) |
Historical & Cultural Context
Second Samuel 21 belongs to an appendix (chapters 21, 24) that collects episodes from David's reign without strict chronology. Keil and Delitzsch, followed by the Cambridge Bible, identify verses 15, 22 as a fragment from a 'book of golden deeds' chronicling heroic feats against Philistine giants. The Philistines were a persistent coastal enemy; after David's great victories in chapter 5, they remained capable of mustering champions from the Rephaim, an ancient race of giant stature (Deuteronomy 2:11). The 'again' (עוֹד, H5750) in the verse signals that this was not a first conflict but another round in an ongoing war.
David 'went down' (יֵּ֨רֶד, H3381) to the battlefield, a phrase that echoes his earlier campaigns (2 Samuel 5:17). Yet the cultural expectation that the king would lead from the front clashes with the outcome here. Unlike earlier wars where David was the deliverer, in this scene he becomes the rescued. The surrounding narrative (vv. 16, 17) reveals that Abishai saved the king's life, and afterward David's men swore him from fighting. This marks a transition: the warrior-king is no longer to risk himself on the front line, preserving him as 'the lamp of Israel.'
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for II Samuel 21:15. The verse is stable across Hebrew manuscripts and ancient versions.
Reception History
Early Jewish commentators read David's faint as a moment of divine testing and a reminder that even the anointed king was not invincible. Christian interpreters in the patristic era sometimes allegorized the scene as the church's struggle against spiritual giants, with Abishai representing divine help. Reformation-era commentators like Matthew Henry treated the passage as a straightforward historical lesson in humility and the limits of human strength. Modern exegetes focus on how the narrative marks a transition in David's role from frontline warrior to protected leader, a pattern that has resonated with believers facing decline or the need to entrust work to others.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Persistent Enemy: The Philistines come 'again.' Israel's enemies, whether external forces or internal struggles, do not retire when one victory is won.
- The Weak King: David 'grew faint.' The man who killed Goliath now cannot stand. Age, fatigue, or circumstance remind us that human strength has limits.
- The Protecting Community: Abishai intervenes, and the men extract an oath from David (v.17). The community guards its leader when he cannot guard himself.
Five-point outline
- Context of conflict: War resumes; David still goes down to fight.
- The moment of failure: 'David waxed faint', the verb (יָּ֥עַף, H5888) means complete exhaustion.
- The unrecognized danger: The giant Ishbi-benob targets the weakened king.
- The timely rescue: Abishai strikes the Philistine and saves David.
- The wise restriction: David's men forbid him from battle, preserving the 'lamp of Israel.'
Illustration hooks
- A long-tenured church leader who must step down for health reasons, even though his heart is still in ministry.
- A parent who used to handle everything but now relies on adult children for daily tasks.
- A project manager who burns out and has to let the team carry the final stages.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why does God let faithful servants become weak and need help?
- How do I know when it is time to step back from active leadership?
- What does it mean to 'quench the lamp of Israel', can my exhaustion endanger others?
Leading a Discussion
This short verse captures a moment of vulnerability in Israel's greatest king. The man who killed Goliath now 'grows faint.' What does that teach us about human limits and God's provision through community?
Discussion questions
- What does the repetition of 'again' indicate about Israel's enemies and the nature of spiritual conflict?
- Why is it significant that David 'went down' to fight, even though he was older and perhaps less able?
- How does David's faint contradict his earlier warrior image (Goliath, Saul's campaigns)?
- In verse 17, the men bind David with an oath. What does this say about their loyalty and their role as protectors?
- How does this verse prepare us for the transition from David to Solomon as king?
- In what areas of your life do you need to accept your own limits and allow others to help?
- How can your faith community serve as a 'lamp' of protection for its leaders today?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Joshua 14:10 | “Now, behold, Yahweh has kept me alive, as he spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that Yahweh spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. Now, behold, I am eighty-five years old, today. |
| Joshua 14:11 | As yet I am as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, to go out and to come in. |
| II Samuel 5:17 | When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. |
| II Samuel 5:22 | The Philistines came up yet again and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. |
| II Samuel 5:25 | David did so, as Yahweh commanded him, and struck the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer. |
| I Chronicles 20:4 | After this, war arose at Gezer with the Philistines. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued. |
| Psalms 71:9 | Don’t reject me in my old age. Don’t forsake me when my strength fails. |
| Psalms 71:18 | Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t forsake me, until I have declared your strength to the next generation, your might to everyone who is to come. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke notes that this war with the Philistines is not recorded in the parallel account in Chronicles, and the detail that David grew faint appears nowhere else in Scripture. He highlights these as distinctive additions unique to this passage.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes treats this passage as a disconnected historical extract, probably taken from a separate record of David's early wars. He observes that while 1 Chronicles places these Philistine battles right after the taking of Rabbah, it notably omits David's personal adventure in combat, suggesting the compiler made deliberate choices.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
This section is not connected to the story that comes before it. The Cambridge editors treat it as a fragment from an ancient chronicle of heroic deeds, possibly the same source as the list of David's mighty men in chapter 23. The same account also appears in Chronicles.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Againe the Philistims had warre with Israel: and Dauid went downe, and his seruants with him, and they fought against the Philistims, and Dauid fainted.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill stresses that David's faintness in battle came from physical feebleness in his old age, not from fear. He notes that Josephus attributed it to weariness from pursuing the fleeing enemy, but Gill's own emphasis is on David's declining strength as the cause.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB observes that even after their complete defeat, the Philistines regained courage whenever a giant warrior appeared among them, leading to four more conflicts in David's later reign. The king came so close to death in the first encounter that his men would no longer let him face the dangers of battle.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch see these battle accounts as deliberately placed to function as tangible proof of God's deliverance, giving a historical foundation for David's following psalm of thanksgiving. The heroic feats are not random records but practical evidence of the grace that prompted David's song.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange points out a conflict between written law and customary practice in this passage. By law, blood-vengeance fell only on the murderer himself, but David yielded to a custom that punished Saul's descendants based on family solidarity. This tension shows how ancient ideas of collective guilt could override the law's individual protections.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights that the Philistines, though too weak to field large armies, still stirred up trouble through their giant champions. He also notes that David's men, after rescuing him from Ishbi-benob, insisted he no longer risk himself in battle, calling him the light of Israel.