1 Chronicles 5:25

They transgressed. The chronicler constantly points out the sad results of sin, hoping thus to awaken Israel to the dangers of transgression and the blessings of obedience.

David did so. The secret of David’s success was simple; he did precisely what God instructed him to do. When man puts his will above God’s will he invites defeat. We will not always understand the reasons for God’s commands, nor is this always necessary. All we are expected to do is to trust and obey. David implicitly obeyed the divine directions, and as a result there followed another great victory.

From Geba. The LXX reads, Gibeon. This is also the reading of the parallel passage in 1 Chron. 14:16. Geba, modern Jeba\ is nearly 6 mi. (9.6 kin.) northeast of Jerusalem and Gibeon, ej-Jib, the same distance to the northwest. Evidently Gibeon is meant, for it lay directly in the path of retreat from the Valley of Rephaim to Gezer.

Gazer. Or Gezer. A fortress overlooking the Valley of Aijalon, 15 mi. west of Gibeon. The site, now called Tell Jezer, has been excavated and has yielded rich archeological evidence. When the kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jannuth, Lachish, and Eglon attacked Gibeon, Joshua pursued them down the pass of Beth-horon and gained a notable victory over them in the Valley of Aijalon, where the sun was caused to stand still (Joshua 10:1—14). This was doubtless the same route now covered by David in his rout of the Philistines, for the road from Gibeon to Gezer led through the Valley of Aijalon. The flight in this northwesterly direction from Jerusalem was determined by the fact that David had “fetched a compass” around the Philistines, attacking them from the south and thus driving them to the north to Gibeon and thence toward Gezer. In the parallel account these battles are placed between David’s unsuccessful (1 Chron. 13:5-14) and his successful (1 Chron. 15) attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem (1 Chron. 14:8—17). But Chronicles also records Hiram’s assistance to David in the building of his house and the record of the children born to him at Jerusalem (1 Chron. 14:1-7) between his unsuccessful and successful efforts to bring the ark there. It will thus be noted that the sequence of events as recorded in 2 Sam. and 1 Chron. is not always the same. It is sometimes impossible to determine the exact details of the chronology involved.

Evidently the order of events is less important than the facts themselves and the spiritual lessons to be gained from them. See PP 703, 704, which follows the sequence of 2 Sam.