Wednesday – History

Reading – 2 Samuel 5-6

Highlight Verse:

“So David went to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. “The Lord did it!” David exclaimed. “He burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” So he named that place Baal-perazim (which means “the Lord who bursts through”).”
‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭5‬:‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Every now and then, I run into something in the Bible that is not only new to me but that I don’t have any clue about.

Today’s incident of that doesn’t have any bearing on my theology, but I’m curious what was behind it.

Why did David name that place “Baal-perazin?

Baal literally means possessor or “Master.)

David usually uses “El” or “YHWH” to describe God.

Why this change?

I honestly don’t know.

Commentaries are oddly vague about it.

I do have a couple of theories:
• Since this was former Philistine territory, David sticks with a local name.
• Because it was named as a result of battle, David downplayed God’s role.
• David was distracted by war and lost a little respect for God.

I could run with any of these and make a theological lesson from them.

In my opinion, that would be wrong.

There isn’t enough Biblical evidence to fully support any of these ideas.

Even if there was, I would be pulling them out of context.

While I admit I have occasionally pulled verses out of context, I try to only do that if the Bible as a whole supports the lesson. (If I mess up and try to bring lessons that are not supported by Scripture, please point it out to me).

So, what is today’s lesson?

It’s okay to say, “I don’t know.”

In fact, it’s better to say that than to lead people to wrong conclusions.

What is your take on the whole “Baal-Perazim” naming?
What are other scriptures that you haven’t figured out?