Saul and Jonathan were now dead. David mourned their loss and was then anointed king of Judah in Hebron. His becoming king in Hebron did not antagonize the Philistines, specifically Achish, who still had no reason to believe that David was not a loyal vassal. Second Samuel 2-4 describes a civil war in Israel between David's forces and those loyal to Saul's family. The Philistines are not directly involved in the action of these chapters, though they no doubt encouraged David's endeavors -- until the events described in chapter 5, that is. "So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel" (2 Sam. 5:3).

The Philistines finally recognized David as a threat. They knew that David, in uniting both Judah and Israel, could be more dangerous to them than Saul had been, under whom Israel and Judah had not always presented a united front. This David was the one who had killed his "ten thousands." Now, not only could the Philistines lose control of Judah, but of Israel as well, which they had defeated in the destruction of Saul and his forces at Mount Gilboa. The events described in 2 Samuel 5:17-25 spell the beginning of the end of Philistine domination over Israel.

The Philistine strategy was clear; they were going to try to split the two factions (Bright 1981, 198) of Israel and Judah. Perhaps they gathered their forces at Ekron, since the best way to "the valley of Rephaim" (v. 18) from the Philistine plain is to head east up the Sorek Valley. The valley, or lowlands, of Rephaim is located southwest of Jerusalem; it is cut at its northern end by the Valley of Hinnom, which is also southwest of Jerusalem (McCarter 1984, 153-54).

David consulted God, who gave him approval. He defeated the Philistines so suddenly and so decisively that he declared in verse 20, "The Lord has burst forth against my enemies before me, like a bursting flood." (He was picturing God rushing through the enemy like water rushing through a wadi, such as the Nahal Sorek, after a torrential rain.) There was now a breach in the Philistine record of victories.This battle was a reversal of the battle in 1 Samuel 4, in which the Israelites lost the ark of the covenant. Now it was the Philistines who left their religious treasures, their idols, behind. David not only carried them off (v. 21), he also had them burned (1 Chron. 14:12).

The Philistines tried again and attacked David in the Valley of Rephaim once more. Again David consulted the Lord; again he was victorious. This time he drove the Philistines out of the hill area, from Gibeon, which was just north of Jerusalem, to Gezer (1 Chron. 14:16). Driving the Philistines out of the central hill country from Gibeon westward served another purpose besides the military one. The following chapter, 2 Samuel 6, describes the restoration of the ark of the covenant into Israelite society. This restoration could not have occurred earlier, because the Philistines had moved into the area of Kiriath-jearim under the sphere of Gibeon, where the ark had been held for some twenty years (due to the events of 1 Sam. 4). The Philistines had apparently left the ark alone after the plagues of rats and tumors ended. The victories of David and the fact that Israel was once again united set the stage for the return of the ark into the religious life of the nation. Philistia had begun to shrink in power and territory.