helkathhazzurim

1 definition found

helkathhazzurim - Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary :

  Helkath-hazzurim
  plot of the sharp blades, or the field of heroes, (2 Sam. 2:16).
  After the battle of Gilboa, so fatal to Saul and his house,
  David, as divinely directed, took up his residence in Hebron,
  and was there anointed king over Judah. Among the fugitives from
  Gilboa was Ish-bosheth, the only surviving son of Saul, whom
  Abner, Saul's uncle, took across the Jordan to Mahanaim, and
  there had him proclaimed king. Abner gathered all the forces at
  his command and marched to Gibeon, with the object of wresting
  Judah from David. Joab had the command of David's army of
  trained men, who encamped on the south of the pool, which was on
  the east of the hill on which the town of Gibeon was built,
  while Abner's army lay on the north of the pool. Abner proposed
  that the conflict should be decided by twelve young men engaging
  in personal combat on either side. So fiercely did they
  encounter each other that "they caught every man his fellow by
  the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow's side; so they
  fell down together: wherefore that place was called
  Helkath-hazzurim." The combat of the champions was thus
  indecisive, and there followed a severe general engagement
  between the two armies, ending in the total rout of the
  Israelites under Abner. The general result of this battle was
  that "David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul
  waxed weaker and weaker" (2 Sam. 3:1). (See GIBEON.)