Helkath-hazzurim

2 definitions found

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  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}.)
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Helkath-hazzurim, the field of strong men, or of rocks