Baal-perazim

Baal-perazim ("the lord of breakthroughs") was the site of David's first great victory after the elders of Israel anointed him king at Hebron (2 Samuel 5:17-21, 1 Chronicles 14:8-12). When the Philistines invaded the Valley of Rephaim southwest of Jerusalem to crush the newly united kingdom before it could organize, David inquired of the Lord and was promised victory. He attacked at Baal-perazim and routed the Philistines so decisively that he named the place for the Lord's "breaking out against my enemies like the bursting forth of waters." The fleeing Philistines abandoned their idols, which David burned. Isaiah later invoked the memory of Mount Perazim alongside the valley of Gibeon as the type of God's sudden, devastating intervention against unrighteousness (Isaiah 28:21). The site is generally located in the Valley of Rephaim southwest of Jerusalem, possibly at Mount Ras esh-Sherifeh, though the exact identification is uncertain.