Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Samuel 5:21

"And they left their images there; and David and his men took them away." — 2 Samuel 5:21 (ASV)

Their images. —The Philistines took their idols with them to battle, as the Israelites had formerly taken the ark, and the suddenness and completeness of their defeat is shown by their leaving them on the field. The statement that David “burned” them is taken from 1 Chronicles 14:12, the Hebrew here being simply “took them away.” (See Deuteronomy 7:5.)