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.)
   

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