Idols: compare 1 Sam 31.9 (see also 1 Sam 15.23). These were sacred images carried into battle because it was thought that they would ensure divine help and victory.

There: that is, in the valley where the battle took place.

Carried them away: it was customary for the victorious army to carry away the idols of their enemies to show that their own supernatural help was superior to that of their enemies (see, for example, 1 Sam 5.1-2). In some languages it will be necessary to indicate where they took these idols. One may say “took the idols with them” or “carried them to another place.” The parallel passage in 1 Chr 14.12 indicates that David ordered that these idols be burned (in keeping with what God had long before commanded in Deut 7.5), but the information from 1 Chronicles should not be inserted into the text of 2 Samuel.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .