1 Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron, and said, Truly, we are your bone and your flesh.
And Laban said to him, Truly, you are my bone and my flesh. And he kept Jacob with him for the space of a month.
They went up into the South and came to Hebron; and Ahiman and Sheshai and Talmai, the children of Anak, were living there. (Now the building of Hebron took place seven years before that of Zoan in Egypt.)
Say now in the ears of all the townsmen of Shechem, Is it better for you to be ruled by all the seventy sons of Jerubbaal or by one man only? And keep in mind that I am your bone and your flesh.
Now after this, David, questioning the Lord, said, Am I to go up into any of the towns of Judah? And the Lord said to him, Go up. And David said, Where am I to go? And he said, To Hebron.
Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said, Truly, we are your bone and your flesh. In the past when Saul was king over us, it was you who went at the head of Israel when they went out or came in: and the Lord said to you, You are to be the keeper of my people Israel and their ruler. So all the responsible men of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made an agreement with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they put the holy oil on David and made him king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he became king, and he was king for forty years, Ruling over Judah in Hebron for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem, over all Israel and Judah, for thirty-three years. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the people of the land: and they said to David, You will not come in here, but the blind and the feeble-footed will keep you out; for they said, David will not be able to come in here. But David took the strong place of Zion, which is the town of David. And that day David said, Whoever makes an attack on the Jebusites, let him go up by the water-pipe, and put to death all the blind and feeble-footed who are hated by David. And this is why they say, The blind and feeble-footed may not come into the house. So David took the strong tower for his living-place, naming it the town of David. And David took in hand the building of the town all round, starting from the Millo. And David became greater and greater; for the Lord, the God of armies, was with him. And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent men to David, with cedar-trees and woodworkers and stoneworkers: and they made David a house. And David saw that the Lord had made his position safe as king over Israel, and that he had made his kingdom great because of his people Israel. And David took more women and wives in Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron: and he had more sons and daughters. These are the names of those whose birth took place in Jerusalem: Shammua and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon And Ibhar and Elishua and Nepheg and Japhia And Elishama and Eliada and Eliphelet.
But Absalom at the same time sent watchers through all the tribes of Israel to say, At the sound of the horn you are to say, Absalom is king in Hebron.
You are my brothers, my bone and my flesh; why are you the last to get the king back again? And say to Amasa, Are you not my bone and my flesh? May God's punishment be on me, if I do not make you chief of the army before me at all times in place of Joab!
These are the numbers of the chiefs of the armed men, ready for war, who came to David at Hebron, to give the kingdom of Saul into his hands, as the Lord had said. There were six thousand, eight hundred spearmen of the children of Judah, armed for war; Seven thousand, one hundred of the children of Simeon, great men of war; Of the children of Levi, four thousand, six hundred. And Jehoiada, chief of the family of Aaron, and with him three thousand, seven hundred men; And Zadok, a young man, great and strong in war, with twenty-two captains from his father's people. And of the children of Benjamin, the brothers of Saul, three thousand; for up to that time the greater part of them had been true to Saul. And of the children of Ephraim, twenty thousand, eight hundred great men of war, men of great name in their families. And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, eighteen thousand, listed by name, came to make David king. And of the children of Issachar, there were two hundred chiefs, men who had expert knowledge of the times and what it was best for Israel to do, and all their brothers were under their orders. Of Zebulun, there were fifty thousand men, who went out with the army, expert in ordering the fight, to give help with all sorts of arms; true-hearted men. And of Naphtali, a thousand captains with thirty-seven thousand spearmen. And of the Danites, twenty-eight thousand, six hundred, expert in ordering the fight. And of Asher, forty thousand who went out with the army, expert in ordering the fight. From the other side of Jordan, there were a hundred and twenty thousand of the Reubenites and the Gadites and the men of the half-tribe of Manasseh, armed with every sort of instrument of war. All these men of war, expert in ordering the fight, came to Hebron with the full purpose of making David king over all Israel; and all the rest of Israel were united in their desire to make David king. For three days they were there with David, feasting at his table, for their brothers had made ready food for them. And those who were near, as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came with food on asses and camels and mules and oxen, with meal for food and cakes of figs and masses of grapes, and wine and oil and oxen and sheep in great numbers, for there was joy in Israel.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » John Gill's Exposition of the Bible » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 11
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 11 John Gill's Exposition of the Bible
INTRODUCTION TO 1 CHRONICLES 11
This chapter treats of David's being anointed king by all Israel, 1 Chronicles 11:1, which agrees with 2 Samuel 5:1 See Gill on 2 Samuel 5:1 See Gill on 2 Samuel 5:2 See Gill on 2 Samuel 5:3 and of his taking Jerusalem from the Jebusites, 1 Chronicles 11:4 the account of which we have 2 Samuel 5:6. See Gill on 2 Samuel 5:6 See Gill on 2 Samuel 5:7 See Gill on 2 Samuel 5:8 See Gill on 2 Samuel 5:9 See Gill on 2 Samuel 5:10 only here we are told, that it was Joab that smote the Jebusites first, and so was made chief captain according to David's promise; and that he also repaired the rest of the city David built round about; perhaps the fortifications demolished in taking it, 1 Chronicles 11:6 or rather, as others give the sense, he "saved alive"F2יחיה את שאר "vivas conservavit urbis reliquias", Junius & Tremellius; Strigelius in Poli Synops. in loc. those that remained in the city, after he had slain the lame and the blind; though a learnedF4Dr. Kennicot's State of the Hebrew Text, dissert. 1. p. 54. writer conjectures it should be read, "and Joab יהיה was made שר the governor of the city"; and the Targum is,"Joab governed the rest of the city.'And then follows an account of David's mighty men and worthies, 1 Chronicles 11:10 of whom see the notes on 2 Samuel 23:8, 2 Samuel 23:9, 2 Samuel 23:10, 2 Samuel 23:11, 2 Samuel 23:12, 2 Samuel 23:13, 2 Samuel 23:14, 2 Samuel 23:15, 2 Samuel 23:16, 2 Samuel 23:17, 2 Samuel 23:18, 2 Samuel 23:19, 2 Samuel 23:20, 2 Samuel 23:21, 2 Samuel 23:22, 2 Samuel 23:23, 2 Samuel 23:24, 2 Samuel 23:25, 2 Samuel 23:26, 2 Samuel 23:27, 2 Samuel 23:28, 2 Samuel 23:29, 2 Samuel 23:30, 2 Samuel 23:31, 2 Samuel 23:32, 2 Samuel 23:33, 2 Samuel 23:34, 2 Samuel 23:35, 2 Samuel 23:36, 2 Samuel 23:37, 2 Samuel 23:38, 2 Samuel 23:39 and others are added here, 1 Chronicles 11:42 of whom we know no more than their names.