2 Samuel 5:4-5

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:1-5

Here is, I. The humble address of all the tribes to David, beseeching him to take upon him the government (for they were now as sheep having no shepherd), and owning him for their king. Though David might by no means approve the murder of Ish-bosheth, yet he might improve the advantages he gained thereby, and accept the applications made to him thereupon. Judah had submitted to David as their king above seven years ago, and their ease and happiness, under his administration, encouraged the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:4

David was thirty years old when he began reign ,.... Over Judah, which was the age of his antitype Christ, when he entered upon his public ministry, Luke 3:23 , and he reigned forty years ; and six months, as appears by 2 Samuel 5:5 ; but the months are not mentioned, only the round number of years given: two reasons the Jews F1 Hieron. Trad. Heb. in lib. Reg. fol. 77. I. give for this; the one, that he fled six months from Absalom; the other is, that he was ill in Hebron... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:5

In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months ,.... So long the kingdom of Israel continued in the house of Saul after his death; and by this it appears that David was near thirty eight years of age when the elders of Israel came and made him their king: and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah ; which in all made forty years and six months, see 1 Kings 2:11 ; upon his being made king over all the tribes, as soon as he had taken the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:1-10

The facts are: 1 . The tribes of Israel come to Hebron to formally acknowledge David as rightful king. 2 . They assign three reasons for their united action. 3 . A solemn league being made between David and the tribes, they anoint him king over Israel. 4 . The question of the crown being settled, David applies himself to the acquisition of Jerusalem as the seat of government. 5 . Being proudly defied by the Jebusites, on account of the strength of their position, he... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:2-12

( 1 Chronicles 11:2 , 1 Chronicles 11:9 ; 1 Chronicles 14:2 ). ( HEBRON .) The shepherd king. This is the first occasion on which we find the occupation of a shepherd made use of to describe the office of a king. Jacob, who had "fed Laban's flocks," spoke of "the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel" ( Genesis 49:24 ; Genesis 48:15 ); Moses, who had "kept the flock of Jethro," prayed that Jehovah would "set a man over the congregation" as his successor, so that they might not be "as... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:4

David was thirty years old. As David was probably about eighteen or nineteen years of age at the time of his combat with Goliath, the events recorded in 1 Samuel 17-31, must have occupied about ten or eleven years. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 2 Samuel 5:4

The age of David is conclusive as to the fact that the earlier years of Saul’s reign (during which Jonathan grew up to be a man) are passed over in silence, and that the events narrated from 1 Samuel 13:0 to the end of the book did not occupy more than 10 years. If David was 20 years old at the time he killed Goliath, four years in Saul’s service, four years of wandering from place to place, one year and four months in the country of the Philistines, and a few months after Saul’s death, would... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 2 Samuel 5:4-5

2 Samuel 5:4-5. David was thirty years old when he began to reign At this age the Levites were at first appointed to begin their ministrations, Numbers 4:3. About this age the Son of David entered upon his public ministry, Luke 3:23. And it is the age when men come to their full maturity of strength and judgment. In Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years By this it appears it was immediately after his third unction that he made the attempt upon Jerusalem, mentioned in the next verse,... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - 2 Samuel 5:1-25

5:1-10:19 DAVID ESTABLISHES HIS KINGDOMConquest of Jerusalem (5:1-25)All the tribes of Israel now sent a representative force of soldiers to Hebron to present themselves to David, their new king (5:1-3; 1 Chronicles 12:23-40). The two-year civil war had now finished, and for the next five and a half years David reigned in Hebron over a unified Israel (4-5; cf. 2:10-11).David probably realized that so long as he remained in the territory of his own tribe in the south, the northern tribes would... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 2 Samuel 5:1-12

3. David’s acceptance by all Israel 5:1-12In 1004 B.C. David became king of all Israel and Judah. [Note: See Merrill, p. 243.] This was his third anointing (cf. 1 Samuel 16:13; 2 Samuel 2:4). The people acknowledged David’s previous military leadership of all Israel, as well as God’s choice of him to shepherd His people as their king. Thus David’s kingship stood on two legs: his divine election and his human recognition."In the ancient East, shepherd at an early date became a title of honor... read more

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