2 Samuel 5 explained: David Becomes King of All Israel

All Israel accepts David (vv. 1-5)

The northern tribes, who had backed Saul's family, now accept David as their kin, their past war leader, and the one the LORD chose to 'shepherd' the people, an old picture of a king who protects and provides. They make a formal agreement with duties on both sides before the LORD, then anoint him by pouring oil on his head, the sign of being chosen king.

The taunt and the capture (vv. 6-7)

The Jebusites, who still held the hilltop fortress of Zion, mocked David by saying even blind and lame people could keep him out. He captured it anyway, and it became known as the City of David.

A difficult, harsh saying (v. 8)

The Hebrew is hard to translate, and scholars are unsure whether David's men climbed a water shaft or reached the city some other way. David turns the insult back on the Jebusites in harsh terms, and the closing saying seems to explain a later custom of keeping disabled people out of 'the house' (the palace or the temple), which the text records without comment.

A new capital and palace (vv. 9-12)

The city had been assigned to the tribe of Benjamin long before but stayed in Jebusite hands, and many readers think David chose it partly because it sat between Judah and the northern tribes, with no strong tie to either side. Hiram, king of the rich coastal city of Tyre, sent cedar and skilled builders for a palace, a sign that neighboring rulers now treated David as a real king.

David's growing family (vv. 13-16)

David takes more wives and concubines (wives of lower status), something a law in Deuteronomy warned kings against. Among the sons born in Jerusalem is Solomon, who will later rule after him.

Two victories over the Philistines (vv. 17-25)

The Philistines, Israel's longtime rivals on the coast, attack before the newly united kingdom can settle, and both times David asks the LORD what to do before he fights. The place name Baal Perazim means 'lord of breaking through,' and the sound of marching in the treetops is the signal that the LORD himself is going ahead of David's army.

Key verse: 2 Samuel 5:10

Something to think about

When someone's rise to power is credited to God, as David's is here, what would make you trust that claim, and what would make you doubt it?