This chapter describes one of the most momentous events in the whole Bible – God’s chosen king reigns visibly on earth – no longer just over a single tribe – but over all Israel. In fact, the bit about Hiram sending trees to David so he could build a house is a hint of David’s fame spreading even beyond Israel. […]

The people declare when they come to make him king, that David was their bone and flesh. In other words, he wasn’t a foreigner. He may have belonged to a different tribe, but he was still part of Israel. In making that consideration, they were remembering Deuteronomy 17.15: ‘One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. […]

Normally when someone becomes king, it’s simply because they’re next in line, but here in 2nd Samuel 5 the royal family is changing from Saul’s line to David’s. One of the reasons the tribes of Israel give for recognising David as king is David has already been doing the job anyway (v.2). It was the king’s role to lead the […]