2 Samuel 5:1-9

David Is Anointed King Over Israel

5:1 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron saying, “Look, we are your very flesh and blood! ¹  5:2 In the past, when Saul was our king, you were the real leader in Israel. ²  The Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel; you will rule over Israel.’”

5:3 When all the leaders ³  of Israel came to the king at Hebron, King David made an agreement with them ⁴  in Hebron before the Lord. They designated ⁵  David as king over Israel. 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned for forty years. 5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah for seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem ⁶  he reigned for thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

David Occupies Jerusalem

5:6 Then the king and his men advanced to Jerusalem ⁷  against the Jebusites who lived in the land. The Jebusites ⁸  said to David, “You cannot invade this place! Even the blind and the lame will turn you back, saying, ‘David cannot invade this place!’”

5:7 But David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the city of David). 5:8 David said on that day, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must approach the ‘lame’ and the ‘blind’ who are David’s enemies ⁹  by going through the water tunnel.” ¹⁰  For this reason it is said, “The blind and the lame cannot enter the palace.” ¹¹ 

5:9 So David lived in the fortress and called it the City of David. David built all around it, from the terrace inwards.

[5:1]  ¹ tn Heb “look we are your bone and your flesh.”

[5:2]  ² tn Heb “you were the one leading out and the one leading in Israel.”

[5:3]  ³ tn Heb “elders.”

[5:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the king, David, cut for them a covenant.”

[5:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “anointed.”

[5:5]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:6]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:6]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text has “he” rather than “the Jebusites.” The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. In the Syriac Peshitta and some mss of the Targum the verb is plural rather than singular.

[5:8]  ⁹ tc There is some confusion among the witnesses concerning this word. The Kethib is the Qal perfect 3cp שָׂנְאוּ (sanÿ’u, “they hated”), referring to the Jebusites’ attitude toward David. The Qere is the Qal passive participle construct plural שְׂנֻאֵי (sÿnu’e, “hated”), referring to David’s attitude toward the Jebusites. 4QSam^a has the Qal perfect 3rd person feminine singular שָׂנְאָה (sanÿ’ah, “hated”), the subject of which would be “the soul of David.” The difference is minor and the translation adopted above works for either the Kethib or the Qere.

[5:8]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term has been debated. For a survey of various views, see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 139-40.

[5:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the house.” TEV takes this as a reference to the temple (“the Lord’s house”).