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1All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, and they said: “Look! We are your bone and your flesh.[#1 Chr 11:1–3.]
2In days past, when Saul was still our king, you were the one who led Israel out in all its battles and brought it back. And the Lord said to you: You shall shepherd my people Israel; you shall be ruler over Israel.”[#2 Sm 3:10; Dt 17:15; 1 Sm 18:16.]
3Then all the elders of Israel came to the king in Hebron, and at Hebron King David made a covenant with them in the presence of the Lord ; and they anointed David king over Israel.
4David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years:
5in Hebron he was king over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he was king thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.[#2 Sm 2:11; 1 Kgs 2:11; 1 Chr 3:4.]
Capture of Zion.
6Then the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. They told David, “You shall not enter here: the blind and the lame will drive you away!” which was their way of saying, “David shall not enter here.”[#1 Chr 11:4–9.; #Jos 15:63; Jgs 1:19, 21; Is 29:3.]
7David nevertheless captured the fortress of Zion, which is the City of David.
8On that day David said: “All who wish to strike at the Jebusites must attack through the water shaft. The lame and the blind shall be the personal enemies of David.” That is why it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not enter the palace.”[#Lv 21:18; Mt 21:14–15.]
9David took up residence in the fortress which he called the City of David. David built up the city on all sides, from the Millo toward the center.[#1 Kgs 3:1; 9:15; 11:27.]
10David became ever more powerful, for the Lord of hosts was with him.[#Ps 78:70–72; 89; 132:13.]
11Hiram, king of Tyre, sent envoys to David along with cedar wood, and carpenters and masons, who built a house for David.[#1 Chr 14:1–16.; #1 Kgs 5:15; 1 Chr 14:1–2.]
12David now knew that the Lord had truly established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.[#: Hiram’s carpenters and masons built David a house of cedar, the very model of a Canaanite king’s palace. This house then represented the consolidation of David’s royal power, in the Canaanite mode, with Jerusalem as David’s personal fiefdom and capital city.]
David’s Family in Jerusalem.
13David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem after he had come from Hebron, and more sons and daughters were born to him.[#1 Chr 3:5–8; 14:3–7.]
14These are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,
15Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia,
16Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.
Rout of the Philistines.
17When the Philistines had heard that David was anointed king over Israel, they marched out in force to come after him. When David heard this, he went down to the refuge.[#: probably near Adullam (1 Sm 22:1–5).]
18Meanwhile the Philistines had come and deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim.[#The successive defeats of the Philistines in the valley of Rephaim southwest of Jerusalem had the effect of blocking their access to the mountain ridge near Gibeon, and confining them to their holdings on the coast and in the foothills beyond Gezer to the west and south.]
19David inquired of the Lord , “Shall I attack the Philistines, and will you deliver them into my power?” The Lord answered David: Attack, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your power.
20So David went to Baal-perazim, and he defeated them there. He said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me just as water breaks through a dam.” Therefore that place was called Baal-perazim.[#: here the title ba‘al , “master, lord,” refers to the Lord; perazim is the plural of perez , which means “breaking” or “bursting,” as in 6:8.]
21The Philistines abandoned their gods there, and David and his men carried them away.
22Once again the Philistines came up and deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim,
23and again David inquired of the Lord , who replied: Do not attack the front—circle behind them and come against them near the balsam trees.
24When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, act decisively, for then the Lord has already gone before you to strike the army of the Philistines.[#: the wind in the treetops suggestive of the footsteps of the Lord and the heavenly host.]
25David did as the Lord commanded him, and routed the Philistines from Gibeon as far as Gezer.