TOM · The Owner's Manual · Old Testament

2 Samuel 5

Chapter 5 in 30 seconds

All twelve tribes finally make David king. He takes Jerusalem from the Jebusites, who bragged that even the blind and the lame could keep him out. David moves in, calls it the City of David, and beats the Philistines twice. The second time, God says, Wait for the marching in the treetops.

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In this chapterField Notes · ArchaeologyThe City of David · after verse 20 Field Notes · ArchaeologyWarren's Shaft · after verse 20

David Anointed King of All Israel// 1 Chronicles 11:1–3

¹Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood. ²Even in times past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them back. And to you Yahweh said, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over them.’”

2SA 5:1[FULFILLS]Judah's brothers would bow to him and he would rule over his enemies ← GEN 49:8

³So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before Yahweh. And they anointed him king over Israel.

2SA 5:3[FULFILLS]Abraham would be the father of many nations and kings would come from him ← GEN 17:4-6
2SA 5:3[FULFILLS]Samuel told Saul his kingdom would be torn from him and given to a better neighbor ← 1SA 15:28

⁴David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.

2SA 5:4[NOTE]THIRTY YEARS OLD. David became king at thirty and reigned forty years. Jesus began His work at about thirty, Luke 3:23.

David Conquers Jerusalem// 1 Chronicles 11:4–9

⁶Now the king and his men marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites who inhabited the land. The Jebusites said to David: “You will never get in here. Even the blind and lame can repel you.” For they thought, “David cannot get in here.”

⁷Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion (that is, the City of David). ⁸On that day he said, “Whoever attacks the Jebusites must use the water shaft to reach the lame and blind who are despised by David.” That is why it is said, “The blind and the lame will never enter the palace.”

2SA 5:7[NOTE]ZION first appears in the Bible here. It was the Jebusite fortress on the hill south of the later temple. Later the name stood for all of Jerusalem and for God's people.
2SA 5:8[FIELD NOTES]WATER SHAFT. The Hebrew word tsinnor shows up only here and in Psalm 42:7. See the Warren's Shaft Field Notes page.

⁹So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward. ¹⁰And David became greater and greater, for Yahweh God of Hosts was with him.

2SA 5:9[FIELD NOTES]SUPPORTING TERRACES is the Hebrew Millo, which means filling. Some think the huge stepped stone wall in the City of David is the Millo. See the City of David Field Notes page.

¹¹Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs, carpenters, and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David.

David’s Family Grows// 1 Chronicles 14:1–7

¹²And David realized that Yahweh had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.

¹³After he had arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. ¹⁴These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet.

2SA 5:14[NOTE]NATHAN, David's son, is not Nathan the prophet. Jesus' family line in Luke 3:31 runs through this Nathan. Matthew 1:6 runs through Solomon.

Two Victories over the Philistines// 1 Chronicles 14:8–17

¹⁷When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they all went in search of him; but David learned of this and went down to the stronghold.

¹⁸Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹So David inquired of Yahweh, “Should I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?”

“Go up,” replied Yahweh, “for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hand.”

²⁰So David went to Baal-perazim, where he defeated the Philistines and said, “Like a bursting flood, Yahweh has burst out against my enemies before me.” So he called that place Baal-perazim. ²¹There the Philistines abandoned their idols, and David and his men carried them away.

2SA 5:21[DEMONIC]The Philistines abandon their idols and David carries them off

Field Notes · Archaeology

The City of David

2 Samuel 5:6 to 12 · 1 Kings 9:15 · 1 Chronicles 11:4 to 8

The Stepped Stone Structure on the east slope of the City of David, seen from above. The smooth walls at the top and the metal at the bottom are modern. Photo Ian Scott, CC BY SA 2.0.

WHAT IT IS: A huge wall of stone steps running down the east side of the hill south of the Temple Mount, the oldest part of Jerusalem. It is about 60 feet tall, one of the biggest buildings from Israel's Iron Age. At its top, Eilat Mazar dug the walls of a large stone building she called the Large Stone Structure.
HOW OLD IT IS: Debated. Many date the stepped wall to about 1100 to 900 BC, around David's time. Others date parts of it later, to the 800s BC or after. Mazar dated the building on top to the 900s BC.
WHERE AND WHEN FOUND: Parts were dug by R. A. S. Macalister in the 1920s, Kathleen Kenyon in the 1960s and Yigal Shiloh from 1978 to 1985. Mazar dug the building on top from 2005.
THE MILLO: In 5:9 David built from the supporting terraces inward. The Hebrew is the Millo, which means filling. Many think the Millo was a huge filled support like this stepped wall.
DAVID'S PALACE?: Mazar thought the Large Stone Structure was the palace Hiram's workers built for David, 5:11. Others say its walls come from different times, or it was a Jebusite fortress, or something later.
WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE: No writing found there names David. It shows that a large, strong building stood in the City of David at about the time the Bible gives for David, if the early dates are right.

CONFIDENCE: MEDIUM

Field Notes · Archaeology

Warren's Shaft

2 Samuel 5:6 to 8 · 1 Chronicles 11:4 to 6 · 2 Chronicles 32:30

A rock cut passage inside the Warren's Shaft system in the City of David, lit by modern lamps. Photo Davidbena, CC BY SA 4.0.

WHAT IT IS: A sloping tunnel and a deep shaft, about 43 feet straight down, inside the hill of the City of David. The tunnel leads from inside the old city wall toward the Gihon Spring, Jerusalem's main spring.
HOW OLD IT IS: The tunnel was cut long before Hezekiah's famous tunnel of about 700 BC. Its first date is debated. Newer digs found a huge stone tower guarding the spring. Its diggers dated it to about 1800 BC, but carbon tests in 2017 suggest about 800 BC. The date is still debated.
WHERE AND WHEN FOUND: Charles Warren, a British army engineer, found it in 1867. Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron dug the area again from 1995.
THE OLD IDEA: For over a hundred years, many thought Joab climbed up this shaft to get inside the Jebusite city, 5:8 and 1 Chronicles 11:6. The Hebrew word in 5:8 is tsinnor, often read as water shaft.
THE NEW FINDINGS: Reich and Shukron found the shaft is a natural crack in the rock. In David's day its top was likely not even reachable, because the tunnel floor was lowered later. People most likely drew water from a rock cut pool near the spring instead.
WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE: The word tsinnor is rare, and some think it means a channel, a throat or even a hook. Many still think Joab's men came in through the city's water system, but likely not up this shaft.

CONFIDENCE: MEDIUM

²²Once again the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. ²³So David inquired of Yahweh, who answered, “Do not march straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. ²⁴As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because this will mean that Yahweh has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”

2SA 5:23[MIRACLE]Sound of marching in the balsam trees signals David to attack

²⁵So David did as Yahweh had commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

2 Samuel 5

David Anointed King of All Israel// 1 Chronicles 11:1–3

David Conquers Jerusalem// 1 Chronicles 11:4–9

David’s Family Grows// 1 Chronicles 14:1–7

Two Victories over the Philistines// 1 Chronicles 14:8–17

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