1 Chronicles 11 · WEB
David Becomes King; Jerusalem Captured; His Mighty Men
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Then all Israel gathered themselves to David to Hebron, saying, "Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
2In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. Yahweh your God said to you, 'You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.'"
3So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Yahweh; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of Yahweh by Samuel.
4David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (the same is Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there.
5The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, "You shall not come in here." Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David.
6David said, "Whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be chief and commander." Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief.
7David lived in the stronghold; therefore they called it the city of David.
8He built the city all around, from Millo even around; and Joab repaired the rest of the city.
9David grew greater and greater; for Yahweh of Armies was with him.
10Now these are the chiefs of the mighty men whom David had, who showed themselves strong with him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of Yahweh concerning Israel.
11This is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty; he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them at one time.
12After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men.
13He was with David at Pas Dammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where there was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines.
14He stood in the middle of the plot, and defended it, and killed the Philistines; and Yahweh saved them by a great victory.
15Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the army of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
16David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.
17David longed, and said, "Oh that someone would give me water to drink of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!"
18The three broke through the army of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to Yahweh,
19and said, "My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it." Therefore he would not drink it. These things did the three mighty men.
20Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief of the three; for he lifted up his spear against three hundred, and killed them, and had a name among the three.
21Of the three, he was more honorable than the two, and was made their commander; however he didn't attain to the first three.
22Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, he killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab: he also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit in time of snow.
23He killed an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian's hand was a spear like a weaver's beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with his own spear.
24These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had a name among the three mighty men.
25Behold, he was more honorable than the thirty, but he didn't attain to the three; and David set him over his guard.
26Also the mighty men of the armies: Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem,
27Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite,
28Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite,
29Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite,
30Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite,
31Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite,
32Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite,
33Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite,
34the sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shage the Hararite,
35Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur,
36Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,
37Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai,
38Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Hagri,
39Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armor bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah,
40Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite,
41Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai,
42Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty with him,
43Hanan the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite,
44Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite,
45Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother the Tizite,
46Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite,
47Eliel, and Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.
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Summary
David is anointed king over all Israel at Hebron and immediately moves to capture Jerusalem from the Jebusites, making it his capital city. Joab earns his place as commander by leading the assault. The chapter concludes with a roster of David's mighty men — elite warriors whose extraordinary deeds in battle helped establish the kingdom. The famous story of three warriors breaking through Philistine lines to bring David water from Bethlehem's well captures their devotion to their king.
Themes
- God's fulfillment of his promise to make David king
- Loyalty and courage among David's warriors
- Jerusalem as God's chosen city for David's throne
Key verses
- 1 Chr 11:18-19 — “David pours out the water his men risked their lives for, as an offering to God.”
- 1 Chr 11:2 — “Yahweh your God said to you, 'You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.'”
- 1 Chr 11:9 — “David grew greater and greater; for Yahweh of Armies was with him.”
Context & background
Hebron (modern Hebron, West Bank, ~30 km south of Jerusalem) was David's first capital, where he ruled Judah for seven and a half years. Jerusalem (modern Jerusalem, Israel) was a Jebusite stronghold called Jebus, situated on a narrow ridge between valleys — naturally defensible. David's capture of it around 1000 BC made it a politically neutral city belonging to no tribe. The cave of Adullam (modern Tel Adullam, southwest of Jerusalem) was David's early hideout during his years of flight from Saul. Uriah the Hittite (v. 41) is the same man whose wife Bathsheba David later took — a tragic note embedded in the list of heroes.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 22:1-2 — David at the cave of Adullam, where these mighty men gathered
- 2 Samuel 11 — The story of Uriah, whose name appears quietly in this list of heroes
- 2 Samuel 23:8-39 — Parallel account of David's mighty men
- 2 Samuel 5:1-10 — Parallel account of David's anointing and capture of Jerusalem
- Psalm 78:70-72 — God "chose David his servant... to be shepherd of Jacob his people"