Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to 2 Samuel · About this commentary
Anointed King at Hebron
2 Samuel 2:1-11
1 After this, David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” Yahweh said to him, “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” He said, “To Hebron.” · WEB
David asks before he moves, is crowned over one tribe out of twelve, and sends thanks to the town that buried his enemy.
After this, David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?"... David said, "Where shall I go up?" He said, "To Hebron" 2 Samuel 2:1.
The throne has been promised for years and the rival is dead, and David still asks — twice, the second question narrowing the first. The contrast with the decision that took him into Philistine territory, made without an inquiry 1 Samuel 27:1, is the point. A promise fulfilled does not excuse a man from asking about the next step.
Hebron is the right answer for reasons a map explains: the chief city of Judah's hill country, Abraham's burial place, Caleb's inheritance, and far enough south to be defensible while the north sorted itself out.
The men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah 2 Samuel 2:4.
This is his second anointing — the first was private, in his father's house, years before 1 Samuel 16:13 — and it makes him king over one tribe. Between the promise and its completion stand seven and a half years of ruling a fragment while another man's name is read in the north. God's promises in this book arrive by installments, and the installments are long enough to be lived in.
"Blessed are you by Yahweh, that you have shown this kindness to your lord, even to Saul, and have buried him" 2 Samuel 2:5.
The first act of the new reign is a message of thanks to Jabesh Gilead for burying Saul — the men who marched all night to take a body down from a wall 1 Samuel 31:12. It is genuine honor for a dangerous loyalty, and it is also an invitation, since the message ends by mentioning that Judah has anointed him king 2 Samuel 2:7. David is capable of meaning both at once, and the book does not ask readers to choose.
Now Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul's army, had taken Ishbosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim 2 Samuel 2:8.
And the north answers with a king of its own. Note who does the taking: Abner installs Saul's surviving son east of the Jordan , out of Philistine reach, and rules through him. Ishbosheth is a name on a throne — the general is the government, which is why the kingdom changes hands the moment Abner decides it should 2 Samuel 3:12. The division is stated in a single sober line: the house of Judah followed David 2 Samuel 2:10. One nation, two kings, and a war nobody has yet declared.
settled What this mark means