1 Chronicles 3

The assassination of Ish-Bosheth left the eleven tribes without a king or even an heir to Saul’s throne. Abner was dead, but he had paved the way for David to be made king of all twelve tribes (3:17–21). The next step was for the leaders of all the tribes to convene at Hebron and crown David king.

The qualifications for Israel’s king were written in the law of Moses in Deuteronomy 17:14–20. The first and most important requirement was that he was to be chosen by the Lord from the people of Israel, a king “whom the Lord your God chooses” (17:15, 20 nkjv). The people knew that Samuel had anointed David king some twenty years before and that it was God’s will that David ascend the throne (2 Sam. 5:2). The nation needed a shepherd, and David was that shepherd (Ps. 78:70–72). Saul had been “the people’s king” but he wasn’t the Lord’s first choice, for God had given him as a judgment against Israel because they wanted to be like the other nations (1 Sam. 8; Hos. 13:11). The Lord loved His people and knew they needed a shepherd, so He equipped David to be their king. Unlike Saul, who was a Benjamite, David was from the royal tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10) and was born and raised in Bethlehem. Because of this, he was able to establish the dynasty that brought the Messiah Jesus Christ into the world, and He, too, was born in Bethlehem.

The people who gathered at Hebron reminded David that he belonged to the whole nation and not just to the tribe of Judah (2 Sam. 5:1). At the beginning of David’s career, the people recognized that God’s hand was upon him, for God gave him success in his military exploits. Present at Hebron were representatives from all the tribes, and they enthusiastically gave their allegiance to the new king (1 Chron. 12:23–40). The total number of officers and men is 340,800, all of them loyal to David. The people remained with David for three days and celebrated God’s goodness to His people.

The foundation of the Jewish nation was God’s covenant with His people as expressed in the law of Moses, especially Deuteronomy 27–30 and Leviticus 26. If the king and the people obeyed God’s will, He would bless and care for them, but if they disobeyed and worshipped false gods, He would discipline them. Each new king was required to affirm the supremacy and authority of God’s law, promise to obey it, and even make a copy of it for his own personal use (Deut. 17:18–20). David entered into a covenant with the Lord and the people, agreeing to uphold and obey God’s law and to rule in the fear of the Lord (see 1 Sam. 10:17–25; 2 Kings 11:17).

When David was a teenager, Samuel had anointed him privately (1 Sam. 16:13), and the elders of the tribe of Judah had anointed him when he became their king at thirty years of age (2 Sam. 2:4). But now the elders of the whole nation anointed David and proclaimed him as their king. David was not an amateur, but a seasoned warrior and a gifted leader who obviously had the blessing of the Lord on his life and ministry. After experiencing years of turbulence and division, the nation at last had a king who was God’s choice and the people’s choice. God takes time to prepare His leaders, and much to be pitied is the person who “succeeds” before he or she is ready for it.

What a remarkable and varied life David lived! As a shepherd, he killed a lion and a bear, and these victories prepared him to kill the giant Goliath. David served as an attendant to King Saul and became a beloved friend of Saul’s son Jonathan. For perhaps ten years, David was an exile in the wilderness of Judea, hiding from Saul and learning to trust the Lord more and more. He had patiently waited for the Lord to give him the promised throne, and now that time had come. It is through faith and patience that God’s people inherit what He has promised (Heb. 6:12), and David had trusted God in the most difficult circumstances. David inherited a divided people, but with God’s help he united them and built Israel into a strong and powerful kingdom. These chapters describe the steps David took to unite and strengthen the nation.

Israel was a small nation that was distinguished from her neighbors by her special covenant relationship with the true and living God (Num. 23:7–10), and the Jews were warned not to form alliances with their neighbors that would compromise their testimony. Unless his successor bore the same name, Hiram was probably just beginning his reign as king of Tyre, for he befriended both David and Solomon during their reigns (1 Kings 5).

It’s likely that David’s palace was built for him after his successful wars against the Philistines (5:17–25), and this may have been Hiram’s way of recognizing David’s accession to the throne. No doubt the Phoenician king also appreciated the fact that David had defeated his warlike neighbors, the Philistines. From a practical point of view, it was necessary for the Phoenicians to be on good terms with the Jews because Israel could easily block the trade route to Tyre, and the Phoenicians depended on Jewish farmers for their food. (See Acts 12:20.) David interpreted Hiram’s kindness as another evidence that the Lord had indeed established him on the throne of Israel.

The mention of David’s palace and his alliance with Hiram offered the writer opportunity to mention David’s family, the “house” that the Lord was building for him (Ps. 127). Deuteronomy 17: prohibited Israel’s king from taking many wives, but David seems to have ignored this law, as did Solomon after him (1 Kings 4:26; 11:1–4). At least one of David’s wives was a princess (3:3), which suggests that the marriage was for the sake of political alliance, and no doubt there were other similar marriages. This was one way to cement good relationships with other nations.

There are four lists of David’s children in Scripture—those born while he reigned in Hebron (2 Sam 3:2–5) and those born after he moved to Jerusalem (5:13–16; 1 Chron. 3:1–9; 14:4–7). His first wife was Saul’s daughter Michal (1 Sam. 18:27), who was childless (2 Sam. 6:23). In Hebron, Ahinoam of Jezreel gave birth to Amnon, David’s firstborn (2 Sam. 3:2); Abigail the widow of Nabal gave birth to Chileab, or Daniel (2 Sam. 3:3); princess Maacah bore Absalom (3:3) and his sister Tamar (2 Sam. 13:1); Haggith gave birth to Adonijah (3:4); Abital bore Shephatiah (3:4); and Eglah bore Ithream (3:5). In Jerusalem, Bathsheba bore David four children (1 Chron. 3:5): Shimea (or Shammah), Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. His other wives, who are not named (1 Chron. 3:6–9), bore David Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet (or Elpelet), Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada (or Beeliada, 1 Chron. 14:7), Eliphelet.

David also had children by his concubines, so he had a large family to manage. It’s no wonder that some of them got involved in various court intrigues and brought sorrow to the king. The law clearly stated that the king was not to multiply wives, but both David and Solomon ignored this law, and both paid dearly for their disobedience. It’s likely that some of the wives, like Maacah, represented alliances that David made with neighboring kings to help guarantee the security of Israel.