This map shows Israel in the days of King David and also in the days of his son, King Solomon.
In 1 Samuel God was preparing David for the kingdom; in 2 Samuel God puts David upon the throne to rule Israel. The Book of 2 Samuel records the highlights of God’s relationship with David, first as he ruled over the territory of Judah, and finally as king of the entire nation of Israel. It traces the ascension of David to the throne, his sins of adultery and murder, and the shattering consequences of those sins upon his family and the nation.
Much of the forty years of David’s reign is passed over in silence, and the events that are recorded do not all come in chronological order. The theme of the Book is not so much David’s reign, but God’s way with David as king. It is a biography. As Henrietta Mears describes it: He is David, the shepherd boy, the court musician, the soldier, the true friend, the outcast captain, the king, the great general, the loving father, the poet, the sinner, the brokenhearted old man, but always the lover of God.
2 Samuel easily falls into two parts:
The first ten chapters describe God’s rewards for obedience as David’s rule is extended first over Judah and then over all of Israel. In this section, 2 Samuel 7:4-17 gives God’s promise to David of an eternal kingdom, throne, and seed. David’s crimes of adultery and murder, described in chapter 11, mark the turning point in the narrative. After this, David’s life is a story of trouble and misery – the death of an infant son, incest and murder among David’s children, and rebellion against David’s kingship.
To appreciate David’s ascent to king of Israel, we should return to 1 Samuel 16:11-13, where he is called from keeping his father’s sheep, when Samuel anointed him, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. This is what made David a man after God’s heart (1 Samuel 13:14).
After Saul’s death, David proves his integrity very early in his rule. 2 Samuel opens with the report of Saul’s death by the Amalekite. This messenger did not share in David’s understanding about the Lord’s anointed. This results in him signing his own death warrant. Notice how the story differs to the report at the end of 1 Samuel.
David had no cause to love the Amalekite race; it was his strong conviction that Saul was raised up by God. David’s response emphasizes his innocence of the death of Saul. His Song of the Bow (2 Samuel 1:19-27) is filled with tenderness when it speaks of his beloved friend Jonathan. For example:
“How the mighty have fallen…
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
You have been very pleasant to me;
Your love to me was wonderful.”
David’s praise of love for Jonathan’s love does not mean that love between friends is inherently superior to marital love. Rather, the point seems to be the astonishing selfless quality of Jonathan’s love for David.
2 Samuel 2:4 records the second anointing of David, and this time publicly. He is only king over Judah at this stage. The northern tribes of Israel remained loyal to Saul’s family.
Sharing:
Why is the story of the Amalekite messenger included? God’s anointing was the issue. He wouldn’t favor one who killed the king, since that would appear as an attempt to usurp the throne. David was kept innocent of Saul’s death. His integrity was proved by rejecting the story of the messenger. David went through difficult times that he didn’t understand, but he learned that God doesn’t delight in permitting hardship, but He knows what is needed.
Jonathan and David’s relationship shows a selfless quality of love. Jonathan risked his life for David, and honored him as heir to the throne that he was actually entitled to as Saul’s son.
David’s principle of life is shown in his first act, repeated many times in the story. It first appears in 2 Samuel 2:1: It happened after this that David inquired of the Lord…
Abner was Ishbosheth’s military general. Joab was David’s military general. While David was being crowned by the people of Judah, Abner, Saul’s cousin, was working to install Saul’s son Ishbosheth as king of Israel (2 Samuel 2:9). For two years, Ishbosheth reigned over the tribes of the north from Mahanaim, a town which was northeast of Hebron, on the east side of the Jordan River. The coronation of Ishbosheth was very different from that of David. Where the entire house of Judah chose David, Ishbosheth was installed by Abner alone: Abner… took Ishbosheth… and he made him king (2 Samuel 2:8-9). Ishbosheth was simply a puppet to Abner. It is recorded that David reigned seven years and six months at Hebron, whereas Ishbosheth reigned over Israel for only two years, starting at the age of forty. The difference of about five years probably includes a period during which Abner held power directly before installing Ishbosheth on the throne.
Abner and Joab were at war with each other until Joab murdered Abner (2 Samuel 3:27). Joab had shed blood of war in peacetime, and this would implicate David at the end of his life.
Sharing:
Joab was David’s military general; Abner was military general to Saul’s son, Ishbosheth. He wanted Saul’s son to be king.
Joab didn’t forgive easily!
The record shows that David was innocent of any bloodshed during peacetime; and also that David didn’t usurp the throne.
David did not usurp a throne, but God gave him his title to the throne: a fact recognized by Saul (1 Samuel 24:18-20), by Abner (2 Samuel 3:9-10), and finally by the whole nation. All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’” When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a compact with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel (2 Samuel 5:1-3, NIV).
David made Jerusalem his capital, known also as Zion, and declared it the city of David (2 Samuel 5:7). It is known as Salem in Genesis, and Jebus, while under Jebusite occupation in Joshua.
David built himself a palace in Jerusalem, using the cedar trees and skilled craftsmen provided by Hiram king of Tyre (2 Samuel 5:11). This city gave him not only a military location of exceptional strength but also a political position in a city that was not subject to any of the tribes. David acknowledged: …the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted His kingdom for the sake of His people Israel (2 Samuel 5:12). The reason for David’s success was that Yahweh, the God of Armies, was with him (2 Samuel 5:10, WEB).
Even though God was with him, the story exposes the truth about David violating God’s clear instructions regarding marriage: And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:13). God tolerated this because of hardened hearts, but never did He let it go unpunished. This opened up a dangerous way for David.
Sharing:
While David was growing in strength, he took more wives. His pride and security kept him from seeking God’s guidance. He simply followed the normal practice among kings in order to strengthen his rule. Following the culture of the time meant women did not have their rightful place in relationships. God never required women were to ‘share’ one man. Taking on more wives was not God’s design, so he knew it wasn’t something he should even think of consulting God about. He didn’t ask God about multiple wives because he knew he wouldn’t like the answer. David ‘compartmentalized’ God out of this part of his life.
When man acts on his own he gets lots of bad names: adulterer, murderer, bad father…
David gives cause for God’s discipline in his life by taking multiple wives.
God wants to be God in every aspect of your life because He knows something or someone else easily takes His rightful place.
Sin or not, there are consequences to our choices.
When a father does not respect his wife, it demonstrates an unhappy marriage, which can have an effect on the children for years to come. This typically leads to a son not respecting his wife; she comes across as a servant to him.
Other religions do not show the faults of leaders; God allows us to see them as they are, and in this His mercy is demonstrated. This story that describes David’s disgrace is important for us to know because it brings out the truth about God; this is God’s Story!
Why didn’t God tell David to stop taking more wives? He did, in His written Law that David knew very well.
Even though the story does not record God speaking to David about multiple wives, there is no record that God ever blesses it – trouble always follows such behavior. The story does not record that taking multiples wives was sinful, but the consequences show it.
Marriage is protection for wives; there is no place for more than one wife.
When marriage is not based on love, it is still possible to learn to love our spouse.
If marriages are going to be sustained, husbands and wives need to show respect for one another that is witnessed by their children.
God’s mercy is demonstrated in that He did not kill David. This is a picture of a forgiving God!
Think about it: How many ribs? How many wives?
Generations are appointed by God; so is a wife! It is best to leave the decision of a spouse to God as He leads us according to His sovereign grace.
David proceeded to make Jerusalem the center of worship to the God of Israel by bringing up the ark, which made Jerusalem the place where ‘God moved into the neighborhood’. Ever since the capture of the ark by the Philistines at the first battle of Ebenezer, where the two sons of Eli died (1 Samuel 4:11), it had remained in Kirjath Jearim (1 Samuel 7:1), away from the public worship of Israel.
The transfer of the ark takes place in two stages. The first effort failed; the second succeeded. Mishandling the ark resulted in tragedy. Uzzah and Ahio drove the cart out of Abinadab, their father’s house, while David and the house of Israel rejoiced by playing music before the Lord (2 Samuel 6:3-5). But Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled (2 Samuel 6:6). Uzzah was not a priest, and there were no Levites present. The Lord’s anger was aroused and God struck him there for his error [irreverence]; and he died there by the ark of God (2 Samuel 6:7). The law specifically stated that the ark was not to be touched (Numbers 4:15). In addition, Exodus 25:14 shows that the proper way to transport the ark was for the Levites to carry it on their shoulders by its poles. The Israelites imitated the Philistine’s method of transporting the ark with a new cart pulled by oxen (1 Samuel 6:7).
The capture of Jerusalem, the building of David’s palace, and the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, are all events that lead into the account of the construction of the temple and the associated promise of a dynasty.
Sharing:
What is the importance of the ark? It represents God’s presence.
There were special instructions for how the ark was to be transported, and David neglected them. His neglect contributed to Uzzah’s death.
Uzzah’s intentions were good, but intentions don’t count when there are specific laws about conduct.
David was angry at God’s anger. When we do that we have two angry people.
When the Lord gave David rest from all his enemies all around (2 Samuel 7:1), he reasoned with Nathan the prophet: “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains” (2 Samuel 7:2). David’s plan seemed reasonable to Nathan, but he was quick to change the plan when ordered by the Lord. David needed such a God-fearing prophet in his life. The promise of an enduring Davidic kingdom (2 Samuel 7:5-14) has been called the summit of the entire Old Testament. Looking back, it takes up the promises of blessing made to Abraham and his elect seed (Genesis 17:16) and brings them to rest on David. Looking forward, it prepares for the hope that inspires Israel’s faith. “And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). Nathan gave the Lord’s message to David exactly as he received it.
Sharing:
Is not a prophet always right? Nathan said for David to go ahead with his plans to build a temple for the Lord. God said ‘no’. It is already established in Deuteronomy that a prophet’s words come true when spoken in God’s name. If a prophet gives a message ‘in My name’ and it does not come to pass, that prophet is presumptuous. The agreement between Nathan and David did not involve a prophetic message, so no presumption was present; it was simply a ‘discussion’. When God did give his answer, Nathan was clear in giving the Lord’s message to David exactly how he received it.
The history of the house of the God of Israel starts with Exodus 33:7: At Sinai, after the sin of the golden calf, Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. It was a simple place of revelation and of the meeting of the people with Yahweh. It was not God’s dwelling place; Joshua lived there (Exodus 33:11). God only came from time to time to the entrance of the tent in the pillar of cloud to speak to Moses.
The next step is after God told Moses: “let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). This was fulfilled in Exodus 40:1: “On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.”
2 Samuel 6:17 takes the history of God’s house another step. David erected a tabernacle in Jerusalem, where the ark of the Lord was placed.
But 2 Samuel 7:2 says that David desired a house for the Lord that is more than “tent curtains”. God told David that since he is a warrior who would bring rest from Israel’s enemies, the Lord will instead establish a dynasty for David (2 Samuel 7:11). God assured David that his son would build a house for the Lord (2 Samuel 7:12).
God’s promise to David was better than David’s desire. David was overwhelmed with God’s declaration that Yahweh would build him a house. David’s humility is evident in his response: “Who am I?” (2 Samuel 7:18). It agrees with his recognition that “the Lord is with him” (1 Samuel 16:18).
Sharing:
Why does God need a ‘house’? God’s house is for our benefit; God comes to us to communicate, and a house shows that He really does come down to communicate on our level. He does not need a house since He is present wherever His people go. God established earlier in His Story that there was to be a central place of worship so that idolatry is prevented.
David did prepare everything for his son to build the temple.
God fully established the kingdom of Israel that had fallen into confusion under Saul. Twice the statement is made: The Lord preserved David wherever he went (2 Samuel 8:6, 14).
David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), that is, his will was completely committed to the will of his Lord. God used him as his dedicated servant to perform mighty acts for the sake of His chosen people Israel. God saw to it that David (references all in 2 Samuel):
Became king of Judah (2:4).
Became king of Israel (5:3).
Conquered Jerusalem (5:7).
Returned the ark (6:12).
Gained victory over the Philistines (8:1).
Was victor over Moab (8:2).
Conquered Syria (8:6).
Overthrew Ammon (11:1).
David himself, as the head of administration, was responsible for law and justice, doing what was just and right for all his people (2 Samuel 8:15, NLT). An example of this is in the story about Mephibosheth.
Jonathan and David made a covenant: “…you shall not cut off your kindness from my house forever” (1 Samuel 20:15). It came time for David to uphold that agreement, so he asked, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” (2 Samuel 9:1). Mephibosheth, the crippled son of Jonathan, was brought to David. King David gave him all that belonged to Saul, which included his entire house (his land). He treated Jonathan’s son as his own, giving him a place of honor at his own table. Just as David had abased himself before Saul as a dead dog (1 Samuel 24:14), so Mephibosheth abased himself before David as a dead dog, recorded in 2 Samuel 9:8: “What is your servant, that you should look upon such a dead dog as I?” It is usually an insult. This record shows that David had not been spoiled by success, nor had he lost the tender qualities of his spirit. Power had not gone to his head!
Sharing:
It was prophesied earlier in Samuel that Saul’s line would not continue. After Michal despised David for his public dancing without his kingly attire (2 Samuel 6:16), we are told that she never had children (v. 23). God is fulfilling His promise.
David’s treatment of Mephibosheth shows a gracious spirit. He was treated like royalty because of David’s love for Jonathan. It shows that success had not dulled David’s senses. David does not get prideful and avenge himself because he has a heart after God. An offended heart is not after God’s heart. We are offenders of God; yet God is not offended.
Do you think it is symbolic that a crippled person is the end of Saul’s lineage? The fact that there is a reference to it would suggest something important, but the story does not give us insight at this point.
Augustine said: David’s fall should put upon their guard all who have not fallen, and save from despair all those who have fallen.
David's deep fall forms a turning-point not only in the inner life of the great king, but also in the history of his reign. He reaped the bitter harvest of his sin. The disobedient life is a troubled life. There are lessons to be learned from David’s four troubles.
David’s army was at war with the Ammonites (2 Samuel 10) in the spring of the year because they had failed to capture the capital, Rabbah, in the last battle. Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11:3), one of his thirty-seven mighty men (2 Samuel 23:8), was involved in the battle. At the time when kings go forth to battle, King David stayed home, and strolled on the palace roof in the cool of the evening. From his vantage-point he could see down into the open inner courtyard of a nearby house, where Bathsheba was bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold (2 Samuel 11:2). He relaxed his watchfulness, and yielded to self-indulgence: …David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house (2 Samuel 11:4). The reference to her purification ritual removes any doubt that David is responsible for Bathsheba’s pregnancy.
Not until 2 Samuel 12:24 will the name Bathsheba be mentioned again; the reference is to the woman (2 Samuel 11:5) or to Uriah’s wife (2 Samuel 11:26; 12:10, 15). The focus is not on Bathsheba herself so much as on her status as the wife of another man.
When David’s servants plucked up the courage to tell him the child had died, his response in 2 Samuel 12:20-21 surprised them. He washed, changed his clothes, and worshipped the Lord. Then he went to his house and ate food. His reason for such behavior is recorded in 2 Samuel 12:23 (NIV): But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
This is how Jacob responded to the supposed death of his son, Joseph (Genesis 37:35). This indicates that David understood a place of conscious existence after death. A commentator states: David attested to the irrevocability of death - its finality renders further petition absurd. I will go to him, David said, but he will not return to me. This reflects his conviction that the dead cannot return to life as it was. Rather it is the living who go to the dead. The ancient Israelite notion was that everyone who died went to ‘Sheol’, the place of the dead; the grave. David almost certainly had this concept in mind when he asked this question. He realized that sooner or later he would also die and go to the place of the dead, thus joining his son.
David failed in his duty to take his proper place in the battle, which led to relaxing his watchfulness at the height of prosperity. Failure to fulfill his duties easily led to indulgence in liberties.
Sharing:
David’s adultery with Bathsheba is his turning point. He sinned against Bathsheba and a nation, yet the story says he ‘sinned against the Lord’ (2 Samuel 12:13). Is it enough that confession is made to the Lord alone? Should not Bathsheba and the nation have heard of David’s repentance?
Did Bathsheba contribute to the situation by bathing on a rooftop? Remember the great cover-up called ‘Watergate’?; here we have ‘Bathshebagate’! The punishment for them was the death of their son.
David’s statement that he will go to the grave where his son is (2 Samuel 12:23), indicates some understanding of life after death.
God uses our mistakes, but this doesn’t give us allowance to sin.
If David did not sin, would the future kings have been as evil? David’s third trouble indicates that his sinfulness developed into a pattern for his sons.
Yet, it is interesting that Samuel had bad sons; David had bad sons; but Saul had a good son in Jonathan. Ultimately, parents cannot take responsibility for the outcome of their children, even though they are responsible to teach them God’s Word.
David was a compassionate and patient man. Could it be that his sons took advantage of this?
Nathan said that David was forgiven before he made a sacrifice (2 Samuel 12:13). His sin deserved death under the Law; David could only plead mercy, which is beyond judgment under the Law. What matters is a repentant heart. David had the potential to pack up and leave, but instead he turned to God’s mercy in repentance, and he keeps going forward. Any of us could give up, but that would ruin us. It is enough to depend upon God.
With all his deceptive attempts to make it look like Uriah was the child’s father, David resorted to murder. David’s commander, Joab, was instructed to place Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die (2 Samuel 11:15).
God sent Nathan the prophet to David with a parable that succeeded in pronouncing judgment on the rich man (2 Samuel 12:2), who was David. David condemned himself. His response in 2 Samuel 12:5 is an exclamation: “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!”
God pronounced His judgment upon David through the prophet Nathan: “The sword shall never depart from your house” (2 Samuel 12:10). So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13). The path back to obedience is repentance. The Lord restored repentant David to His favor, giving him a son named Solomon through Bathsheba as a token. The adversity against David from his own house was still to come (2 Samuel 12:11).
God confronted David with his specific sins: He sinned against the nation, his family, and his own body; he despised the Lord, and the word of the Lord; he sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah; he made allowance for the enemy to blaspheme the Lord; and he despised God through his secret sin.
David had shown a lack of sexual restraint when it came to the wife of one of his soldiers, Uriah. Amnon, one of David’s sons, showed a similar lack of restraint when he raped his half-sister, Tamar. This was followed by Tamar’s brother, Absalom, murdering Amnon, and then he fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur… and was there three years (2 Samuel 13:37-38).
Signs of weakness in David’s character appear in the course of these incidents. When he learned of Amnon’s sin he was extremely angry, but that was all. When he heard of Amnon’s murder he was overcome, but made no attempt to punish Absalom or bring him to justice. He received Absalom back into favor with no sign of repentance as a murderer.
The strong king is a fatally weak father. Had David taken action he might have prevented both the murder and the later rebellion. The consequences of David’s sin reached their culmination in the temporary loss of his throne as a result of the rebellion of his own son. Both the weakness and the strength of David’s character are manifest in the story of Absalom’s rebellion in 2 Samuel 15-18. It is one of the most detailed records found in the Bible.
At the death of his son, Absalom, the results of David’s sin reached their culmination, and his sorrow reached its profoundest depth, in his agonizing wail. Five times in the course of it he repeats the words “my son”: the father recognizes himself as reproduced in Absalom. And then comes the deepest cry of all in 2 Samuel 18:33: “…if only I had died in your place! O Absalom my son, my son!”
Sharing:
David’s fourth and final trouble stems from his insistence on a census motivated by pride and ambition to establish a military monarchy:
Again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah” (2 Samuel 24:1). The issue is the mystery of the presence and practice of evil. God’s sovereign determination does not fall outside the acts of humans. Later on God’s Story will reveal that Satan is the active agent inciting David’s ambitions, but the sovereign God overruled it for His own purposes of righteousness and judgment.
Trusting in numbers instead of glorying in the Lord led to a plague that destroyed seventy thousand men (2 Samuel 24:15). But God’s mercy is longsuffering: When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:16, NIV).
When the census was over, David realized his sin in the matter, and made confession and sought forgiveness: David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing” (2 Samuel 24:10, NIV).
The prophet Gad was sent to offer him a choice of three evils as a punishment. David chose the stroke that came most directly from the hand of God, thus showing his faith and his submission to God’s chastening: “Shall there come upon you three years of famine in your land? Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you? Or three days of plague in your land? Now then, think it over and decide how I should answer the one who sent me.” David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men” (2 Samuel 24:13-14, NIV).
David knew that his act was sinful and that he was endangering the nation with the righteous anger of God in judgment. However, he also knew his God as a forgiving Lord, generous in mercy toward all who repent.
After the judgment, David built an altar, thus turning an occasion of judgment into one of worship. While God’s grace and forgiveness are free, David understands that proper worship of God is never to be cheap or careless. David purchases the threshing-floor on Mount Moriah, close to the place where Abraham offered up Isaac.
Sharing:
Trusting in great numbers is presumptuous action. It is misplaced trust.
What happened to David’s attitude displayed at the battle with Goliath?
The reasoning behind David’s choice for punishment was that he knew it was best to be under God, who could show true mercy without revenge.
David saw the need to pay for his offering so that he paid for the threshing floor for the altar. We cannot worship God without realizing the cost. Worship requires that we put God above ourselves.
David is shown for what he is, a sinner, but a sinner who is ready to repent and to cast himself upon God’s mercy. David’s song of praise (2 Samuel 22), together with the prayer of Hannah (1 Samuel 2:1-10), forms a fitting frame for the books of 1 and 2 Samuel.
David’s song in 2 Samuel 22 focuses on the Lord’s deliverance. It may be outlined as follows:
Introductory praise of God as “Savior” (verses 2-4).
His “sorrows” (verses 5-6).
His “cry” (verse 7).
The “Most High uttered His voice” (verses 8-16).
The Lord’s personal “support” (verses 17-20).
David’s “cleanness” (verses 21-25).
The Lord as David’s “lamp” (verses 26-30).
The Lord as David’s “strength and power” (verses 31-37).
David “armed for the battle” (verses 38-46).
Concluding praise of God “the tower of salvation” (verses 47-51).
This song can be compared with Moses’ song in Deuteronomy 32.
David’s last poem is recorded in 2 Samuel 23:2-7, introduced with a few words in praise of David (verse 1), and then described as a man who has been raised up and anointed by the God of Jacob. He is a poet and the sweet psalmist of Israel (2 Samuel 23:1). He is portrayed as a prophet who declares an oracle, and spoke words given to him by the “Spirit of the Yahweh” (2 Samuel 23:1 [NIV], 2 [WEB]). The eternal covenant between David and his God is at the heart of the song: “He has made with me an everlasting covenant” (2 Samuel 23:5).
Mighty Men’
David had
mighty men (2 Samuel 23:8) that formed two important military groups. According to most translations the top military officers were referred to as
the three (verses 8-12), and the next level of important soldiers were called
the thirty (verses 13-39). Some translations prefer to divide this section into two parts, calling the first ‘The Three Warriors’ and the second ‘The Thirty Warriors’. David’s mighty men assisted him greatly in his kingdom, along with all Israel, to make him king. God saw to it that David was not a ‘one-man-show’. He had a tremendous and loyal support base.
Sharing:
We will be viewing the Kings and Chronicles as one unit, so in preparation for the next session, begin reading through 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
This map shows the greatest extent of Israel’s empire, as well as the territory under the economic influence of King Solomon. 
“Because you have asked for the wisdom to rule justly, instead of long life for yourself or riches or the death of your enemies, I will do what you have asked. I will give you more wisdom and understanding than anyone has ever had before or will ever have again. I will also give you what you have not asked for: all your life you will have wealth and honor, more than that of any other king.” 
