📖WEB · 1 Chronicles 11:3
What does 1 Chronicles 11:3 mean?
"So 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 Yahweh’s word by Samuel."
— 1 Chronicles 11:3 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Then all Israel gathered themselves to David to Hebron, saying, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
In 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.’”
So 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 Yahweh’s word by Samuel.
David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (also called Jebus); and the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, were there.
The inhabitants of Jebus said to David, “You will not come in here.” Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion. The same is David’s city.
David said, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain.” Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief.
Explanation
This verse describes the moment when David's kingship over the entire nation of Israel became official. After years of division—during which David reigned only over the tribe of Judah while conflict simmered with the house of Saul—the elders representing all the tribes traveled to Hebron, David's base of operations, to formally recognize him as king. There they entered into a covenant with him, a solemn agreement establishing mutual obligations between king and people, and this was done consciously "before Yahweh," meaning God himself was invoked as witness and guarantor of the arrangement. The elders then anointed David, pouring oil on him as a sign of consecration and divine appointment, publicly confirming what had already been true in principle for years.
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