From here on in our study, the primary focus will be the text in Samuel and Kings. These appear to have been the records maintained by the Schools of the Prophets, and perhaps eventually stored in the Temple. However, we will frequently make reference to the royal court records we know of as Chronicles. At times we will refer to some of the prophets.
2 Samuel 5:1-5 -- The rest of the nation finally come to Hebron and declare their loyalty to David, making him their king. Whatever speeches they made, the resounding theme was that David was chosen by God, and this was backed up by his unfailing battle success, even under Saul. Insofar as Saul was no more than a warlord, David was better at it. The account by the school of prophets was that David ruled in Hebron over Judah 7-and-a-half years. The balance of his 40-year reign was in Jerusalem, and included Israel. Keep in mind the name Israel is ambiguous at times, meaning the whole nation in some contexts, as well as the 10 northern tribes apart from Judah and Simeon in other places.
When the tribal delegations came, they were escorted by all the armies from each tribe. These armies were composed of various professional warriors, most of whom were noble families, major landholders who could afford the expense of weapons and the time to train. There were also the hordes of conscripts, performing their duties as soldiers under various arrangements that amounted to taxation in man-days paid by peasant households. These same tribal delegations also brought along huge caravans of food and related supplies. These supply trains would have been staged to arrive over the three day feast, keeping the festivities well stocked. All of this was a form of tribute, voluntarily brought under the same management plans as mobilizing for war. They had long practice at it. However, this included luxuries reserved for high holy days.
1 Chronicles 11:10-12:37 tracks the various troop counts. It also relates the history of David's army, from the days when he hid out at the cave in Adullam, through his stay in Ziklag and his service to Achish, to his reign in Hebron. While it is unlikely that this massive army at his coronation would have remained with David year-round, there was a dual purpose here. Certain actions required the whole army.
5:6-10 -- David had long been in love with the area of Jerusalem. It is quite certain he knew that Abraham had prepared to sacrifice Isaac on the peak of Mt. Moriah above the ancient city. There was but one thing standing in the way: the stronghold still manned by the Jebusites from before the Conquest. The people were a mixture of Amorite and Hittite. The city often went by the name of the apparent ancestor of the lot, Jebus. Ancient records refer to it as Uru-salim, which is obviously similar to Jerusalem. While David led his men into battle, he was more than a mere warlord. Thus, as a true king he would order his loyal combat leaders to carry the honor in leading their own companies. The actual breakthrough was accomplished by Joab.
The army would have marched into the area, with their approach and intent known to the inhabitants well in advance. They would have closed the gates, barred them, and would have gathererd supplies for a long seige. We get the feeling there had been a long-standing tension between David and the leaders of the city. The structure itself was called The Millo, a term referring to a man-made terrace, by which the foundation was extended out over the slope of the ridge, increasing the difficulty of attack. The fortress thus had a steep drop on three sides, since the ancient city was built on a narrow ridge extending south from Mt. Moriah. The hilltop above it was holy ground from ancient times, and avoiding desecration made that approach difficult. Attacking troops would be quite vulnerable to just about anything dropped from atop the wall. They boasted that their blind and lame could have held off David's men. The only weakness was the east wall. The only source of water for the city was a spring which lay below the natural line for wall building.
Recent archaeology findings shed light on the likely scenario. The spring once bubbled out of the hillside from a chamber inside the limestone bluff. Some time before, the city dwellers had cut a shaft down to the chamber, probably dropping a ladder inside to allow access. By expanding the chamber, they minimized water loss. The Hebrew text is a bit ambiguous, but it seems that the original exit out in the Kidron Valley was enlarged, allowing access to the chamber far below the floor of the fortress. Some troops slipped in via this unlikely entrance, fought their way to the gates and got them open, allowing a full invasion.
David renamed the place Zion, "Landmark." Never again would the center of gravity in Israel move with each new leader or judge. Because of the taunting, the nickname in David's court for Jebusites, some of whom still lived in small pockets in the land, was "the blind and the lame," and they would never be allowed to enter the palace on pain of death. First living in the fort, David built his city up the ridge toward the temple mount.
5:11-16 -- Hiram had arisen to power over Tyre, and island city off the coast of modern Lebanon, and was celebrated in ancient literature as a powerful warrior and very wealthy trader king. He may also have been the titular high priest of their religion, which would eventually become deeply evil some 300 years later. At this point rather early in his reign, he offered an alliance by sending David a gift: enough cedar and workmen to build a real palace. We have a picture of David becoming the first real king of Israel, with all the trappings, including sumptuous quarters, a large and ever-growing harem, and enough children to populate a small town. Other alliances came along, and helped to stock the harem. We note a minor difficulty in the Hebrew text with different spellings between Samuel and Chronicles. This merely serves to illustrate that ancient Hebrew had no written vowels, some words could be pronouced and spelled differently depending on who was saying or writing them. Also, it shows that there is some inevitable loss of precision over time and in translation of some minor details. When compared to other ancient documents, though, we are amazed at the lack of variation, and very little remains in doubt.
5:17-25 -- The Philistines were hoping to take advantage of the unsettled situation with David's coronation and mobilized for war. While the valleys around the city were rather narrow, the main Kidron joined others into a broad open area a bit south. This Rephaim Valley was connected to the Sorek, which formed a broad highway inland from the Philistine Plain. Once in bivouac in Rephaim, they would send out the usual raiding parties to capture the grain harvest. Eventually, they would attempt to take Jerusalem. David had moved from his more vulnerable palace down to the now rebuilt and improved fortress. As usual, he sought the Lord's advice on whether he should respond, and whether he should expect victory. Jehovah answered both questions in the affirmative. David attacked from the direction of an old pagan shrine village, called Baal-perizim, "Lord of the Breakthrough." The name denoted a rather strong flowing spring. In his victory celebration, David changed the connotation from that of a pagan baal to the God of Israel, who was Lord of this particular breakthrough. He paints an image of water bursting through a dam. It is noted that the Philistines had brought some of their pagan idols with them. This was an ancient practice, as reflected by the earlier Israelite urge to carry the Ark of Covenant into battle. The pagan images would have been made and decorated with expensive materials, so became a part of the battle plunder.
The Philistines were not done yet. The came up again and occupied the same valley. Doubtless they had made plans based on the last battle. Thus, when David inquired of the Lord, he was warned to come around the south side of them, which would be quite unexpected. Stealth and suprise attacks in battle was rather uncommon in ancient times, since the movement of large numbers of troops was rather hide to conceal. The scribe makes note of the memorable signal Jehovah set, telling David to listen for the sound of troops in the mulberry trees overhead his position. This time the Philistines fled north, and were pursued as far as Geba and Gezer, indicating the path of their flight. Geba is in northern Benjamin, while Gezer was far to the west just in Philistine territory. Most likely the pursuit went through Beth Horon, the city split between the head and foot of a long stone stairway. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 14:8-17 is almost the same word for word.
To our knowledge, the Philistines did not recover from this. Their power had fluxed a bit from the time of Samson, but had generally followed a long decline starting with the battles shortly before Saul's coronation. It seems their power had been broken for good under David. By choosing the old Jebusite citadel, David symbolically broke down the last Canaanite stronghold within the Hebrew heartland. He also built a capital city that was easily defended, and located in a place not previously associated with any one tribe, nor either of Judah or Israel. It would later become God's symbolic throne, as well.
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Ed Hurst
17 July 2004
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