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Chapter 2

David’s Last Instructions and Death. When the time of David’s death drew near, he gave these instructions to Solomon his son: “I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong and be a man! (A)Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees as they are written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do, and wherever you turn, (B)and that the Lord may fulfill the word he spoke concerning me: If your sons so conduct themselves that they walk before me in faithfulness with their whole heart and soul, there shall never be wanting someone of your line on the throne of Israel.

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10 (A)David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11 (B)David was king over Israel for forty years: he was king seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.

The Kingdom Made Secure.[a] 12 Then Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingship was established.

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Footnotes

  1. 2:12–46 The second major unit of the Solomon story shows how Solomon eliminated people he considered threats to the security of his throne. It is marked by a device called “inclusion,” where the text repeats a word, phrase, or idea at the beginning and end of a literary unit (see vv. 12b, 46b). Compare 11:14–25, where Solomon is unable to eliminate other threats to his security.