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Chapter 5

David as King of Israel.[a] Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said: “Listen to us. We are your own flesh and blood. In former days, when Saul was our king, you were the one who led the Israelites on their campaigns and brought them back. Moreover, the Lord said to you: ‘You shall be the shepherd of my people Israel and be the ruler of Israel.’ ” Then all the elders of Israel came to David, the king of Hebron, and David made a covenant with them there before the Lord. After this they anointed David as king of Israel.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 5:1 Jerusalem, which had not belonged to either Judah or Israel, will be the sign of the nation’s political unity and, quite soon, of its religious unity as well; it will be the symbol of God’s presence in the midst of humanity. Both the Jewish and, later, the Christian traditions will meditate deeply on the mystery of Jerusalem; the Church will be seen as the new Jerusalem (Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22), the Jerusalem of the last times, which in turn prepares the way for the “Jerusalem that is to come” (see Rev 21).