4-9== 1Ch 11:4-9The capture of the citadel of Zion, and Jerusalem chosen to be the royal residence under the name of the city of David; cf. 2Sa 5:6-10, and the commentary on this section at that place. - יחיּה, 1Ch 11:8, to make alive, is used here, as in Neh 4:2, of the rebuilding of ruins. The general remark, 1Ch 11:9, “and David increased continually in might,” etc., opens the way for the transition to the history of David's reign which follows. As a proof of his increasing greatness, there follows in
Verses 10-14
1Ch 11:10-14A register of the heroes who stood by him in the establishment of his kingdom. The greater part of this register is found in 2 Sam 23:8-39 also, though there are many divergences in the names, which for the most part have found their way into one or other of the texts by errors of transcription. The conclusion (1Ch 11:41-47 of the Chronicle) is not found in 2 Sam 23, either because the author of the Chronicle followed another and older register than that used by the author of the book of Samuel, or because the latter has not communicated all the names contained in his authority. The former of these is the more probable supposition. In the Chronicle the superscription of the register is enlarged by the insertion in 1Ch 11:10, before the simple superscription in 1Ch 11:11, cf. 2Sa 23:8, of a further superscription informing us of the design which the chronicler had in introducing the register at this place. “These are the chiefs of David's heroes who stood by him strongly (עם התחזּק, as Dan 10:21) in his kingdom, with the whole of Israel to make him king, according to the word of Jahve, over Israel.” The collocation הגּבּרים ראשׁי is accounted for by the fact that הגּבּור is a designation of a valiant or heroic man in general, without reference to his position, whether co-ordinate with or subordinate to others. Among David's גּבּרים who helped to establish his kingdom, are not merely those who are mentioned by name in the following register, but also, as we learn from 1 Chron 12, the great number of valiant men of all the tribes, who, even during his persecution by Saul, crowded round him, and immediately after Saul's death came to him in Hebron to hail him king. The enumeration in our passage contains only the chiefs, ראשׁים, of those valiant men, i.e., those who held the first rank among them, and who were in great part leaders in the army of David, or became so. להמליכו is not to be confined to the mere appointment to the kingship, but includes also his establishment in it; for there follows an account of the heroic deeds which the
