Useful Bible Studies > 2 Samuel Commentary > chapter 2

Hebron, David’s first capital city

2 Samuel 2:2-3

David had followed the custom at that time for an important man to have several wives. His first wife was Michal, the daughter of King Saul. However, in his anger Saul took Michal away from David, so that she married another man (3:13-16).

So, David married Ahinoam. She came from Jezreel, in the centre of Israel. (That town is, in fact, near the place where Saul died.) She would give birth to Amnon, David’s first son. David had also married Abigail – 1 Samuel chapter 25 explains how he married her.

However, David had no sons at the time when he made his home in Hebron. He was leading a group of 400 men from Israel (1 Samuel 22:2), who worked as soldiers and as guards. Their work had been to defend the south of Israel and Philistia from robbers (1 Samuel 27:8-12). Those robbers, who lived further south, in the desert, included the people called Amalekites.

When God directed David to live in Hebron, those 400 men joined him with their families. In addition, a group of 600 men from Gath joined him there with their families (15:18-22). They were not from Israel, but they wanted to serve Israel’s God. They loved David, and they were completely loyal to him.

So David brought his own small army back with him to Hebron. The people in Judah, the southern part of Israel, joyfully accepted him. Hebron was the most important city in that region (Joshua 20:7). It was also an important place in Israel’s history; the graves of Abraham and Sarah are there (Genesis 23:19-20; Genesis 25:9-10).

Next part: David becomes king of Judah (2 Samuel 2:4)

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