1 Chronicles 11

Lisez ce chapitre avec intention

1 Chronicles 11 tells how David became king of all Israel and who stood with him. All Israel gathers at Hebron, calls David their own flesh and blood, recalls the LORD's word that he would shepherd Israel, and anoints him. David marches on Jebus, whose people say he will never get in; he takes the fortress of Zion, Joab wins the command by striking first, and David builds the city that bears his name. The rest of the chapter is the roll of David's mighty men: Jashobeam, Eleazar who held a barley field, the three who broke through the Philistine lines to bring David water from Bethlehem, which he poured out to the LORD, Benaiah who killed a lion on a snowy day, and the long list of the Thirty.

Ouvrir le commentaire du chapitre

1 Chronicles 11 is a coronation, a conquest, and a roll call, and the Chronicler tells all three so that a people who had lost their kingdom could remember how it began. All Israel comes to Hebron and says to David the thing that makes a king: we are your own flesh and blood, and the LORD said you would shepherd his people. They make a covenant, they anoint him, and the first thing the new king does is take a city that belongs to no tribe. The Jebusites jeer from their walls that he will never get in. He gets in, Joab leads the way and earns the command, and the fortress of Zion becomes the City of David. Then, instead of moving on to the wars, the chapter stops to name the men who made it possible. Jashobeam and his spear. Eleazar, who stood with David in a barley field when everyone else ran. The three who heard David sigh for a drink from the well at Bethlehem, where the Philistines were camped, and fought their way through the lines to fetch it, and David, holding the cup, could not drink it. This is the blood of men who risked their lives, he said, and poured it on the ground before the LORD, which was the highest honor he could give it. Benaiah, who went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. And then the Thirty, one after another, hometown after hometown, down to a Hittite named Uriah, whose story the Chronicler does not tell. The kingdom, the chapter says, was built by a shepherd and by people who were brave for him, and it wants their names remembered.

Passages clés

1 Chronicles 11:1-3 1 Chronicles 11:4-9 1 Chronicles 11:15-19 1 Chronicles 11:22-25 2 Samuel 5:1-10 2 Samuel 23:8-17

Historical and literary context

The Chronicler wrote after the exile, probably in the fourth century BC, retelling Israel's history for a community rebuilding around the temple, and drew heavily on Samuel and Kings. This chapter condenses 2 Samuel 5 and 23, leaving out David's seven years as king of Judah alone and the civil war with Saul's house, so that David is made king by "all Israel" at once. Jebus was the Canaanite stronghold on the ridge between Judah and Benjamin, chosen by David as a neutral capital. The "supporting terraces" are the Millo, the stepped stone structure archaeologists have uncovered on the eastern slope of the City of David. The mighty men's exploits date from David's outlaw years around Adullam, when the Philistines held Bethlehem.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 3 record the covenant and anointing at Hebron, with the shepherd word from the LORD. Verses 4 to 9 tell the capture of Jebus, Joab's promotion, David's residence in the fortress, and his growing greatness because the LORD of Hosts was with him. Verse 10 introduces the mighty men as those who strengthened his kingdom according to God's word. Verses 11 to 14 present the first of the Three, Jashobeam and Eleazar. Verses 15 to 19 tell the story of the water from Bethlehem. Verses 20 to 25 honor Abishai and Benaiah, who ranked near but not among the Three. Verses 26 to 47 list the Thirty and others, extending beyond the list in Samuel.

Why this chapter matters

The chapter gave Jerusalem its founding story as the City of David and fixed the shepherd as the image of Israel's king, later taken up by the prophets and by Jesus. The water from Bethlehem's well, poured out rather than drunk because it had cost men their lives, is one of the Bible's finest pictures of leadership that honors sacrifice, and Christian readers have noticed that Bethlehem's water would one day mean something more. The Chronicler's theme that the kingdom was built by all Israel together, and by named individuals whose courage is remembered, shaped a community that needed to believe that ordinary people's faithfulness mattered. Uriah's name at the end of the list, unremarked, casts a long shadow.

Interpretive tension to watch

The Chronicler omits David's early reign in Hebron, the war with Ish-bosheth, and every scandal of his later years, so readers comparing this chapter with Samuel must decide whether the omissions are idealization or a deliberate choice of theme. Numbers differ between the accounts, Jashobeam's three hundred here against eight hundred in Samuel, and the list of the Thirty contains more than thirty names and variant spellings, which shows the difficulty of transmitting lists. Whether David's pouring out of the water was piety or a rebuke to his own men's recklessness is left to the reader.

Questions pour ce chapitre

Israel tells David, "We are your own flesh and blood," and God calls him a shepherd. What do those two images say about what a leader owes the people?
David refuses to drink water that cost his men their safety. When is refusing a gift the right way to honor it?
The chapter remembers dozens of soldiers by name. Who are the people whose faithfulness built what you now enjoy, and who remembers them?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

Ajouter aux notes

1 Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we [are] thy bone and thy flesh. 2 And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou [wast] he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over my people Israel. 3 Therefore came all the elders of Israel to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel. 4 ¶ And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which [is] Jebus; where the Jebusites [were], the inhabitants of the land. 5 And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which [is] the city of David. 6 And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief. 7 And David dwelt in the castle; therefore they called it the city of David. 8 And he built the city round about, even from Millo round about: and Joab repaired the rest of the city. 9 So David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts [was] with him. 10 ¶ These also [are] the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, [and] with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel. 11 And this [is] the number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain [by him] at one time. 12 And after him [was] Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who [was one] of the three mighties. 13 He was with David at Pas-dammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines. 14 And they set themselves in the midst of [that] parcel, and delivered it, and slew the Philistines; and the LORD saved [them] by a great deliverance. 15 ¶ Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim. 16 And David [was] then in the hold, and the Philistines’ garrison [was] then at Beth-lehem. 17 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, that [is] at the gate! 18 And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that [was] by the gate, and took [it], and brought [it] to David: but David would not drink [of] it, but poured it out to the LORD, 19 And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with [the jeopardy of] their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest. 20 ¶ And Abishai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three: for lifting up his spear against three hundred, he slew [them], and had a name among the three. 21 Of the three, he was more honourable than the two; for he was their captain: howbeit he attained not to the [first] three. 22 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day. 23 And he slew an Egyptian, a man of [great] stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian’s hand [was] a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear. 24 These [things] did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among the three mighties. 25 Behold, he was honourable among the thirty, but attained not to the [first] three: and David set him over his guard. 26 ¶ Also the valiant men of the armies [were], Asahel the brother of Joab, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Beth-lehem, 27 Shammoth the Harorite, Helez the Pelonite, 28 Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abi-ezer the Antothite, 29 Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite, 30 Maharai the Netophathite, Heled the son of Baanah the Netophathite, 31 Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah, [that pertained] to the children of Benjamin, Benaiah the Pirathonite, 32 Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, 33 Azmaveth the Baharumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, 34 The sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shage the Hararite, 35 Ahiam the son of Sacar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur, 36 Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, 37 Hezro the Carmelite, Naarai the son of Ezbai, 38 Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of Haggeri, 39 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Berothite, the armourbearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 40 Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 41 Uriah the Hittite, Zabad the son of Ahlai, 42 Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a captain of the Reubenites, and thirty with him, 43 Hanan the son of Maachah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite, 44 Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jehiel the sons of Hothan the Aroerite, 45 Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, 46 Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite, 47 Eliel, and Obed, and Jasiel the Mesobaite.

Transformez la lecture en véritable étude

Inscrivez-vous pour sauvegarder des versets, prendre des notes et étudier avec des outils IA.

Inscription Connexion

Choisissez votre prochaine étape après ce chapitre Continuez la lecture, choisissez un plan, ou continuez l'étude avec l'AI.

Lire le chapitre suivant 1 Chronicles 12 in King James Version.

Plans de lecture

Choisissez un plan si vous voulez transformer ce chapitre en habitude répétable.

Demander à l’IA à propos de ce chapitre

Continuez avec l'étude AI si le texte soulève des questions ou va plus loin qu'une simple lecture.

Suivre les thèmes que ce chapitre ouvre Centres thématiques connexes pour les questions plus larges que ce chapitre peut avoir ouvertes.

Parcourir tous les sujets