Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
Parallel translations
- WEB Then all Israel gathered themselves to David to Hebron, saying, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
- BSB Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron and said, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood.
- NKJV Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron, saying, “Indeed we are your bone and your flesh.
- NASB Then all Israel gathered to David at Hebron and said, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.
- NLT Then all Israel gathered before David at Hebron and told him, “We are your own flesh and blood.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
All Israel gathered to David at Hebron and acknowledged him as their kinsman and rightful king. The nation united under God's chosen ruler.
Overview
After Saul's death, the whole nation comes to David, confessing 'we are your bone and your flesh,' a covenant kinship formula. The Chronicler skips David's earlier years reigning only over Judah and presents an idealized, united Israel embracing its God-given king. This anticipates the gathering of God's people, both Jew and Gentile, to Christ, who shares our flesh and blood as our brother and King.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Deut 17:15Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
- 1 Chr 12:23–40And these are the numbers of the bands that were ready armed to the war, and came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD.
- 1 Kgs 2:11And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
- 2 Sam 15:10But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet, then ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
- Gen 29:14And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.
- 2 Sam 5:1–16Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
- Judg 9:2Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.
- 2 Sam 19:12–13Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh: wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king?
- Eph 5:30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
- Num 13:22And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)
- 2 Sam 2:1And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.
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Christ at the center
The genealogies and the everlasting covenant with David trace the single thread of promise running through the generations straight to the Christ in whom the line reaches its goal.
How 1 Chronicles 11:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.