Chapter 11 of Divrei HaYamim I opens the era of David's reign. After David reigned in Chevron over the tribe of Yehudah, all of Yisrael gather to him to accept him as king over them as well. The Malbim establishes a fundamental principle here that recurs many times throughout the book: Ezra omitted the entire episode of Ish-Boshet's coronation - that initially they crowned Ish-Boshet, and only after he was killed did David receive the monarchy - nor did he even mention that David reigned during those years over Yehudah alone. The reason is that the entire purpose of the book is to elevate the stature of David, and its central focus is that David reigned with absolute sovereignty over all of Yisrael. Therefore, he skips over all the initial stages and preliminary phases.
וַיִּקָּבְצוּ כׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־דָּוִיד חֶבְרוֹנָה לֵאמֹר הִנֵּה עַצְמְךָ וּבְשָׂרְךָ אֲנָחְנוּ׃ - "Then all Yisrael gathered themselves to David at Chevron, saying, 'Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.'"
What is the meaning of "we are your bone and your flesh"? The Metzudat David explains: we are just like the entire house of Yehudah, we are all the sons of one man - and therefore we are your bone and your flesh. And the phrase "all Yisrael gathered themselves" teaches that at first the people of Yisrael came on their own, as we will see in chapter 12, and afterward came the elders, who are the Sanhedrin, since crowning a king also requires the elders of the congregation. And crowning a king also requires a prophet, and about this it says later, "according to the word of Hashem by the hand of Shemuel" - to tell you that the monarchy here was accepted in an absolute manner by everyone.
גַּם־תְּמוֹל גַּם־שִׁלְשׁוֹם גַּם בִּהְיוֹת שָׁאוּל מֶלֶךְ אַתָּה הַמּוֹצִיא וְהַמֵּבִיא אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְךָ אַתָּה תִרְעֶה אֶת־עַמִּי אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאַתָּה תִּהְיֶה נָגִיד עַל עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - "In times past, even when Shaul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Yisrael; and Hashem your God said to you, 'You shall shepherd My people Yisrael, and you shall be ruler over My people Yisrael.'"
The Malbim in Sefer Shemuel cites the Abarbanel, explaining that there are three arguments here. First: do not think that only the people of Yehudah are your relatives - "we are your bone and your flesh," we are your relatives as well. Second: do not think that they preceded us in crowning you, for from our perspective you were the one who led out and brought in from of old, even in the days of Shaul, and thus we came first. Third: Hashem said to you, "You shall shepherd My people Yisrael" - He did not say shepherd Yehudah, but Yisrael, and that includes us too; therefore, you are king over us as well. (As an aside: although we are not studying Sefer Shemuel in order, from time to time we will incorporate additional insights from what the Malbim writes there.)
The commentary attributed to Rashi cites a Midrash on "You shall shepherd My people": concerning this David said, "Hashem is my shepherd, I shall not lack." That is to say, You tell me "you shall shepherd" - what can I shepherd? It is not dependent upon me. Rather, Hashem is my shepherd; there is One Who shepherds me and guides me to this very day, and since Hashem is my shepherd and I do not lack, I too will not cause you to lack.
The Midrash brings another example: "Then David's men swore to him, saying, 'You shall no more go out with us to battle, that you do not extinguish the lamp of Yisrael.'" There was an instance where King David was endangered in battle, and his men swore to him that he would no longer go out with them to war so as not to endanger himself, lest the lamp of Yisrael be extinguished. David said to them: Am I the lamp of Yisrael? "For You are my lamp, Hashem, and Hashem illumines my darkness" - Hashem is my lamp, not that I am the lamp of Yisrael. Here you see David's modesty and humility.
וַיָּבֹאוּ כׇּל־זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ חֶבְרוֹנָה וַיִּכְרֹת לָהֶם דָּוִיד בְּרִית בְּחֶבְרוֹן לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה וַיִּמְשְׁחוּ אֶת־דָּוִיד לְמֶלֶךְ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּדְבַר יְהֹוָה בְּיַד־שְׁמוּאֵל׃ - "So all the elders of Yisrael came to the king at Chevron, and David made a covenant with them in Chevron before Hashem; and they anointed David king over Yisrael, according to the word of Hashem by the hand of Shemuel."
At first the general populace came, and afterwards the elders arrived. Only after everyone accepted him did he make a covenant with the elders, who are the Sanhedrin, for to appoint a king one must consult with the Sanhedrin. And they anointed him once again, a second time, so that his monarchy would be a universal kingship over all of Israel and not only over his own tribe, the descendants of Yehudah.
What was this covenant? The commentary attributed to Rashi explains that it was like the covenant made by Yehoyada, as written in Melachim II 11: "And Yehoyada made the covenant between Hashem, the king, and the people, to be a people to Hashem" - that the people would be servants to Hashem. This is a dual covenant: it obligates us as a people toward Hashem, and, as it were, also obligates the Holy One, blessed be He, and the king toward us. The covenant is also between the king and the people - on the people's side, to be his servants according to the manner of the king, where all the people are his subjects and servants; and on the king's side, that he is obligated to care for his servants, to fight their battles, to genuinely care for the people, and not to use the monarchy as an ax to dig with, as a mere vehicle to elevate his status and care only for himself. It is a covenant of reciprocity: we are willing to be servants to our master as long as our master truly reigns over us and cares for us properly.
And what does "before Hashem" mean? The commentary attributed to Rashi asks: Surely the Mishkan was not in Chevron, and "before Hashem" always refers to the Mishkan! Rather, wherever a condition is made or a covenant is forged, the Shechinah is present there; the Holy One, blessed be He, is with them. So it was with Yiftach, "before Hashem in Mitzpah" - was Hashem literally in Mitzpah? Rather, since he made a covenant and an agreement with those who came asking him to redeem them and fight their battles, that too was called "before Hashem." Likewise, "and commits a trespass against Hashem and deals falsely with his fellow" - was this committed in the Mishkan? Rather, the moment a covenant exists between two parties, Hashem is present, as it were, and therefore it is called "against Hashem." Here too: a covenant in Chevron before Hashem means that when they forge a covenant together, the Holy One, blessed be He, is present among them. Then they anointed David king over Israel "according to the word of Hashem by the hand of Shmuel" - meaning there was also the command of the prophet here, and thus his monarchy was perfected in every parameter.
וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִיד וְכׇל־יִשְׂרָאֵל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם הִיא יְבוּס וְשָׁם הַיְבוּסִי יֹשְׁבֵי הָאָרֶץ׃ - David and all of Israel went to Yerushalayim, which is Yevus, where the Yevusites were the inhabitants of the land.
David went straight to war as soon as they made him king. Why? The commentary attributed to Rashi explains: So that Israel would not say that all the battles David fought and won during the days of Shaul were due to Shaul's good fortune, and that he triumphed only in Shaul's merit and strength, whereas now he is afraid to fight. Therefore, David went immediately to battle, so people would not say that he feared the Pelishtim.
The Malbim explains the primary objective: Now that the tribes of Yehudah and Binyamin were uniting under a single kingdom - and as is well known, the two tribes shared Yerushalayim; "He shields him all the day," a strip protruded, and even the Beit HaMikdash itself lay partly in Binyamin's territory and partly in Yehudah's - David wanted the royal capital also to be shared by both tribes, with half of Yerushalayim belonging to Yehudah and half to Binyamin. Therefore, the very first thing he did was capture Yerushalayim. In its ancient biblical name, Yerushalayim was called Yevus, named for the Yevusites who were the inhabitants of the land. That is also why, when David later purchased the site of the Mikdash, he bought it from the threshing floor of Aravnah the Yevusite - his name was Aravnah, but he was of the inhabitants of Yevus, which is ancient Yerushalayim.
וַיֹּאמְרוּ יֹשְׁבֵי יְבוּס לְדָוִיד לֹא תָבוֹא הֵנָּה וַיִּלְכֹּד דָּוִיד אֶת־מְצֻדַת צִיּוֹן הִיא עִיר דָּוִיד׃ - The inhabitants of Yevus said to David, "You shall not come here." Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Tzion, which is the City of David.
The Malbim notes: In the Book of Shmuel, the incident is recorded at length, and Ezra did not wish to repeat matters already known from there. This is a principle the Malbim will reiterate many times: Ezra had no reason to dwell at length on the accounts in the Book of Shmuel that were widely known, clear, and famous to all; he came only to reveal additional details that were "not known from there." Therefore, we will not repeat here the extensive discussion in the Book of Shmuel regarding "whoever strikes a Yevusite and reaches the water conduit," or who the blind and lame were and why they were to be struck, as we have already cited the explanations of the Malbim and the Abarbanel there. Here, we will focus only on what Ezra adds.
And the first addition: In Shmuel it states, "And it was said to David, saying: You shall not come here," without specifying who said it. Here, Ezra reveals to us that the inhabitants of Yevus said this to him. They did not permit him to enter through the gate, so he outflanked the stronghold from the other side.
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִיד כׇּל־מַכֵּה יְבוּסִי בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה יִהְיֶה לְרֹאשׁ וּלְשָׂר וַיַּעַל בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה יוֹאָב בֶּן־צְרוּיָה וַיְהִי לְרֹאשׁ׃ - David said, "Whoever strikes a Yevusite first shall become chief and commander." So Yoav the son of Tzeruyah went up first and became chief.
In the Book of Shemuel, it is written: "Whoever strikes the Yevusi and reaches the water conduit" - yet it does not state what his reward will be. This is what is known as an elliptical verse (mikra katzer): it is as though self-evident that he would receive wealth and greatness from the king, so Scripture sees no need to elaborate. Here, Ezra elaborates: "first" - whoever would go first to strike them and be the first victor in battle, his reward would be that "he shall be chief and commander."
And what is the difference between a chief (rosh) and a commander (sar)? The Malbim explains: there can be a chief who is not a commander, a commander who is not a chief, and one who is both a chief and a commander. Yoav was already a commander - the commander of the army - but not a chief over Israel. Therefore, when Yoav went up, it could not be said of him that he became "chief and commander," since he was already a commander; thus, it is said of him only that "he became chief." The status of chief was added to him, meaning he became the head of the city, its leader - what would nowadays be called the mayor. But had someone gone to fight who was not already a commander, the promise was that he would receive both distinctions together - both mayor of the city and a commander in David's kingdom. From this we also understand verse 8, "and Yoav restored the rest of the city," for he held an official appointment and authority over them, serving as their head.
וַיֵּשֶׁב דָּוִיד בַּמְצָד עַל־כֵּן קָרְאוּ־לוֹ עִיר דָּוִיד׃ - David dwelt in the stronghold; therefore they called it the City of David.
In Shemuel it says: "David dwelt in the fortress and called it the City of David; and David built round about from the Millo and inward." Ezra does not need to tell us all of this again. Rather, there is a novel insight here: the difference between a metzad (stronghold) and a metzudah (fortress). A metzad is the tall mountain itself, which possesses strength and fortress-like power inherently. A metzudah is the structure atop the mountain, the fortress built upon its summit. Initially, David dwelt only in the fortress - the fortress of Zion, which was already built - and he called it the City of David, referring solely to the fortress, dwelling within the stronghold. Around the fortress, in the first perimeter, was the Millo, and that area remained open, with nothing built upon it. What did he build? "From the Millo and inward" - within the walls of the fortress, from the Millo inward, he added houses.
Ezra now comes to teach that David subsequently expanded and built even beyond this. The fortress became too confined for his dwelling, so he extended his habitation outside the fortress onto the metzad, which is the mountain itself, Mount Zion all around. Furthermore, Ezra teaches us that what was previously called the City of David was only the fortress, but now that he built and expanded across the entire metzad, the entire mountain - the whole of Mount Zion - was named the City of David.
וַיִּבֶן הָעִיר מִסָּבִיב מִן־הַמִּלּוֹא וְעַד־הַסָּבִיב וְיוֹאָב יְחַיֶּה אֶת־שְׁאָר הָעִיר׃ - And he built the city round about, from the Millo and all around, and Yoav restored the rest of the city.
The Malbim explains: in the next stage, David began constructing buildings around the fortress as well, on the metzad, until he had built outward from the Millo all around - in addition to what he had originally built from the Millo inward. In the days of David, these buildings were not yet completed, and the Millo was not enclosed by a wall in his time; nor was Jerusalem fully surrounded by a wall until the days of Shelomoh, of whom it is said that he built the Millo and the wall of Jerusalem. Likewise, it is written regarding Shelomoh that Pharaoh's daughter went up from the City of David to her house that he had built for her, and then he built the Millo and closed the breach of the city of David his father - for in David's day the construction was incomplete, leaving the area breached without a wall.
It was against this building of the Millo that Yeravam protested: King David had left the area open for the festival pilgrims, and you went and built the Millo for the sake of the foreign woman you brought from Egypt! He rebuked him sharply, and in the end had to flee because it placed his life in danger, as this bordered on rebellion against the king. In any case, we understand that regarding the Millo discussed here, King David began building it only slightly, and later Shelomoh came and developed it fully, constructing there a residence for Pharaoh's daughter.
"And Yoav restored [yechayeh, lit. revived] the rest of the city" - King David personally oversaw the City of David, while Yoav oversaw the rest of Jerusalem. As we have seen, David promised that whoever struck Yevus first would become its head, and that was Yoav, who became head of the city. Because he was its head, he was also the one who revived the city. What does "revived" mean? It means either adding residents and breathing life into it so that it would become a bustling, joyous city, or ensuring that its inhabitants had sufficient sustenance and livelihood - all of which fall under reviving the rest of the city. Radak explains "restored the rest of the city" as referring to rebuilding the parts of the city that lay in ruins. And if you ask where else we find the concept of "life" applied to inanimate buildings, it is used metaphorically, as in: "Will they revive these stones?" and similarly: "and he repaired [lit. healed] the ruined altar of Hashem" - did they bring a doctor to the altar? Rather, "healed" is a metaphor for repair, and likewise, "reviving" stones is a metaphor for rebuilding ruins.
וַיֵּלֶךְ דָּוִיד הָלוֹךְ וְגָדוֹל וַיהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת עִמּוֹ׃ - And David grew greater and greater, and Hashem of Hosts was with him.
"Growing greater and greater" - the Metzudat David explains: continuously growing and advancing. This means that he did not rest on his laurels; rather, he was constantly adding, constantly ascending.
וְאֵלֶּה רָאשֵׁי הַגִּבֹּרִים אֲשֶׁר לְדָוִיד הַמִּתְחַזְּקִים עִמּוֹ בְמַלְכוּתוֹ עִם־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל לְהַמְלִיכוֹ כִּדְבַר יְהֹוָה עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - "And these are the chiefs of the mighty men whom David had, who held strongly with him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of Hashem concerning Israel."
וְאֵלֶּה מִסְפַּר הַגִּבֹּרִים אֲשֶׁר לְדָוִיד יָשׇׁבְעָם בֶּן־חַכְמוֹנִי רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁלִישִׁים הוּא־עוֹרֵר אֶת־חֲנִיתוֹ עַל־שְׁלֹשׁ־מֵאוֹת חָלָל בְּפַעַם אֶחָת׃ - "And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Yashov'am, son of a Hachmonite, chief of the captains; he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain at one time."
First it says "the chiefs of the mighty men" and then "the number of the mighty men", indicating two distinct lists. The Malbim explains: what is written as "this is the number of the mighty men", from verse 11 until "Uriah the Hittite", is also found in II Samuel 23. But Ezra, whose way is to add details, includes additional mighty men from verse 41 through the end of the chapter, as well as further warriors he will mention in chapter 12, which do not appear in the Book of Samuel at all.
The difference between the two lists is as follows: in the Book of Samuel, it mentions only the warriors who were permanently with David, that elite unit that remained constantly by his side. Here, however, it first mentions "the chiefs of the mighty men whom David had, who held strongly with him in his kingdom" - those who assisted him in taking hold of his kingdom, who jump-started David's reign and helped him secure the monarchy, those who stood with him initially to crown him. Afterwards, it also mentions the number of warriors who were always with him from among his initial mighty men; but whereas Samuel was brief and mentioned only the greatest among them, here Ezra adds further warriors to them and details their numbers as well.