His first step, after his election, was to fix upon Hebron as the center of his administration—an ancient city, honorable by its association with the name of Abraham, and in the middle of his own tribe. He then strengthened himself by a mar riage with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur (2 Sam. iii :3) ; a petty monarch whose dominions were near the sources of the Jordan, and whose influence at the opposite end of the land must have added a great weight into David's scale. From Abigail, widow of the churlish Nabal, David, as we have already observed, seems to have received a large private fortune. Con cerning his other wives we know nothing in par ticular; only it is mentioned that he had six sons by six different mothers in Hebron. The chief jealousy was between the two tribes of Benjamin and Judah, as Saul had belonged to the former ; and a tournament was turned by mutual into a battle, in which Abner unwillingly slew young Asahel, brother of Joab. (On the syn chronism of Abner and Asahel, see SAut.). 'Long war,' after this, was carried on between 'the house of Saul and the house of David.' We may infer that the rest of Israel took little part in the con test ; and although the nominal possession of the kingdom enabled the little tribe of Benjamin to struggle for some time against Judah, the skill and age of Abner could not prevail against the vigor and popular fame of David. A quarrel be tween Abner and Ishbosheth decided the former to bring the kingdom over to David. The latter refused to treat unless, as a preliminary proof of Abner's sincerity, Michal, daughter of Saul, was restored to David. The possession of such a wife was valuable to one who was aspiring to the kingdom. After giving her back, Abner pro ceeded to win the elders of Israel over to David; but Joab discerned that' if this should be so brought about, Abner of necessity would displace him from his post of chief captain. He therefore seized the opportunity of murdering him when he was conic on a peaceful embassy and covered the atrocity by pleading the duty of avenging his brother's blood. This deed was perhaps David's Frst taste of the miseries of royal power. Ile dared not proceed actively against his ruthless nephew, but he vented his abhorrence in a solemn curse on Joab and his posterity, and followed Abner to the grave with weeping. Anxious to purge himself of the guilt, he ordered a public wearing of sackcloth, and refused to touch food all the day. Ills sincere yet ostentatious grief won the heart of all Israel. The feeble Ishbo sheth, left alone, was unequal to the government, and shortly suffered the same fate of assassina tion. David, following the universal policy of sovereigns (Tac. Misr. 1:44), and his own pro found sense of the sacredness of royalty, took vengeance on the murderers, and buried Ishbo sheth in Abner's tomb at Hebron.
(3) Reign Over All Israel. The death of khbosheth gave to David supremacy over all Israel. The kingdom was not at first a despotic, b.it a constitutional one: for, it is stated, 'David made a league with the elders of Israel in He bron before Jehovah, and they anointed David king over Israel' (2 Sam. v:3). This is marked out as the era which determined the Philis tines to hostility (verse 17), and may confirm on idei that their policy was to hinder Israel from becoming united under a single king. Two vic tories of David over them fo;low, both near the valley of Remhaim: and these were probably the first battles fought by David after becoming king of all Israel.
Perceiving that Hebron was no longer a suit able capital, he resolved to fix his residence far ther to the north. On the very border of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin lay the town of Jelets. %%Mich with its neighborhood was occupied by Jebusites, a remnant of the old Canaanitish nation, so called. In spite of the great strength of the fort of Zion it was captured and the MAI sites were entirely expelled or subdued; after which David adopted the city as his new capital. greatly enlarged the fortifications and give or restored the name of Jerusalem (see JeRt'ss LEst ). A fter becoming mister of Jerusalem, David made a league with Hiram. king of Tyre, who supplied him with skillful artificers to build a splendid palace at the new capital. That the mechanical arts should have been in a very low state among the Israelites was to be expected. Since before the reign of Saul even smiths' forges were not allowed among them by the Philistines. Nothing, however, could have been more profit able for the Pheemeians than the security of cul tivation enjoyed by the Israelites in the reigns of David and Solomon. The trade between Tyre and Israel became at once extremely lucrative to both, and the league between the two states was quickly very intimate.
Once settled in Jerusalem, David proceeded to increase the number of his wives, perhaps in part from the same political motive that actuates other Oriental monarchs, viz., in order to take hostage's from the chieftains around in the least offensive mode. This explanation will not apply to the concubines. We know nothing further concern ing David's family relations than the names of eleven sons born in Jerusalem (2 Sam. v:14, 15), of whom four were children of Bathsheba (t Chron. iii :5), and therefore much younger than the elder sons.
Jerusalem, now become the civil metropolis of the nation, was next to be made its religious center, and the king applied himself to elevate the priestly order, to swell the ranks of attending Levites and singers, and to bring the ark to Jeru salem. The priests or Aaronites must, for a long time, have had little occupation in their sacred office, for the ark was at Kirjath-jearim, under the care of a private family. Indeed, during the reign of Saul, we find shewbread to have set forth at Nob (1 Sam. xxi :4-6), by Ahimelech the priest ; and it is possible that many other ceremonies were performed by them, in spite of the absence of the ark. But after the dreadful massacre per petrated on the priestly order by Saul, few Aaron itcs are likely to have felt at ease in their voca tion. At least Jehoiada (who, according to t Chron. xxvii :5, was high priest at this time, and joined David at Hebron with 3,7oo Aaronites) was father of the celebrated warrior Benaiah, afterwards captain of David's bodyguard; a man whose qualities were anything but priest-like; and Zadok. afterwards high priest, who joined David 'with twenty-two captains of his father's house' at the same time as Jehoiada. is described as 'a young man mighty of valor' (t Chron. xii: 27. 2S). Ilow long Jehoiada retained the place of high priest is uncertain. It is probable that no definite conception then existed of the need of having one high priest ; and it is certain that David's affection for Abiathar, because of his father's fate, maintained him in chief place through the greater part of his reign. Not until a later time, it would seem, was Zadok elevated to a coordinate position.