1 Chronicles 11

1 Chronicles 11:10 . The chief of the mighty men — Who helped with all their might to settle him in his kingdom. With all Israel — In conjunction with all those loyal Israelites who joined with David. Yet David ascribed his success, not to the hosts he had, but to the Lord of hosts: not to the mighty men that were with him, but to the mighty God, whose presence with us is all in all.

Verse 5 - Thou shalt not come hither . The inhabitants of Jebus added something beside ( 2 Samuel 5:6 ). They had said, "Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither." The castle of Zion . This fort became the site of the temple. It is the Acra of Josephus, and is different from the modern Zion. It was the eastern hill in the city, was the second highest elevation in the city, and up to the time of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem was uniformly named Zion, though from the time of Constantine it has been used for the name of the western hill, the site of Jerusalem. There is but little doubt of the identity of the hill of Moriah with the hill of Zion, though no individual passage of Scripture asserts it. The passage before us, however, with its parallel, tells us plainly enough that the city of David, and that which became the sacred hill of Zion are one; and many passages in the Psalms and the prophets both confirm this and point out the difference between Zion and Jerusalem. 1 Chronicles 11:5

Verse 6. - The name and fresh glory of Joab, as given here, are not given in 2 Samuel 5:3-10 ; and we could suppose that they were purposely withheld there. It is true that Joab already held high office, probably the first place as captain of David's men, but Bertheau's objection to the statements of this verse on such grounds easily yields to the considerations - first, that there can be no doubt Joab had fallen into disfavour with David and others , upon his slaying of Abner ( 2 Samuel 3:26-29, 36, 37 ); and further, that this was a great occasion, exceedingly favourable for evoking any very special ability of younger or unknown men, at present lost under the shadow of larger growths. The advantage which Joab gained now was one that confirmed his position and increased largely his influence; and an indication that he was not slow to avail himself of it is probably to be traced in the eighth verse, where it is said while "David built... even from Millo round about,... Joab repaired the rest of the city." 1 Chronicles 11:6