Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
Then came all the tribes of Israel - a combined deputation of the leading authorities in every tribe. David possessed the first and indispensable qualification for the throne-namely, that of being an Israelite (Deuteronomy 17:15). Of his military talent he had furnished ample proof; and the people's desire for his assumption of the government of Israel was further increased by their knowledge of the will and purpose of God, as declared by Samuel (1 Samuel 16:11-13). Indeed, there is something very remarkable in the elevation of David to the throne of all Israel It was in the fulfillment of God's decree; but it was brought about in a most natural way through the representatives of the people, who spontaneously elected him. Consider, too, the preparatory discipline by which Providence had educated him for this influential position in the kingdom of Israel and the Church. Raised from the humble condition of a shepherd, familiar by experience with every variety of feeling and every phase of life, he was qualified above all his contemporaries for the high and onerous office of rule over men.
Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. The deputies introduced the subject of their embassy in a somewhat singular, though, in the circumstances, not unnatural, manner. Their language points to the past course both of David's conduct and of their own experience. The alliance of David with the Philistines had raised so painful a suspicion respecting his patriotic attachment to Israel, and his protracted residence, within the Philistine territory had led to so widespread a belief that he had become a naturalized Philistine, as to have created powerful obstacles to the universal recognition of his claims to the throne. The people of Israel had to a large extent taken up this impression, and acted in opposition to him as a supposed alien. But time, as well as the tenor of David's administration in Judah, had dispelled their doubts, and proved him to their satisfaction to be in heart and soul an Israelite; so that they (the representatives of the people) had come to offer him the kingdom, conformably to that statute of the divine law (Deuteronomy 27:15) which required that "one from among their brethren" should be set up king over them.