Confirmation and Consolidation: 5:1–5  This section provides an editorial summary of what may have been protracted and at times tense negotiations. The delay between Ish-Bosheth’s death and David’s enthronement over Israel is not known. It was seven years and six months before the capital was moved to Jerusalem, and verse 5 could imply that the two events were simultaneous. However, although it is likely that the negotiations took longer than they would have if Ish-Bosheth had lived, it is unlikely that Israel was left kingless for more than five years. The timing was not vital to the writers, but the fact that David’s kingship over Israel was at the initiative and with the full affirmation of the nation was crucial.

The compact that David made with the people would have included mutual obl…