David’s Rise to Power Begins: Chronicles, which is primarily concerned with the history of the house of David, gives little detail about the reign of Saul. First Chronicles 10 records Saul’s death in the same form as 1 Samuel 31 but with the addition of a negative summary of Saul’s reign. Chapter 11 of 1 Chronicles then moves to the meeting of the whole nation with David at Hebron that is described in 2 Samuel 5:1. The pains and struggles that accompanied the birth of David’s reign and the role of Ish-Bosheth are ignored. However, for the writers of Samuel these struggles were significant, forming part of the ongoing, underlying debate about the nature of power and the way in which power was exercised in Israel.

2:1–4a How much time elapsed before it was considered appropriate for David to …