2 Samuel / Question
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. The text separates his years in Hebron from his years in Jerusalem. See 2 Samuel 5:4–5.
In 2 Samuel 5:1–5 the tribes of Israel come to David at Hebron and ask him to be king over them all. They appeal to shared kinship, to David’s earlier leadership during Saul’s reign, and to a reported word from Yahweh about David’s role. David and Israel’s elders then formalize their relationship with a covenant before Yahweh, and David is anointed king. This scene follows a period in which leadership over Israel is divided and unstable after Saul’s death, with David established in Hebron over Judah while other tribes align elsewhere.
This passage presents Israel’s move from divided leadership to unified kingship under David. The tribes (spoken for by “the elders”) approach David at Hebron and argue that he already functioned as Israel’s effective leader during Saul’s reign (“led out and brought in”).
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with 2 Samuel 5:4-5, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
4David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
5In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.