Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 12:39
They spent three days there eating and drinking with David, for their relatives had provided for them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator describes the assembled tribes and warriors at Hebron immediately after they pledged their support to make David king over all Israel.
The words — The text uses אֹכְלִ֖ים ('o.khe.Lim) and וְ/שׁוֹתִ֑ים (ve./sho.Tim), literally "eating" and "drinking," to document the sustained communal meals during the three-day gathering.
The thread — This pattern of prolonged feasting following a covenant or royal event parallels Isaac’s feast in Genesis 26:30 and the communal provisions recorded in Genesis 31:54 and 2 Samuel 6:19.
Why it lands — The verse records the logistical reality of David’s coronation, showing that tribal allegiance required tangible provision from kinship networks rather than abstract loyalty.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And there they were with David three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them.
Cross-references
- Genesis 26:30 So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.
- 2 Samuel 6:19 Then he distributed to every man and woman among the multitude of Israel a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake. And all the people departed, each to his own home.
- Genesis 31:54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat a meal. And after they had eaten, they spent the night on the mountain.
- 2 Samuel 19:42 And all the men of Judah replied to the men of Israel, “We did this because the king is our relative. Why does this anger you? Have we ever eaten at the king’s expense or received anything for ourselves?”