2 Samuel 5:2

thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel David had won the good-will of the people as their leader in war. Cp. 1Sa 18:5; 1 Samuel 18:13; 1 Samuel 18:16.

theLord said to thee See note on ch. 2 Samuel 3:9.

Thou shalt feed Lit. "thou shalt shepherd" (LXX. ποιμανεῖς): a natural metaphor to express the ruler's care for his people. It is used by Greek poets, e.g. Homer, whose regular title for Agamemnon is ποιμὴν λαῶν, "shepherd of the peoples." But it was especially appropriate in the case of David, who was taken from the sheepfolds of Bethlehem to be the shepherd of Israel (Psalms 78:70-72), as the fishers of the Galilean lake were called to become "fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19), and (except perhaps in Genesis 49:24) it does not appear to be used in the O. T. before his time.

captain The title given to Saul in 1 Samuel 9:16, &c., and to David in 1 Samuel 25:30 (E. V. ruler).