Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, August 30th, 2025
the Week of Proper 16 / Ordinary 21
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Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

2 Samuel 5:4

David was thirty years old when he became king, and he ruled for forty years.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - David;   Hebron;   Israel;   Judah;   Thompson Chain Reference - Young Men;   Young People;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - David;   Hebron;   Israel;   Judah, tribe and kingdom;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Congregation;   David;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Israel, History of;   Jerusalem;   Samuel, Books of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Israel;   Jerusalem;   Number;   Samuel, Books of;   Solomon;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Numbers (2);   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Forty;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Hebrew Monarchy, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Adonijah;   Reign;   Samuel, Books of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Forty, the Number;   Samuel, Books of;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
David was thirty years old when he began his reign; he reigned forty years.
Hebrew Names Version
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
King James Version
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
Lexham English Bible
David was thirty years old when he began to reign; he reigned forty years.
English Standard Version
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
New Century Version
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he ruled forty years.
New English Translation
David was thirty years old when he began to reign and he reigned for forty years.
Amplified Bible
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.
New American Standard Bible
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Dauid was thirtie yeere olde when he began to reigne: and hee reigned fortie yeere.
Legacy Standard Bible
Now David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.
Complete Jewish Bible
David was thirty years old when he began his rule, and he ruled forty years.
Darby Translation
David was thirty years old when he began to reign; he reigned forty years.
Easy-to-Read Version
David was 30 years old when he began to rule. He was king for 40 years.
George Lamsa Translation
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
Good News Translation
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he ruled for forty years.
Literal Translation
And David was a son of thirty years when he became king; he reigned forty years.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thyrtie yeare olde was Dauid whan he was made kynge, and reigned fortye yeares.
American Standard Version
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
Bible in Basic English
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he was king for forty years,
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Dauid was thirtie yeres olde when he began to raigne, and he raigned fourtie yeres.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
King James Version (1611)
Dauid was thirtie yeeres old when he began to reigne, and he reigned fourtie yeeres.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
English Revised Version
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
Berean Standard Bible
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Dauid was a sone of thretti yeer, whanne he bigan to regne, and he regnyde fourti yeer in Ebron;
Young's Literal Translation
A son of thirty years [is] David in his being king; forty years he hath reigned;
Update Bible Version
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
Webster's Bible Translation
David [was] thirty years old when he began to reign, [and] he reigned forty years.
World English Bible
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
New King James Version
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
New Living Translation
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in all.
New Life Bible
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he ruled for forty years.
New Revised Standard
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Thirty years old, was David when he began to reign, - forty years, he reigned:
Douay-Rheims Bible
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
Revised Standard Version
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
THE MESSAGE
David was thirty years old when he became king, and ruled for forty years. In Hebron he ruled Judah for seven and a half years. In Jerusalem he ruled all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.

Contextual Overview

1 Israel's leaders met with David at Hebron and said, "We are your relatives. 2 Even when Saul was king, you led our nation in battle. And the Lord promised that someday you would rule Israel and take care of us like a shepherd." 3 During the meeting, David made an agreement with the leaders and asked the Lord to be their witness. Then the leaders poured olive oil on David's head to show that he was now the king of Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he ruled for forty years. 5 He lived in Hebron for the first seven and a half years and ruled only Judah. Then he moved to Jerusalem, where he ruled both Israel and Judah for thirty-three years.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thirty: Luke 3:23

forty: 1 Chronicles 26:31, 1 Chronicles 29:27

Reciprocal: Genesis 41:46 - years 2 Samuel 2:11 - time 1 Kings 1:1 - old 1 Kings 2:11 - reigned over 1 Chronicles 3:4 - there he reigned Hebrews 11:33 - through

Cross-References

Genesis 1:28
God gave them his blessing and said: Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.
Genesis 5:1
God created men and women to be like himself. He gave them his blessing and called them human beings. This is a list of the descendants of Adam, the first man:
Genesis 5:3
When Adam was one hundred thirty, he had a son who was just like him, and he named him Seth. Adam had more children
Genesis 5:7
Seth had more children
Genesis 5:10
Enosh had more children
Genesis 5:13
Kenan had more children
Genesis 5:19
Jared had more children
Genesis 5:22
and during the next three hundred years he had more children. Enoch truly loved God,
Genesis 5:26
Methuselah had more children
Genesis 5:30
Lamech had more children

Gill's Notes on the Bible

David [was] thirty years old when he began reign,.... Over Judah, which was the age of his antitype Christ, when he entered upon his public ministry, Luke 3:23;

[and] he reigned forty years; and six months, as appears by 2 Samuel 5:5; but the months are not mentioned, only the round number of years given: two reasons the Jews a give for this; the one, that he fled six months from Absalom; the other is, that he was ill in Hebron so long, and therefore are not reckoned.

a Hieron. Trad. Heb. in lib. Reg. fol. 77. I.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The age of David is conclusive as to the fact that the earlier years of Saul’s reign (during which Jonathan grew up to be a man) are passed over in silence, and that the events narrated from 1 Samuel 13:0 to the end of the book did not occupy more than 10 years. If David was 20 years old at the time he killed Goliath, four years in Saul’s service, four years of wandering from place to place, one year and four months in the country of the Philistines, and a few months after Saul’s death, would make up the 10 years necessary to bring him to the age of 30.


 
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