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2 Samuel 5:4

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex) 2 Samuel 5:4 appears in the Hebrew Old Testament. The text above is from the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Each word links to its Strong’s number, a concise gloss, and parsing drawn from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible morphology. Click any word for its full Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB) entry.
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Cite this verse

2 Samuel 5:4 (World English Bible). Public Domain. Lemma interlinear Bible study tool, https://lemma.gebible.app/v/2-samuel/5/4.

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English Translation
David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
World English Bible · Public Domain
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Compare translations 3

The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.

Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.

Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    David a son of 30 years when he became king. He reigned 40 years.

unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).

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Show all 18 translations

Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.

  • World English Bible Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
  • Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.
  • Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.
  • King James Version Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
  • American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
  • Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
  • Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
    Dauid was thirtie yeere olde when he began to reigne: and hee reigned fortie yeere.
  • Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
    The ancients also of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David to be king over Israel.
  • Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
    A son of thirty years `is' David in his being king; forty years he hath reigned;
  • Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    A son of thirty years [is] David in his being king; he has reigned [for] forty years;
  • Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
  • unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
    David a son of 30 years when he became king. He reigned 40 years.
  • Darby Bible Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign; he reigned forty years.
  • World Messianic Bible Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
  • Webster's Bible Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
  • Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
    David was thirty when he became king, and he reigned for forty years.
  • Bible in Basic English Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he became king, and he was king for forty years,
  • JPS Tanakh (1917) Public Domain
    David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).

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About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

8
words
6
distinct lemmas
Historical
section

Grammatical profile

  • 2 verbs
  • 4 nouns
  • 2 adjectives

Verb forms

  • בְּמָלְכ֑וֹ Qal · Infinitive Construct
  • מָלָֽךְ Qal · Perfect

Repetition

Words recur within this verse — often emphatic in Hebrew:

  • שָׁנָ֛ה year H8141 ×2
  • בְּמָלְכ֑וֹ to reign H4427 ×2

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 15 words from the Hebrew and 15 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the same length.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 8 Hebrew tokens and 12 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

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Cross-references

5

Topical passages linked to 2 Samuel 5:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

  • 1 Chronicles 29:27 The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three [years] reigned he in Jerusalem.
  • 1 Kings 2:11 The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty-three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
  • 1 Chronicles 26:31 Of the Hebronites was Jerijah the chief, even of the Hebronites, according to their generations by fathers' [houses]. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought for, and there were found among them mighty men of valor at Jazer of Gilead.
  • Luke 3:23 Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,
  • 1 Chronicles 3:4 six were born to him in Hebron; and there he reigned seven years and six months. In Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years;

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 2 Samuel 5:4 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

בֶּן שְׁלֹשִׁ֥ים שָׁנָ֛ה דָּוִ֖ד בְּמָלְכ֑וֹ אַרְבָּעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה מָלָֽךְ

David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Samuel 5:4 Septuagint · lemma form

υἱός τριάκοντα ἔτος δαυίδ ἐν ὁ βασιλεύω αὐτός καί τεσσαράκοντα ἔτος βασιλεύω

David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

1

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

  1. Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)
    בַּר תְּלָתִין שְׁנִין דָוִד כַּד מְלַךְ וְאַרְבְּעִין שְׁנִין מְלָךְ:

    (no public-domain English translation for this verse)

    Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on 2 Samuel 5:4 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

2Sa 5:4 David [was] thirty years old when he began to reign, [and] he reigned forty years.

Ver. 4. David was thirty years old.] So was Christ when he entered upon his kingdom, which he hath twofold: 1. Patientiae; of patience. 2. Potentiae, of power. {Luk 3:22-23}

And he reigned forty years.] Which consisting of four tens, signifieth the fulness of times, and perfection of things, saith Angelomus: wherein also David was a type of Christ.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joseph Benson's Commentary

2Sa 5:4-5. David was thirty years old when he began to reign — At this age the Levites were at first appointed to begin their ministrations, Num 4:3. About this age the Son of David entered upon his public ministry, Luk 3:23. And it is the age when men come to their full maturity of strength and judgment. In Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years — By this it appears it was immediately after his third unction that he made the attempt upon Jerusalem, mentioned in the next verse, otherwise he could not have reigned there so long.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Tyndale Open Resources

5:4-5 Hebron: See study note on 2:1.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(4) Thirty years old.—This statement of the age and of the length of the reign of David (which is repeated in 1Ch_29:26-27, at the end of the history of David’s life) shows us approximately the length of time since the combat with Goliath as some ten or twelve years. It also proves that the greater part of Saul’s reign is treated very briefly in 1 Samuel, and further shows that David was seventy years old at his death.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

4. thirty years old] The prime of life: the age at which the Levites entered upon their duties (Num_4:3): at which young men commenced to take part in public business in Greece: at which Joseph was made ruler over Egypt (Gen_41:46): at which Jesus Christ was “anointed with the Holy Ghost” in His Baptism, and began His public ministry (Luk_3:23).

4, 5. The compiler of Chronicles omits these verses here, but inserts the substance of them in 1Ch_29:27.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

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, Luk 3:23,

and he reigned forty years; and six months, as appears by Sa2 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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Albert 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 Sam. 13 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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Forty, a round number, as another half year is specified below; (Calmet) or Solomon might be crowned at the expiration of the 40th year. (Du Hamel)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

And some odd months, as it follows.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

4. Thirty years — Age of full maturity, at which priests were consecrated. Num_4:3; Luk_3:23.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

David was thirty years old. As David was probably about eighteen or nineteen years of age at the time of his combat with Goliath, the events recorded in 1Sa 17-31, must have occupied about ten or eleven years.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

2 Samuel, in the Historical, opens this verse with 8 words (6 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is ʼarbâʻîym (“forty”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

  1. What does “forty” (ʼarbâʻîym) contribute to the verse as a whole?
  2. 1 Chronicles 29:27 shares this passage’s theme. How do the two illuminate each other?
  3. “year” occurs 2× in this one verse. What is the effect of the repetition?
  4. The translations on this page render this verse differently — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment. What might account for the different wordings?
  5. The verb «בְּמָלְכ֑וֹ» is Qal Infinitive Construct. How does its form color the action?
  6. Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Joseph Benson's Commentary read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

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Old Testament
Old Testament edition

Read the OT as the Masoretic Hebrew (MT) or the Greek Septuagint (LXX).

English shown for the Greek Septuagint (in the Hebrew ↔ Greek comparison).

Comparing translations? Open the Compare panel on any verse page to stack up to four side by side.