5 Then the leaders of all of Israel’s tribes came to David at Hebron and said to him, “Listen, we’re all close relations. 2 In the past when Sha’ul was our king, you were the one who actually showed leadership of the people. Yahweh has already told you that you will shepherd Israel and become our king.” 3 So with Yahweh as their witness, all the Israeli elders made a formal agreement with David, and they anointed him as king over all Israel. 4 David was thirty years old when he became their king and he reigned for a total of forty years:[ref] 5 seven and a half years in Hebron as king of Yehudah, then thirty-three years in Yerushalem as king over all Israel and Yehudah.