Others joined David at Hebron

23 These are the numbers of soldiers who were ready for battle who joined David at Hebron city. They came to help him to become the king of Israel to replace Saul, as Yahweh had promised would happen.

• 24 There were 6,800 men from Judah, who carried shields and spears.
• 25 There were 7,100 men from the tribe of Simeon. They were all strong warriors trained to fight battles.
• 26 There were 4,600 men from the tribe of Levi.
  • 27 Jehoiada, who was a leader descended from Aaron, was in that group of descendants of Levi, and there were 3,700 men with him.
  • 28 Zadok, a strong young soldier, was also in that group, and there were 22 other leaders from his clan who came with him.
• 29 There were 3,000 men from the tribe of Benjamin who were Saul’s relatives. Most of them had previously wanted one of Saul’s descendants to be the king.
• 30 There were 20,800 men from the tribe of Ephraim who were all brave warriors and trained for fighting battles and famous in their own clans.
• 31 There were 18,000 men from the half of the tribe of Manasseh that lived west of the Jordan River. They were all chosen to go and help David become the king.
• 32 There were 200 men who were leaders from the tribe of Issachar, along with their relatives. Those leaders always knew what the Israelis should do, and they knew the right time to do it.
• 33 There were 55,000 men from the tribe of Zebulun. They were all experienced warriors and knew how to use all kinds of weapons well. They were completely loyal to David.
• 34 There were 1,000 officers from the tribe of Naphtali. With them were 37,000 soldiers, each carrying shields and spears.
• 35 There were 28,600 soldiers from the tribe of Dan, all trained to fight battles.
• 36 There were 47,000 experienced soldiers from the tribe of Asher, all trained to fight battles.
• 37 There were also 120,000 soldiers from the area east of the Jordan River who joined David. They were from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh. They had all kinds of weapons.

38 All those men were soldiers who volunteered to be in David’s army. They came to Hebron wanting very much to enable David to be the king of all of the Israeli people. 39 The men spent three days there with David, eating and drinking, because their families had given them food to take with them. 40 Also, their fellow Israelis came from as far away as the area where the tribes of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali lived, bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen. They brought a lot of flour, fig cakes, raisins, wine, olive oil, cattle and sheep. And throughout Israel, the people were very joyful.