1 Chronicles 12

1 Chronicles 12

Skipping 1 Chronicles 10-11 (where we see Saul’s death and David’s ascension to throne), we move on to 1 Chronicles 12 where we get a more detailed description of David’s mighty men. The portion skipped was previously covered at the end of 1 Samuel and the opening chapters of 2 Samuel. Now, 1 Chronicles 12 goes into more detail about who these men were that assisted David in battle.


There were 30 of these men, led by Amasai. They were some of the most skilled warriors and soldiers around who were chosen to aid David in battle. They had sworn allegiance to David, promising to fight with him and never betray him. They were his core army. As David continued to go out to battle, more and more men stood by his side. These were the early years of his reign when David was a popular king. His son, Absalom, had not yet betrayed him, and the whole country of Israel supported David entirely. As a result, his army grew, for men from every tribe wanted the honor of fighting alongside David and his mighty men. This allowed David to expand the boarders of Israel. Israel was at its highest when David was their king.

The rest of the chapter lists the numbers of men that joined the army of David. Thousands of men from each tribe were numbered, making for one very large army. What is even more interesting is the fact that the text says that they were all of one mind. They supported David’s ascension to the throne of Israel and were willing to work alongside him. Never had Israel been so unified under one common purpose

This story shows the importance of good leadership and unity. The problem with Israel throughout their history was poor leadership. While they had good kings at times, much of their history is plagued with bad leaders who turned away from God and led Israel into all sorts of evil practices. As a result, this caused a rift between those who followed after the king (which was most of the country) and the few who stayed true to God. There was no sense of unity during the reigns of these kings. As for David, he had managed to bring Israel under one common goal with one common focus. They followed God, the God of their ancestors who had proven Himself time and time again. He had always been there for Israel and helped them through some difficult situations, and He had always proven Himself to be faithful. With this as their focus, Israel experienced some of their brightest days, and it was partly due to the convictions and leadership of King David. Despite his faults (which he learned and grew from), David is a great example of what a leader ought to look like.

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