Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron
All the rest of the tribes, save the tribe of Judah, who had made him king over them in Hebron seven years ago. These were ambassadors sent in the name of the several tribes to him, quickly after the deaths of Abner and Ishbosheth; from having any hand in which David had sufficiently cleared himself, and which had tended to reconcile the minds of the people of Israel to him:
and spake, saying, we [are] thy bone and thy flesh;
for though he was of the tribe of Judah, yet as all the tribes sprung from one man, they were all one bone, flesh, and blood; all nearly related to each other, all of the same general family of which David was; and so, according to their law, a fit person to be their king, ( Deuteronomy 16:18-17:13 ) ; and from whom they might expect clemency and tenderness, being so near akin to them.