2 In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. Yahweh said to you, 'You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.'"
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Also in time past, when Saul was king over us,.... Even over all the tribes of Israel:
thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel; that led out the armies of Israel against their enemies, fought their battles for them, obtained victories, and brought the troops under his command home in safety; and the remembrance of these valiant acts of his, which then endeared him to the people, was now another reason for their choosing him king: and another follows, the chiefest of them all:
and the Lord said to thee; when anointed by Samuel; for though what follows is not recorded in so many words, yet the sense of it is expressed in the anointing him to be king, whose office, as such, lay in doing the following things:
thou shalt feed my people Israel; as a shepherd feeds his flock; hence kings were frequently called shepherds, and David particularly, in which he was an eminent type of Christ, see Psalm 78:71,
and thou shalt be a captain over Israel; the Targum is,"and thou shalt be king over Israel;''which gives the true sense of the tribes, and which was the chief and prevailing reason with them to make him their king; and which they, at least many of them, would have done before, even immediately upon the death of Saul, but that they were persuaded by Abner to yield obedience to Ishbosheth he set up.
Shalt feed - That is, rule them, and take care of them, as a shepherd doth of his sheep, Psalm 78:70-71. This expression, he useth to admonish David, that he was not made a king to advance his own glory, but for the good of his people; whom he ought to rule with all tenderness, and to watch over with all diligence.
*More commentary available at chapter level.