Verses 6 to 9 record an important strategic achievement by David: the seizure of the strongest city in Palestine to be his capital city. From the record of the Old Testament it appears that Jerusalem had never been under the effective control of the Israelites before David seized it but had remained under the control of the Jebusites, a group of Canaanites. Its geographical position on the hill of Zion made it very difficult to attack and the inhabitants had taken advantage of this and made it into a very strong fortress. Verse 6 indicates this, suggesting that not even soldiers were needed to prevent invaders from getting into the city. David and his men did not capture the city in a military attack but by a very clever plan, infiltrating into the city through an underground water supply tunnel. Archaeologists have discovered such a tunnel cut through the solid rock on which the city was built. It would have required great courage to carry out David's plan, but some of his men undertook it successfully and seized the city from inside. No information is given about what happened to the inhabitants but it is possible that they were not killed and became integrated with the Israelites who moved into the city and took over. Verse 9 is a very brief report of what must have been a substantial building plan undertaken by David, to make Jerusalem the most important city in Israel. Its natural position made it a very suitable centre from which to control both the south and the north of the country, and as it was not in any tribal territory there was no jealousy when it became the capital. From the time when David gained control over the city it became known as 'David's city'.

Verse 11 is connected with verse 9, but indicates two significant points. David established friendly diplomatic relationships with the state of Tyre, to the north on the Palestinian coast, ensuring peace for his people in the northern area around Tyre. He also obtained from the king of Tyre building materials and skilled builders for his building programme in Jerusalem. Building was not a skill which the Israelites had yet learnt to excel in, and David obviously wanted his new capital to be impressive as well as impregnable.

Verse 10 is a general comment by the writer on what becomes apparent from the Biblical accounts of the reign of David; that he proved to be a very effective and strong king, who was able to create a sense of nationhood in Israel and establish a kingdom in which the ultimate Lordship of Israel's God was held before the people.