DAVID, SONS OF. David had 19 sons and one daughter who are named in the scriptures. All were born from his wives. Furthermore, he had numerous unnamed sons and daughters who were born to wives and concubines (2 Sam 3:2-5; 5:13-16). Of these, only four sons, Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah, and Solomon, and one daughter, Tamar, are known in detail. Solomon is the most prominent of them, since he succeeded David on the throne of Israel; and his descendants continued in the family line as the Jewish kings. Matthew’s genealogy traces Jesus’ ancestry through Solomon, while Luke’s traces it through Nathan. These six children, the most prominent, were among the oldest: they were all born in Hebron or in Jerusalem of Bathshua (Bathsheba).
Ironically, given the importance and prestige given to David in most scriptures, his sons’ accounts mostly show how badly they turned out. This is seen as a direct consequence of David’s great sins of committing adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11-12). Nathan’s prayer foretold the troubles that would follow (12:9-12, 14). From this point on, David appears as a relatively passive and tragic figure.
Amnon (David’s firstborn) and Tamar appear together in a sad story in 2 Samuel 13, where Amnon brutally rapes his sister. His brother Absalom plots to kill Amnon in revenge.
Absalom (David’s third son) figures prominently in David’s life (2 Samuel 13-18), ever since he murdered David’s firstborn son and especially since he rebelled against his father. He forced his father to flee Jerusalem to save his life, and then announced his consolidation of power by going to David’s concubines in full view of all Israel. Finally, David’s general, Joab, killed him in battle.
Adonijah (David’s fourth son) was the oldest living son at the end of David’s life, taking power briefly in a short-lived reign (1 Kings 1-2). David, weakened, senile and having lost effective control of his children, aged passively; and groups of officers and others formed around Adonijah and Solomon. It was only after personal appeals on Solomon’s behalf by his mother Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan that Solomon was sanctioned as the chosen heir to the throne. Solomon at first spared Adonijah’s life, but eventually felt threatened by him and had him executed after David’s death.
Solomon, David’s tenth son in surviving lists, was David’s successor to the throne (1 Kings 1-11). He was blessed with incomparable wisdom by YHWH, and initially followed YHWH. He built the temple and an ornate palace for himself and managed to amass wealth and establish an international reputation. YHWH established a conditional covenant with him (9:1-9), but, in the end, Solomon’s heart, under the influence of his foreign wives, turned away from his God. As a result, the kingdom was divided and his son Rehoboam was made king over the remnant, Judah.
The rest of David’s sons are known only from four genealogical lists and some references elsewhere. The following table serves to highlight their relationships to each other.
CHILDREN BORN IN HEBRON
2 Sam 3:2-5
1 Chronicles 3:1-4
1.
AMNON (mother, Ahinoam)
1.
AMNON (mother, Ahinoam)
two.
CHILEAB (mother, Abigail)
two.
DANIEL (mother, Abigail)
3.
ABSALOM (mother, Maacah)
3.
ABSALOM (mother, Maacah)
Four.
ADONIJA (mother, Haggith)
Four.
ADONIJA (mother, Haggith)
5.
SHEFATIA (mother, Abital)
5.
SHEFATIA (mother, Abital)
6.
ITREAM (mother, Eglah)
6.
ITREAM (mother, Eglah)
CHILDREN BORN IN JERUSALEM
2 Sam 5:13-16
1 Chronicles 3:5-9
1 Chronicles 14:3-7
Mother: Bathshua (Bathsheba)
7.
SHAMMUA
7.
Shimea
7.
SHAMMUA
8.
SHOBAB
8.
SHOBAB
8.
SHOBAB
9.
SWIM
9.
SWIM
9.
SWIM
10.
Solomon
10.
Solomon
10.
Solomon
Unnamed mothers (wives of David)
eleven.
IBHAR
eleven.
IBHAR
eleven.
IBHAR
12.
ELISHUA
12.
ELISHAMA
12.
ELISHUA
13.
—
13.
ELIFELET
13.
THEPELET
14.
—
14.
NOGA
14.
NOGA
fifteen.
NEFEG
fifteen.
NEFEG
fifteen.
NEFEG
sixteen.
JAFIA
sixteen.
JAFIA
sixteen.
JAFIA
17.
ELISHAMA
17.
ELISHAMA
17.
ELISHAMA
18.
ELIADA
18.
ELIADA
18.
BEELIADA
19.
ELIFELET
19.
ELIFELET
19.
ELIFELET
twenty.
—
twenty.
TAMAR
twenty.
—
The lists are nearly identical, both in terms of the forms of the names and the order of the listings. Eight differences appear, in nos. 2, 7, 12, 13(2), 14, 18, 20. Of these, five are variant spellings, alternate names, or scribal notes: 2. Chileab/Daniel; 7.Shammua/Shimea; 12. Elishua / Elishama; 13. Eliphelet / Elpelet; 18. Eliada / Beeliada. The other three are omissions. Of these, two are no doubt also scribal slips; the names Eliphelet Noga likely appeared in the original Samuel mss, too. The last difference, the inclusion of Tamar in 1 Chronicles 3, represents an original contribution by the Chronicler at this point, based on knowledge he had elsewhere in his sources, primarily 2 Samuel 13.
The natural assumption is that these lists are given in the correct birth order. In fact, the children born during David’s 7 years in Hebron are given first in the two places listed, and are then followed by those born during David’s next 33 years in Jerusalem. However, of the four children born to Bathsheba, Solomon is listed last on all three lists; whereas, it would seem from the narrative texts (2 Samuel 12; 1 Kings 1) that he was David’s firstborn (excluding the son who died: 2 Sam 12:15-18).
The first list is of David’s sons born in Hebron (2 Sam 3:2-5). He names six sons and his six mothers. It is impossible to know anything of any previous existence he might have had, but his appearance here serves to highlight the comment in 3:1 about the predominance of the house of David over that of Saul (see McCarter 2 Samuel 102) .
The second list is of the sons of David born in Jerusalem (2 Sam 5:13-16). He mentions concubines and wives and sons and daughters and names 11 sons without naming his mother. Its occurrence here fits naturally into the narrative context, since David’s taking of Jerusalem and consolidation of power has just been mentioned (5:1-12). OG traditions add at the end of v 16 a list of 13 names not found in the TM. This list essentially duplicates the one just completed in vv 14b-16a, but adds the two missing names (found in the Chronicles lists), and has different forms for almost all the names (some radically so).
The third list is the most complete and combines Samuel’s two lists, adding them briefly (1 Chronicles 3:1-9). Only here is Bathshua (= Bathsheba) named as the mother of four of David’s children, as well as Tamar. She adds two names, Eliphelet and Nogah, that are not found in the TM of Samuel’s list. Its broader context is the genealogies presented in the books of Chronicles (chapters 1 to 9). She appears as part of a large genealogy of Judah (2:3-4:23), immediately preceded by a list of descendants of Caleb and Jerahmeel, sons of Hezron, who was Judah’s grandson (2:18-55). It takes from the list of David’s ancestors in 2:3-17, and is immediately followed by a list of Solomon’s descendants (3:10-24).
The fourth list is essentially identical to the third in terms of the children included, but it omits many other details found in that list. Its narrative setting is similar to that of the second list, as it occurs in a context of David’s consolidation of power after his capture of Jerusalem. However, the Chronicler adds material between this list and the actual account of the capture of Jerusalem (11:4-9) that appears elsewhere (or does not appear at all) in 2 Samuel: lists of David’s heroes (11 :10-47; cf. 2 Sam 23:8-39) and supporters (chapter 12; missing in 2 Samuel), and the account of the transfer of the ark from Kiriath-jearim to the house of Obed-edom (chapter 13; cf.2 Sam 6:1-11). Despite these differences, this Chronicles list functions in the same way as the Samuel list: both show YHWH’s blessing on David through the proliferation of his family, a blessing that is also found in the narrative texts. previous and next.
DAVID M. HOWARD, JR.