The King David family tree, from Jesse to Rehoboam

Jesse was “an Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah” with eight sons, and David was the youngest.² When Samuel came to anoint a king among them, Jesse made seven sons pass before him, and Samuel sent for the eighth, who was keeping the sheep.¹ Samuel at first took Eliab for the chosen one, and was told that “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”¹

The three eldest, Eliab, Abinadab and Shammah, followed Saul to the war with the Philistines.² 1 Chronicles 2 counts only seven sons and makes David the seventh, and it names two sisters, Zeruiah and Abigail.¹⁶ Zeruiah’s sons were Joab, Abishai and Asahel, so Joab, who later had a hand in the death of Absalom, was David’s nephew.^16,12

Ruth 4:17 makes Obed, the son of Boaz and Ruth, “the father of Jesse, the father of David,” and the Ruth family tree draws that line.¹⁸

David’s first wife was Michal, the younger daughter of King Saul, who loved him.³ While David was an outlaw Saul gave her to Phalti the son of Laish, and David later demanded her back.^4,5 She had no child “unto the day of her death.”⁷

In the wilderness David married Abigail, the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, and Ahinoam of Jezreel.⁴ At Hebron sons were born to him by four more wives, among them Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur, and Haggith.⁵ Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite, came last, after the death of Uriah.⁸ 2 Samuel 5:13 adds that David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and does not name them.⁶

Two books list the sons, and they agree in order but not in every name. Six were born in Hebron, where David reigned seven years and six months.^5,17 The second son is Chileab in 2 Samuel 3:3 and Daniel in 1 Chronicles 3:1.^5,17

Thirteen more were born in Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 5 names eleven, and 1 Chronicles 3 names thirteen, with a second Elishama and a second Eliphelet.^6,17 Four of them were sons of Bathsheba, who is called Bathshua, the daughter of Ammiel, in Chronicles.¹⁷ The list ends with “Tamar their sister,” the only daughter of David the Bible names.¹⁷

An earlier child of David and Bathsheba died on the seventh day, and the Bible gives him no name.⁹ Nathan, a later son of Bathsheba, is a different man from Nathan the prophet. Luke 3:31 traces the descent of Jesus through this son, and the family tree of Jesus sets his line beside Solomon’s.²⁰

Three of the four eldest sons died before the throne passed. Amnon, the firstborn, raped his half-sister Tamar, and two years later her brother Absalom had him killed.¹⁰ Absalom then rose against his father and was killed by Joab’s men, caught in an oak.¹²

In David’s old age Adonijah, the son of Haggith, said “I will be king.”¹³ Bathsheba and Nathan the prophet reminded David of his oath, and David swore that “Solomon thy son shall reign after me.”¹³ Zadok the priest anointed Solomon while his father lived, and Solomon later had Adonijah put to death.^13,14 Rehoboam, the son of Solomon and Naamah the Ammonitess, reigned after him in Judah.¹⁵

The Bible never names David’s mother. The Babylonian Talmud gives her name as Natzvat, the daughter of Ada’el, in a list of the mothers of famous men in Bava Batra 91a.²¹

The two sisters raise a second question. 1 Chronicles 2:16 calls Zeruiah and Abigail the sisters of David, but 2 Samuel 17:25 calls Abigail “the daughter of Nahash.”^16,11 The text does not explain the difference, and the chart draws neither sister.

The number of Jesse’s sons is a third. 1 Samuel 17:12 says eight and 1 Chronicles 2:15 makes David the seventh, so one son of Samuel’s list is missing from Chronicles.^2,16 Christian readers also meet this King David family tree in Matthew 1, which runs from Jesse to David and on through Solomon.¹⁹ The Bible family tree sets David in the whole line from Adam.