The King Solomon family tree, from Bathsheba to Asa

Bathsheba was the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite when David first saw her.¹ After Uriah’s death and her mourning, David “fetched her to his house, and she became his wife.”¹ Their first son died on the seventh day, and the next son was Solomon, whom Nathan the prophet called Jedidiah, “because of the Lord.”²

1 Chronicles 3:5 gives Bathsheba four sons, Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon, and calls her Bathshua, the daughter of Ammiel.¹² The King David family tree sets these four among all of David’s sons and their mothers.

The elder half-brother Adonijah, the son of Haggith, claimed the throne in David’s old age.³ Nathan the prophet sent Bathsheba to remind the king of his oath, and David answered, “Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me.”³ Solomon was anointed in his father’s lifetime and later had Adonijah put to death, after Bathsheba carried Adonijah’s request to him and sat at the king’s right hand.^3,4

1 Kings 11:3 gives Solomon “seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines,” and says that his wives turned away his heart.⁸ The same chapter lists women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians and Hittites among them.⁸ Of all these the King Solomon family tree can draw only two.

The first is the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Solomon took when he “made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt.”⁵ The Bible never gives her name. The second is Naamah the Ammonitess, the mother of Rehoboam, who is named in the notice of her son’s reign.¹⁰ Two daughters appear in the list of Solomon’s officers. Taphath was married to the son of Abinadab in the region of Dor, and Basmath to Ahimaaz in Naphtali.⁶ Their mothers are not named, so the chart draws them under Solomon alone.

In 1 Kings 10 the Queen of Sheba comes “to prove him with hard questions,” sees his wisdom and his house, and goes home with “all her desire, whatsoever she asked.”⁷ The Bible says nothing more of a bond between them.

Ethiopian tradition tells more. The Kebra Nagast, an epic of the fourteenth century, names the queen Makeda and makes Menelik the son of Solomon and Makeda, and the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia claimed descent from him.¹⁶ The King Solomon family tree draws this line dashed, as a tradition beside the biblical text.

Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.⁸ The northern tribes answered Rehoboam, “What portion have we in David,” and made Jeroboam king over all Israel, so that only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.⁹ 1 Kings 11 had foretold it, with one tribe left to Solomon’s son “for David my servant’s sake.”⁸

Rehoboam’s wives included Mahalath, a granddaughter of David, and Maachah the daughter of Absalom, whom he loved above all his wives.¹³ He made her son Abijah chief among his brothers, “for he thought to make him king.”¹³ Abijah reigned three years and was followed by his son Asa, who reigned forty-one years.¹¹ Matthew 1:7 keeps the same order, “Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa.”¹⁵

The mother of Abijah has three descriptions. 2 Chronicles 11:20 calls Maachah the daughter of Absalom, 1 Kings 15:2 the daughter of Abishalom, and 2 Chronicles 13:2 names Abijah’s mother as Michaiah, the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.^13,11,14 The texts do not reconcile the names, and the chart follows 2 Chronicles 11, the fullest account.

1 Kings 15:10 and 15:13 then call the same Maachah the mother of Asa, Abijah’s son, and say that Asa removed her from being queen.¹¹ The chart draws Asa as the son of Abijah alone, as 1 Kings 15:8 gives it, and leaves the question of his mother open.

For the line of Solomon in the genealogy of Jesus, see the family tree of Jesus, and for the whole span of the Bible the Bible family tree.