Who
The shepherd of Bethlehem whom Samuel anointed (1 Samuel 16:13), the king who made Jerusalem the city of the Ark, and the singer of Israel’s psalms. God swore to him that his house and kingdom would endure for ever (2 Samuel 7:16), and the prophets looked for a son of David to reign; the New Testament proclaims Jesus as that son (Matthew 1:1; Acts 2:30; Romans 1:3). His sin with Bathsheba and his repentance gave the Church its great psalm of penitence (Psalm 51). At David the two genealogies part: Matthew goes on through Solomon, Luke through Nathan.
Key verses
- Ruth 4:22
and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.
- 1 Samuel 16:13
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the middle of his brothers. Then the LORD’s Spirit came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
- 2 Samuel 7:16
Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.”’”
- 1 Chronicles 2:15
Ozem the sixth, and David the seventh;
- 1 Chronicles 3:1
Now these were the sons of David, who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;
- 1 Chronicles 3:9
All these were the sons of David, in addition to the sons of the concubines; and Tamar was their sister.
- Psalm 51:1
Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
- Matthew 1:6
Jesse became the father of King David. David the king became the father of Solomon by her who had been Uriah’s wife.
- Luke 3:31
the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,
- Acts 2:30
Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
Where the Bible names him
Named 978 times in 31 books.
- ✓ In the deuterocanon, which the verse index does not cover: found in the text and checked by hand.
Verse index: TIPNR, STEPBible.org (Tyndale House), CC BY 4.0.
Family
- Children
- SolomonMatthew 1:6; 1 Chronicles 3:5
- NathanLuke 3:31; 1 Chronicles 3:5
- Amnon1 Chronicles 3:1–3
- Daniel1 Chronicles 3:1–3
- Absalom1 Chronicles 3:1–3
- Adonijah1 Chronicles 3:1–3
- Shephatiah1 Chronicles 3:1–3
- Ithream1 Chronicles 3:1–3
- Shimea1 Chronicles 3:5
- Shobab1 Chronicles 3:5
- Ibhar1 Chronicles 3:6–9
- Elishama1 Chronicles 3:6–9
- Eliphelet1 Chronicles 3:6–9
- Nogah1 Chronicles 3:6–9
- Nepheg1 Chronicles 3:6–9
- Japhia1 Chronicles 3:6–9
- Elishama1 Chronicles 3:6–9
- Eliada1 Chronicles 3:6–9
- Eliphelet1 Chronicles 3:6–9
- Tamar1 Chronicles 3:6–9
Notes
Why two genealogies?
Matthew descends from David through Solomon and the kings and makes Joseph the son of Jacob (1:16); Luke ascends from Joseph through Heli and Nathan to David (3:23–31). The Fathers do not take this as a contradiction. Julius Africanus, in his letter to Aristides preserved by Eusebius, explains it by the law of Deuteronomy 25:5–6: Jacob and Heli were half-brothers by one mother, and when Heli died childless Jacob married his widow and raised up a son to his name. So Joseph was Jacob's son by nature and Heli's son by law. Augustine reads Heli's fatherhood as adoption, and Bede repeats Africanus; Damascene and Aquinas hand on the same explanation. The gold line follows the natural descent through Solomon; Luke's names stand beside it as Joseph's legal line.
Church History I.7Eusebius of Caesarea on Luke 3:23–38Harmony of the Gospels II.4Augustine of Hippo on Luke 3:23–38 (3)Augustine of Hippo on Luke 3:23–38 (5)Bede on Luke 3:23–38 (2)
Discussed by
Comments on the verses that name him (8 of 95).
- Glossa Ordinaria on Matthew 1:3–6Catena Aurea on Matthew
Passing over the other sons of Jacob, the Evangelist follows the family of Judah, saying, “But Judah begat Phares and Zara of Thamar.”
- Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 1:3–6Catena Aurea on Matthew
Neither was Judah himself first-born, nor of these two sons was either his first-born; he had already had three before them. So that he keeps in that line of descent, by which he shall arrive at David, and from him…
- Jerome on Matthew 1:3–6Catena Aurea on Matthew
It should be noted, that none of the holy women are taken into the Saviour’s genealogy, but rather such as Scripture has condemned, that He who came for sinners being born of sinners might so put away the sins of…
- Ambrose of Milan on Matthew 1:3–6Catena Aurea on Matthew
But Luke has avoided the mention of these, that he might set forth the series of the priestly race immaculate. But the plan of St. Matthew did not exclude the righteousness of natural reason; for when he wrote in his…
- John Chrysostom on Matthew 1:3–6Catena Aurea on Matthew
Besides this, it shews that all are equally liable to sin; for here is Thamar accusing Judah of incest, and David begat Solomon with a woman with whom he had committed adultery. But if the Law was not fulfilled by…
- Ambrose of Milan on Matthew 1:3–6 (2)Catena Aurea on Matthew
Observe that Matthew does not name both without a meaning; for though the object of his writing only required the mention of Phares, yet in the twins a mystery is signified; namely, the double life of the nations,…
- Pseudo-Chrysostom on Matthew 1:3–6Catena Aurea on Matthew
By Zarah is denoted the people of the Jews, which first appeared in the light of faith, coming out of the dark womb of the world, and was therefore marked with the scarlet thread of the circumciser, for all supposed…
- Glossa Ordinaria on Matthew 1:3–6 (2)Catena Aurea on Matthew
Judah begat Phares and Zarah before he went into Egypt, whither they both accompanied their father. In Egypt, “Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram; Aram begat Aminadab; Aminadab begat Naasson;” and then Moses…