Israel’s story
David was the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, a shepherd whom God chose to be king. He killed Goliath, ran from King Saul for years, and became Israel’s greatest king, ruling from Jerusalem. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed, then repented. God promised that his throne would last forever, and the New Testament calls Jesus the Son of David.
9 moments
See where David fits on the Bible timeline
Tap a passage to read it here. Each one opens in full in the Lumin Translation.
Samuel passes over Jesse’s older sons and anoints the youngest, who was out with the sheep. God sees into the heart.
The shepherd boy faces the Philistine champion with a sling and five stones, in the name of the Lord.
Saul turns jealous and tries to kill him. In a cave at En Gedi David could kill Saul, and spares him.
After Saul dies, Judah crowns David at Hebron. Later all Israel does.
David takes Jerusalem and makes it his city. He brings the ark there, dancing.
God promises that David’s family will rule forever.
David sleeps with Bathsheba and has her husband Uriah killed. The prophet Nathan confronts him, and David confesses.
His son Absalom takes the throne and is killed. David weeps: “If only I had died instead of you, Absalom.”
David makes Solomon king and dies after 40 years on the throne.
Read these first
But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at how tall he is, for I have rejected him. Yahweh does not see the way a human being sees. People see what meets the eye, but Yahweh sees into the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7God sees into the heart
Yahweh is my shepherd; I lack nothing.
Psalm 23:1The Lord is my shepherd
God, create a clean heart for me, and renew a steadfast spirit inside me.
Psalm 51:10His prayer after Bathsheba
Questions people ask
Each answer is marked: in the Bible, tradition, readers disagree, or not known.
Readers disagree
Most Bibles follow the Hebrew text: six cubits and a span, about 9 feet 9 inches. The Dead Sea Scroll of Samuel and the old Greek read four cubits and a span, about 6 feet 9 inches. Either way he towered over the men around him.
See 1 Samuel 17:4
Readers disagree
No. About 73 psalms carry David’s name in their Hebrew headings. Others name Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon and Moses, and many name no one. The heading can mean by David, for David, or about David.
In the Bible
Samuel says it before David is chosen, and Paul repeats it. It points to God’s choice of him and David’s turning back to God, not a spotless life.
See 1 Samuel 13:14
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