David’s Hushed Beginnings

Is David’s origin to be questioned?

My Old Testament reading had come back around to 1 Samuel, to the point where God tells Samuel to go anoint another person to be king in place of Saul. Of course, many of us are familiar with the basic account of David, when he got called up in front of Samuel and God says, “This is the one, anoint him!”

A number of subtle points to note here, if not hooked up with a few other tidbits we find, would be overlooked completely; valuable points to grab from looking more closely at some questions raised by David’s history, and a conclusion that might be shocking to some. In fact, I personally wondered a long time about David’s youth and upbringing.

Let’s set the stage

After mourning over Saul, Samuel is told by God to fill his horn with oil and go to Bethlehem of Judah “to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.” (1 Sam. 16:1) God told Samuel specifically it would be one of Jesse’s sons. Now, when Jesse is told to come to Samuel's sacrifice, he is specifically told to bring his sons to that sacrifice. “And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.”

But, as you may well know, Samuel went through the lineup of Jesse’s sons at first and the LORD told him, “it’s not any one of these.” And so Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all your children?”
You would think that after all the trouble of preparing for a formal sacrificial gathering and meal, Jesse would not inadvertently overlook any of his sons. Especially since the word of what Samuel had done with Agag had gotten around (verse 4). Jesse seemingly goes, “Uh... oh! There is one more... uh, the youngest. He’s in the backyard with the sheep.”

Now Jesse was a land owner, and apparently of not just a small amount of land. You may recall he was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz. Boaz owned lots of land and had lots of servants handling his harvests.

So, Jesse, you would suppose, had plenty of servants to go and deal with things such as sheep and harvests as well. Why was David taken out of the family circle to go be with the sheep?

David and his brothers

Let’s look at a further incident. David is sent down to the Israelite troops camping out opposite of the Philistines to see his brothers. Because of Goliath’s taunting, David asks what the Israelite army is doing about it, and his brother turns on him. “Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.”

That seems rather uncalled for. What made Eliab react so angrily at David, and accuse him of a wicked heart? (and belittle the work of his shepherding!) Was he just jealous of David having been anointed rather than himself? Could it be something had been in Eliab's opposition to David perhaps longer than that?

Let’s take a look at a familiar Psalm, number 23, about “the LORD is my shepherd.” The fifth verse says, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” Now, when was David anointed with oil? When he was anointed by Samuel is the only recorded incident. A sacrifice was usually accompanied by a meal in honor of God, thus the table. Tell me, who were the enemies David is speaking of? Could they have been David’s own brothers? Why would they be considered his enemies?

Here’s another verse; Psalm 27:10: “When my father and my mother have abandoned me, the LORD will take care of me.” Why did David feel they abandoned him?

So, here’s what I see so far: Jesse shuts David out to the servitude task of taking care of the sheep, and initially doesn’t include—or acknowledge—him among his sons; his brothers treat him as an enemy, rather than a beloved brother.

What do you think is going on here, simple sibling rivalry?

Now, it may be a long shot, but I am thinking that if you can tie together a loosely connected string of facts by the fewest explanations, you may have a reasonable solution to the questions they raise.

Other Family Members of David

David did have some sisters. They are mentioned many times in 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 Chronicles. Their names were Abigail and Zeruiah. And guess what? They were daughters of someone named Nahash. Now one concordance I have says this was their mother, and this would be a natural conclusion, assuming Jesse was their father. The text doesn’t say that, however.

Now I don’t know about you, but I think it would be an awful name for a girl, the darling of some mother and father, to be named Nahash. At least, not for a Hebrew name. That word means snake. Would you want to be called a snake? Especially when you keep in mind what happened in Eden. Would that make you endearing to others, particularly a potential husband? I would be willing to contend whether that is even a female name.

Now there was one other person named Nahash mentioned in the bible, and surprise! he is contemporary in the time of Samuel and David. He was an Ammonite king. What Nahash meant in the Ammonite tongue, I have no idea. In his first mention, he attacks a city on the outskirts of Israel, and Saul comes to rescue it from him. So there was no friendship between Ammon and Israel.

However, when we see him mentioned in relation to David, it says he showed favor to David. Why should he do that?

In fact, read it in its context of 2 Sam. 10, and it is revealing.

Hanun, the son of Nahash, becomes king of Ammon and David sends a delegation of goodwill to him, saying, “I will show kindness to Hanun just as his father showed kindness to me.” (vs 2) However,  Hanun and his advisors eyed this with suspicion, and shamed his ambassadors.

Hanun's advisors didn't think David wanted to honor his father, but “to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it.” OK. Why did they think that? I mean, back then, if a king wanted to conquer a country, he made that pretty plain up front.

Is it possible something in particular about David made them suspicious?  What if by some relationship to Nahash, he had some claim,  albeit remote, to the Ammonite throne?
“TJ,” you say, “You're going out on a limb!” And perhaps a real thin one!

Jewish tradition

Know it or not, there is substantial tradition in Jewish midrash that David had an illegitimate birth. Some teaching even proposes David’s mother's name, and other circumstances otherwise not given us in the biblical record. And how the rabbis of the midrash were able to get those details beyond the biblical texts is beyond me.

Still, their acknowledgement, however hushed, of such a possibility is significant to match up with the biblical clues.

A verse in proper perspective?

Does this verse sound familiar? “Behold,  I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5.

Now, when we hear or read this verse, we have a culturally imposed meaning in our heads, because we usually only hear it during a sermon about our fallen nature, that David was declaring we are all naturally sinful.

However,  we need to be careful about taking a personal confession and turning it into a universal principle; turning a me into a we.

Really look at what David is actually, literally saying. He is saying he was conceived and brought to birth sinfully. Now, if he is being conceived, who is doing the sinning? He says his mother sinned. Now, in context, David implies that had an influence on his wicked behavior he confessed. But the verse needs to have an originally intended meaning for David, and I think it was deeply personal, rather than broadly theological.

So, it looks like these many points have a connection for David’s beginnings.

Conclusions

I’m thinking of two points to take from this possible view of David’s life.

One, consider that David was also called a man after God’s own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14) From his youth, David never ceased seeking a pure and intimate relationship with God.

So, no matter what your beginning was like, where you came from, you can still be close and real with God. Keep this in your heart: God still wants to be with you, and for you to be close to him.

Secondly, after David was anointed by Samuel,  he is called the son of Jesse. (1 Samuel 17:12) In light of the possibility he was illegitimate, this is significant.  Perhaps it means that David was fully accepted into Jesse’s family. Through Samuel’s annointing, it was a rebuke to Jesse that he held back on that acceptance for so many years.

If you have a mixed family, or you are adopted, it is God’s purpose that each of you know and feel a full acceptance into your family by every member. Family goes beyond just the natural family in God’s eyes.