How many brothers did King David have?

Response

David, the second king of Israel, was the youngest son of Jesse from Bethlehem. In 1 Samuel 17:12–14, Scripture clearly states that Jesse had eight sons, with David being the youngest. However, in 1 Chronicles 2:12–16, the account of David’s family lists only seven sons of Jesse. So, did David have six or seven brothers?

The story of David’s anointing by the prophet Samuel indicates that Jesse had eight sons, and therefore David had seven brothers: “Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, ‘The LORD has not chosen these.’ So he asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have?’ ‘There is still the youngest,’ Jesse answered. ‘He is tending the sheep.’ Samuel said, ‘Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.’ So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the LORD said, ‘Rise and anoint him; this is the one.’ So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah” (1 Samuel 16:10-13).

The Bible provides us with the names of David’s brothers:

Eliab is David’s eldest brother (1 Samuel 16:6;1 Samuel 17:13,28;1 Chronicles 2:13). The second born is Abinadab (1 Samuel 16:8;1 Samuel 17:13;1 Chronicles 2:13). David’s third eldest brother is Shimea (1 Samuel 16:9;1 Chronicles 2:13). Shimea is also spelled Shammah «And the three eldest sons

Of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. », (1 Samuel 17:13) and Shimeah «But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother: and Jonadab was a very subtle man. », (2 Samuel 13:3). The fourth brother is Nethanel, the fifth Raddai, and the sixth Ozem (1 Chronicles 2:14-15). The chronicler also names two sisters of David: Zeruiah and Abigail «whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three. », (1 Chronicles 2:16). Mysteriously, however, one brother is missing from this list of names, and David—again listed as the youngest here—is called “the seventh” (verse 15).

One possibility for the missing brother could be Elihu, who is identified in 1 Chronicles 27:18 as the chief officer over the tribe of Judah and “a brother of David.” But most scholars tend to believe the name Elihu is a variant of Eliab, who was David’s oldest brother. Elihu and Eliab are the same person.

Skeptics point to this discrepancy in the number of brothers David had as proof that the Bible has errors and contradictions, and therefore is not to be trusted as reliable. The argument neglects the reality that biblical genealogies often did not include every ancestor in a family line. For example, when a child died without leaving any children, he or she was usually omitted from the record.

The passage in 1 Samuel was written in the early days of David’s life, but the genealogy in 1 Chronicles was recorded much later. The chronicler’s primary con

Cern was tasked with preserving Israel’s family records to verify tribal identity and inheritance rights. Consequently, many Bible scholars infer that one of David’s seven brothers likely passed away in youth without leaving any descendants, and thus was not included in the subsequent genealogical record.

Therefore, David had seven brothers and at least two sisters. It is probable that one of his brothers passed away before having offspring.