CINXE.COM

<!doctype html> <html lang="en" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Article"> <head> <title>How many brothers did King David have? | GotQuestions.org</title> <META name="keywords" itemprop="keywords" content="David brothers"><META name="description" itemprop="description" property="og:description" content="How many brothers did King David have? What are the names of David’s brothers?"> <meta charset="utf-8"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, user-scalable=no"> <link rel="image_src" itemprop="image" href="https://www.gotquestions.org/img/GQlogo.png"><link rel="canonical" itemprop="url mainEntityOfPage" href="https://www.gotquestions.org/David-brothers.html"> <meta itemprop="author" content="GotQuestions.org"> <meta itemprop="datePublished" content="2020-03-10"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://www.gotquestions.org/img/OG/David-brothers.jpg"> <meta property="og:site_name" content="GotQuestions.org"> <meta property="og:type" content="article"> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.gotquestions.org/David-brothers.html"> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-M7EVHFDMSZ"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-M7EVHFDMSZ'); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css">  <script type="module" src="/components/header-element-unified.js"></script> <script type="module" src="/components/footer-element-unified.js" defer></script> <script src="/components/unified-script.js" defer></script> <link rel="preload" href="/components/unified-style.css" as="style"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/components/unified-style.css"> </head> <body data-site-theme="light"> <div class="fixed-button settings box-shadow"><img src="img/cogwheel.svg" alt="settings icon" onclick="settingsMenu(this)"></div> <div class="fixed-button sharebutton box-shadow"><img src="img/share.svg" alt="share icon" onclick="shareMenu(this)"></div> <header-element></header-element> <div id="modals"> <ul class="settings-menu modal-menu box-shadow"> <li> <div class="toggle-wrap"> <span>Light</span><input type="checkbox" checked id="toggle" class="checkbox" onclick="toggleTheme(this)" /><label for="toggle" class="switch"></label><span>Dark</span> </div> </li> <li><div id="bibleRefLinkSettings"><label for="bibleRefLinkVersion">Bible Version</label><select id="bibleRefLinkVersion" name="bibleRefLinkVersion" onchange="changeVersion();BibleRefLink.brlSavePrefs();"><option value="ESV">ESV</option><option value="CSB">CSB</option><option value="KJV">KJV</option><option value="NASB">NASB</option><option value="NIV" selected="selected">NIV</option><option value="NKJV">NKJV</option><option value="NLT">NLT</option></select></div></li> <li><label for="font">Font Family</label><select name="font" id="font" onchange="changeFont()"><option value="system-ui">Default</option><option value="Arial">Arial</option><option value="Verdana">Verdana</option><option value="Helvetica">Helvetica</option><option value="Tahoma">Tahoma</option><option value="Georgia">Georgia</option><option value="Times New Roman">Times New Roman</option></select></li> <li><label for="lineheight">Line Height</label><select name="lineheight" id="lineheight" onchange="changeLineHeight()"><option value="1.4">Default</option><option value="1">1.0</option><option value="1.2">1.2</option><option value="1.5">1.5</option><option value="2">2</option></select></li> <li><label for="fontsize">Font Size</label><select name="fontsize" id="fontsize" onchange="changeFontSize()"><option value="1">Default</option><option value="1">1.0</option><option value="1.2">1.2</option><option value="1.5">1.5</option><option value="2">2</option></select></li> </ul> <ul class="final-menu modal-menu box-shadow"> <li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.gotquestions.org/" class="fb"><img src="img/logo-fb-simple.svg" alt="Facebook icon">Facebook</a></li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/share?url=https://www.gotquestions.org/" class="tw"><img src="img/logo-twitter.svg" alt="Twitter icon">Twitter</a></li> <li><a href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://www.gotquestions.org/" class="pi"><img src="img/logo-pinterest.svg" alt="Pinterest icon">Pinterest</a></li> <li><a class="SendEmail" href=""><img src="img/letter.svg" alt="Email icon">Email</a></li> <li class="mobile-show"><a class="SendSMS" href=""><img src="img/sms-icon.svg" alt="SMS icon">Text/SMS</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="featured gradient-to-tr" style="--color-start: var(--bgcolor-featured-start); --color-end: var(--bgcolor-featured-end)"> <div class="featured-left"> <h5>Find Out</h5> <h4><a href="going-to-heaven.html">How to go to heaven</a></h4> <h4><a href="get-right-with-God.html">How to get right with God</a></h4> </div> <div class="featured-right"> <div class="desktop-hide gq-YT"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/gotquestionsorg" target="_blank"><img src="img/GQ-YT.png"></a></div> </div> </div> <main><div class="breadcrumb-wrapper"> <span class="breadcrumb" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/BreadcrumbList"><span itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ListItem"><a itemprop="item" href="https://www.gotquestions.org"><span itemprop="name"><span class="home-icon"></span>Home</span></a><meta itemprop="position" content="1"></span> <span class="chevron-right"></span> <span itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ListItem"><a itemprop="item" href="https://www.gotquestions.org/content.html"><span itemprop="name">Content Index</span></a><meta itemprop="position" content="2"></span> <span class="chevron-right"></span> <span itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ListItem"><a itemprop="item" href="https://www.gotquestions.org/content_people.html"><span itemprop="name">People in the Bible</span></a><meta itemprop="position" content="3"></span> <span class="chevron-right"></span> <span itemprop="itemListElement" itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/ListItem"><a itemprop="item" href="https://www.gotquestions.org/content_people_OT-individuals.html"><span itemprop="name">Old Testament Individuals</span></a><meta itemprop="position" content="4"></span> <span class="chevron-right"></span> David’s brothers</span></div> <section class="content-wrap gradient-to-b" style="--color-start: var(--bgcolor-content-start); --color-end: var(--bgcolor-content-end);" ><div class="content"> <div class="label gradient-to-tr" style="--color-start: #96445a; --color-end: #6f637e;">Question</div> <div class="sponsor-sidebar"><div class="desktop-show" align="center"><div class="adManager-placeholder"></div></div></div> <h1><span itemprop="name headline" property="og:title">How many brothers did King David have?</span></h1> <div class="actions-wrap"><div class="actions"> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="INTL/David-brothers.html" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'intl'});"><img src="img/translate-icon.svg" alt="translate"></a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://printer.gotquestions.net/GeneratePF?articleId=49958" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'print'});"><img src="img/print.svg" class="questionInteract" alt="David brothers"></a> </div></div> <div itemprop="articleBody"> <div class="label gradient-to-tr" style="--color-start: #29a699; --color-end: #749c5a;">Answer</div><br><br> <a href="life-David.html">David</a>, Israel’s second king, was the youngest son of Jesse from Bethlehem. In 1 Samuel 17:12–14, Scripture plainly states that Jesse had eight sons, of which David was the youngest. But 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?<br><br> The narrative of David’s anointing by the prophet <a href="life-Samuel.html">Samuel</a> supports the reasoning that Jesse had eight sons, and thus 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).<br><br> The Bible gives us the names of David’s brothers:<br><br> Eliab is David’s oldest brother (1 Samuel 16:6; 17:13, 28; 1 Chronicles 2:13). The second born is Abinadab (1 Samuel 16:8; 17:13; 1 Chronicles 2:13). David’s third oldest brother is Shimea (1 Samuel 16:9; 1 Chronicles 2:13). <i>Shimea</i> is alternately spelled <i>Shammah</i> (1 Samuel 17:13) and <i>Shimeah</i> (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 (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).<br><br> 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 <i>Elihu</i> is a variant of <i>Eliab</i>, who was David’s oldest brother. Elihu and Eliab are the same person.<br><br> 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.<br><br> 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 concern was to preserve Israel’s family records for verifying tribal identity and inheritance rights. Therefore, most Bible scholars deduce that one of David’s seven brothers must have died at a young age without producing any heirs, and was therefore not accounted for in the later genealogical register.<br><br> So, David had seven brothers and at least two sisters. One of his brothers most likely died before having children.<br><br> </div> <section class="homepage-sponsor desktop-hide"> <div class="desktop-hide" align="center"><div class="adManager-placeholder-mobile"></div></div> </section> <div class="related resources"><h4>For Further Study</h4> <a target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'chrbook'});" href="https://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?event=AFF&p=1011693&item_no=202249">David - A Man of Passion and Destiny by Charles Swindoll</a><br><br> <a target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'logos'});" href="https://www.logos.com/?utm_campaign=logossubxlaunch-phase1&utm_source=gotquestions&utm_medium=advertising_display&utm_content=logossubxlaunch-phase1-gtlink">More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free!</a> </div> <div class="related topics"><h4>Related Articles</h4> <a href="Michal-in-the-Bible.html">Who was Michal in the Bible?</a><br><br> <a href="David-and-Ish-bosheth.html">What is the story of David and Ish-bosheth?</a><br><br> <a href="Mephibosheth.html">Who was Mephibosheth?</a><br><br> <a href="wives-King-David.html">How many wives did King David have?</a><br><br> <a href="David-and-Bathsheba.html">What is the story of David and Bathsheba?</a> </div> <center><strong class="return">Return to:<br><br> <a class="button-link box-shadow" href="questions_Bible-people.html">Questions about People in the Bible</a><br><br> How many brothers did King David have?</strong></center> </div> </section> <section class="subscribe gradient-to-br" style="--color-start: #153c59; --color-end: #1b537c"> <div class="grid"> <div class="gradient-to-br box-shadow" style="--color-start: #2c6482; --color-end: #64547b"> <h5>Subscribe to the</h5> <h3>Question of the Week</h3> <p>Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox!</p> <iframe src="scommon/qotw.htm" title="question of the week" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%"></iframe> </div></div> </section> </main> <footer-element></footer-element> <center> <div itemprop="dateModified" content="2022-01-04">This page last updated: January 4, 2022</div></center> <script src="scripts-2025.js"></script> <div style="display: none;" itemprop="publisher" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Organization"><meta itemprop="name" content="GotQuestions.org"><div itemprop="logo" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"> <img src="https://www.gotquestions.org/img/GQlogo.png"><meta itemprop="url" content="https://www.gotquestions.org/img/GQlogo.png"><meta itemprop="width" content="400"><meta itemprop="height" content="79"> </div></div> </body> </html>