And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron; and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.
David has just taken Zion. The next thing recorded is not another victory but more wives and more children. Commentators treat that order as the point.
One writer sets the triumph and what follows it side by side.
All was now changed for David. But sadly, the first thing recorded after he took Zion is "David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, after he came from Hebron."
David now had the power to take what he wanted, and he used it. One writer sets that failure next to the only King who will carry such glory well.
However, David could not rightly bear the greatness of the glory given to him. He took advantage of his greatness to take more wives and concubines, though he already had seven wives (ch.3:2-5; 13-16). From the very start of Israel's history of the kings, we see this sad fact. Neither Saul nor David, nor any king who followed, could rightly bear the glory that comes with high authority. There is only One, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will be able to properly bear the great dignity of ruling over men. "He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory" (Zech.6:13).
God gave Israel's king a rule about wives. He also gave him a daily habit that would have kept the rule in view.
But now the same thing that took place at Hebron (2 Sam. 3:2-5) again takes place at Jerusalem (vv. 13-16)… He uses his power for himself and so acts against God's thoughts (Deut. 17:17-19). Besides his political and other reasons for taking many wives, David may have forgotten God's prohibition. He should not have forgotten it. When the king sits on the throne of his kingdom, "he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law… and it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life." Most of our disobedient acts come from not keeping daily living contact with the Word of God.
David's life is known for trust in God. One writer says a second mark matters just as much.
Two things ought to mark the walk of every child of God. David's career in First Samuel shows the first: dependence. But there is a second mark which we are not used to treating as important as the first: obedience. Dependence and obedience should never be separated in the child of God.
One writer looks at where this allowance led, and at what David had failed to do first.
David had not fulfilled the instruction of the law. He had not realised his own weakness, as his many marriages show. He had not made, as Job had, a covenant with his eyes. Walking in self-indulgence, the height he had been raised to brought on his fall. In the warm sun of prosperity, the fruit of the freedom he had allowed himself ripened into a bitter harvest. There was no help, because he sought none! So he fell; and so will all who follow this course.
The verse also mentions sons and daughters. One writer follows the line from these marriages to one of those children.
David's third son was Absalom, meaning "Father of Peace", which tells us how David's heart longed for peace after long weary years of war and wandering. But who was Absalom's mother? Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. Not only did David multiply wives, but to find wives of royal birth, he turned to the pagan nations around him. This was also open disobedience and defiance of God's often-repeated command that they were not to take wives from the nations around them. How could David expect a blessing from the offspring of such a match? There was little use in giving this wife's son a name with such a beautiful meaning. He was born of a marriage made in deliberate disobedience to the clear Word of God.
Why was this wrong before Israel ever had a king? One writer takes the question back to the beginning.
From the beginning God's thought of marriage was one wife for one man. The man was to cling to his wife, not to his wives. It is true that many Old Testament believers had more than one wife. But this went against God's word. He bore with it because of the hardness of men's hearts. Only in the New Testament did the Lord Jesus correct this, along with the question of divorce (Matt. 19:9).
- Placement. The verse follows the capture of Zion. The first act recorded in the new reign is self-indulgence, not service.
- Power. David used his new greatness for himself. No king could carry that glory rightly; only Christ will.
- Word. The king had a written command about wives, and a duty to read the law daily. Ignoring the second made breaking the first easy.
- Balance. Dependence is the mark we notice; obedience is the one we forget. The two must never be split apart.
- Harvest. What prosperity allowed here ripened into a bitter harvest, and left no blessing to expect from the children born of these marriages.
And these are the names of those that were born to him in Jerusalem Shammua, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
David has just taken Jerusalem and secured his kingdom. At that high point the record turns to his household — more wives, more children — and four names that carry the future of the throne.
The list of sons follows a note that David took more wives once he moved to Jerusalem. One writer traces that back to a law written for kings.
He uses his power for himself, and so acts against God's thoughts (Deut. 17:17-19). David had political and other reasons for taking many wives. He may also have forgotten that God had forbidden it. He should not have forgotten: "And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law... and he shall read in it all the days of his life." Most of our acts of disobedience come from not keeping living daily contact with the Word of God.
Another writer traces the failure to greatness itself, then looks past David.
David could not carry the greatness of the glory given to him. He used his greatness to take more wives and concubines, though he already had seven. From the very start of Israel's history of the kings, we see this sad fact. Neither Saul nor David, nor any king after them, could carry the glory that comes with high authority. There is only One who will be able to bear the great dignity of ruling over men: the Lord Jesus Christ.
David had eleven sons in Jerusalem. One writer takes the first four — the names in this verse — as one group, and weighs what each name means.
The first four were all sons of Bathshua, or Bathsheba. "Bathsheba" means "daughter of the oath"; "Bathshua" means "daughter of salvation." ... Shammua, "heard," or "obeyed"... Nathan, "he has given"... Solomon, "peaceful"... One name only remains unaccounted for, and the history accounts for it fully. It is the second name, Shobab, "turning back," which the cry of the Psalms acknowledges as God's work: "Restore us, O LORD God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved." Altogether it is clear. These four names express, as Bathsheba's sons should do, the fruits of the covenant of promise.
Solomon stands last of the four, and the sons born earlier at Hebron never reigned. One writer reads that order as deliberate.
Here again, what is natural comes first — those born in Hebron. They never came to the throne. "And these were born to him in Jerusalem, Shimea and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon" — Solomon the last of these "four of Bathsheba, the daughter of Ammiel," as the Spirit of God takes care to say. No flesh shall boast in His presence. The last becomes the first. The purpose of God alone triumphs.
Chronicles calls this same son Shimea.
Two of these four names head the two family lines of Jesus. Matthew follows Solomon; Luke follows Nathan. One writer explains why the line switched.
Solomon's line, represented by Jeconiah, held the claim to David's throne (Luke 3:31, compare 2 Sam. 5:14, Zech. 12:12). Jeconiah's childlessness barred that claim (Jer. 22:30). So the succession passed to Nathan's line, represented by Salathiel, whose actual father was Neri.
The two lines meeting in one Person had a practical consequence.
Matthew, as is well known, gives us Joseph's line, the royal line, through Solomon. Luke gives Mary's line through Nathan, another son of David by Bathsheba (1 Chron. 3:5)... Matthew brings in Jechonias, called Coniah in Jeremiah 22:28-30. As those verses show, no descendant of Coniah was to prosper, sitting on the throne of David. So Joseph could not be the father of our blessed Lord. The virgin birth was necessary to fulfil the Scripture.
These four sons all came from Bathsheba. One writer sees grace at work in her presence in this line.
Bathsheba's defilement would have kept her from any share in God's blessings. Grace brings her into the Messiah's line of descent (Matt. 1:6). She becomes the mother of the king of peace and glory. Grace delights to work for fallen creatures. It joins them to Christ, to show its "immeasurable riches" in the ages to come.
- Power — David used his new authority for himself and took more wives, instead of reading the law that governed kings. Most disobedience starts when daily contact with God's Word stops.
- Grace — out of that disordered household God names four sons. Their meanings run heard, turned back, given, peaceful — the shape of His promise, not David's planning.
- Election — Solomon comes last of the four, and the sons born earlier never reigned. No one can boast. God's purpose alone decides the throne.
- Reach — Nathan and Solomon head the two family lines of Jesus. Solomon's royal line was barred, so the real descent ran through Nathan. That is why the virgin birth was necessary.
- Result — the woman whose defilement should have shut her out becomes mother of the king of peace. A list of names in Jerusalem ends up pointing to Christ.
and Ibhar, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
This verse is nothing but four names, set in the list of sons born to David after he captured Jerusalem. Most of these men never appear again, so why does Scripture record them at all?
These sons get little more than a name. One writer still refuses to treat the list as filler.
David entered into still more marriages, and more sons and daughters were born to him in Jerusalem. Eleven are named, but without mention of their mothers. There are only two of whom we find anything recorded afterwards, and only one in the present history. Even so, there must be a purpose in listing them here.
Each of these Hebrew names carries a meaning. Taken together, one writer says, they tell one story.
The Hebrew names of the eleven sons of David are deeply significant. It seems the story of the redemption that is in Him, whom David foreshadows, is made known in these names. Shammuah (heard); Shobab (returning); Nathan (he is given); Solomon (peace). Ibhar (the Lord chooses); Elishua (my God is salvation); Nepheg (budding); Japhia (glorious). Elishama (God hears); Eliada (whom God knows); Eliphalet (my God is escape). These names hold a most blessed revelation — and yet some Christians can say names have no meaning! Read them in their meaning and think over each one as telling out the gospel story from start to finish.
The first two names move from God's choice to God's method. Ibhar points to where blessing starts.
The first son now is Ibhar, "election," or "He chooses." The fountain of all blessing is in God Himself, in His will alone. This is clearly the basic necessity, if He is to be glorified at all. Whatever happens by chance, or comes about some other way, we cannot trace to Him, and cannot glorify Him for it. This needs no argument.
The next name says how God carries out that will, and who gets the credit.
The second son is Elishua, "my God is salvation": the method as well as the will is from Him. It is the blessedness of the gospel that God is exalted in this way in it.
The third name turns from what God has done outside us to what He does within.
The third son, Nepheg, "sprout," shows the activity of life, and so of the Spirit of life. So the inward work in the soul is also His — the internal work is a salvation, just as the sin-bearing work of the cross is.
The fourth name is about light, and about whose light it is.
The fourth son, Japhia, is "lustrous, shining" — the creature clothed with the glory of the light, the reflection of what has shone upon it. Christ Himself is the pledge and assurance of this, and being occupied with Him is what produces it. In it we are still weak creatures, only receiving: the experience on our part is of what He is. And what a testimony to His grace, that He can stoop like this, in the delight of His love, to glorify the objects of His choice!
Chosen, saved, alive, shining — the four names of this verse run in that order.
The list is long because David kept taking more wives. One writer points to a written command that covered this.
Besides his political and other reasons for taking many wives, David may have forgotten God's prohibition. He should not have forgotten God's word to the king. "When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life." Most of our disobedient acts come from not keeping living daily contact with the Word of God. To follow our own thoughts while neglecting this positive, absolute direction is disobedience.
The household that grew in Jerusalem also produced David's deepest griefs.
Added to David's six sons born in Hebron are the eleven born in Jerusalem. There were daughters also born to him, but we are not told how many. Some of his sons caused him great sorrow, however. He had to confess how great the contrast was between his own house and that of the promised Messiah: "My house is not so with God."
(Grant is quoting an older translation. The ESV turns the line into a question — "For does not my house stand so with God?")
- Recorded — These men leave no story, yet Scripture keeps their names. One writer holds the list has a purpose.
- Chosen — Ibhar, "He chooses": blessing starts in God's own will, or we cannot trace it to Him at all.
- Saved — Elishua, "my God is salvation": the method is His as much as the will, which is the glory of the gospel.
- Sprouting and shining — Nepheg speaks of life at work inside. Japhia speaks of a creature that shines with light shone on it.
- Yet failing — The same list records David's disobedience over wives. His own house fell far short of the promised Messiah's.
and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphelet.
Three more names close the list of sons born to David after he took Jerusalem. On its own the verse looks like filler. Commentators find in it both a message about God and a quiet warning about the king who fathered them.
Each name in this verse is built on a word for God. One writer reads all eleven sons as a message in order, not a random list.
The Hebrew names of the eleven sons of David are of deep significance. It seems the story of the redemption which is in Him, whom David foreshadows, is made known in these names. Shammuah (heard); Shobab (returning); Nathan (he is given); Solomon (peace); Ibhar (the Lord chooses); Elishua (my God is salvation); Nepheg (budding); Japhia (glorious); Elishama (God hears); Eliada (whom God knows); Eliphalet (my God is escape). This is a most blessed revelation contained in those names; and some Christians can say there is no meaning in names! Read them in their meaning and think over each one as telling out the very gospel story from start to finish.
Two names in this verse look different in Chronicles. The first changes form between the records:
One of the sons of David born at Jerusalem. 2 Sam. 5:16; 1 Chr. 3:8. He is called BEELIADA in 1 Chr. 14:7.
The second is Elishama. The name seems to belong to two of David's sons, and one of them appears elsewhere under a different spelling:
Two sons of David born at Jerusalem. 2 Sam. 5:16; 1 Chr. 3:6, 8; 1 Chr. 14:7: one of whom is apparently called ELISHUA in 2 Sam. 5:15; 1 Chr. 14:5.
Chronicles gives this same family register twice. One writer ties where it stands to what God was doing with the throne.
The complete list of David's offspring at Jerusalem is given us for the second time in this book (1 Chron. 3:5-8; 1 Chron. 14:3-7) (Elpelet and Nogah are not mentioned in 2 Sam. 5:14-16). The purpose of this repetition is to show us that God's counsels concerning the kingship are being carried out. And this happens at the very moment when the king is finding a place of rest at Zion for the ark of God.
These sons came from wives and concubines David took after he left Hebron. One writer reads that as a failure, not a triumph.
However, David could not rightly bear the greatness of the glory given to him. He took advantage of his greatness to take more wives and concubines, though he already had seven wives... From the very first of Israel's history of the kings, we see this sad fact. Neither Saul nor David, nor any kings that followed, could rightly bear the glory that comes with high authority. There is only One, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will be able to properly bear the great dignity of ruling over men. "He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory" (Zech. 6:13).
Another writer sets the same fact against the limits of the age David lived in:
But I am far from saying that we have more than a pledge as yet of good things to come. That pledge is marred by the all too clear fact that the first man is not the Second... The law made nothing perfect. Christ, the true light, had not come. And the believer, though born of God, was not yet the new creation, so as to say, "The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
The list of eleven names ends here. The sorrow does not. One writer counts the sons and then gives David's own verdict on his household.
Added to David's six sons born in Hebron are the eleven born in Jerusalem (vv. 14-16). There were daughters also born to him, but we are not told how many. Some of his sons, however, caused him great sorrow. He had to confess how great the contrast was between his own house and the house of the promised Messiah: "My house is not so with God" (2 Sam. 23:5).
(Older translations read that last line as a statement. The ESV puts it as a question: "For does not my house stand so with God?")
Because of this double picture, one writer lays down a rule for reading the whole chapter:
All these facts prove how important one thing is if we are to understand this part of Scripture properly. We must keep the distinction between David as a man and David as a type of Christ.
- Names speak. The three names close a list that reads as a message: God hears, God knows, God is escape. One writer insists there is teaching in names, not just record-keeping.
- Names shift. Eliada appears as Beeliada in Chronicles. Elishama covers two sons, and one of them is also called Elishua. The records fill each other out.
- God's counsel advances. Chronicles repeats the register to show God's purpose for the kingship moving on at the very moment the ark finds rest at Zion.
- Man's failure advances too. The sons came from more wives and concubines. David could not carry the glory given him, and only Christ will bear that dignity rightly.
- Two Davids, one lesson. Read him both as a picture of Christ and as a man answerable for his choices. The sorrow in his house then measures the distance between them: "My house is not so with God."