1Ch 3 | MHM | STEP | The Family of David This section gives a list of King David’s sons. It shows that David had many children, but not all of them followed his good example. The story of David’s family reminds us that having many children is a blessing, but it also brings challenges. Some of David’s sons brought him trouble, and only Solomon followed his devotion, though not fully. This genealogy is important because it shows the family line from which Jesus came (Luke 3:31 ). It also teaches us that God is the one who chooses leaders, not just people’s talents or family position. v. 1–4 : The Bible lists the sons born to David in Hebron. He had six sons by six different mothers. This happened before he became king over all Israel. We read about these sons in 2 Samuel 3:2–5 . The Bible says, Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them (Psalm 127:5 ), showing that children are a blessing.

‏ 1 Chronicles 3

The Family of David

This section gives a list of King David’s sons. It shows that David had many children, but not all of them followed his good example. The story of David’s family reminds us that having many children is a blessing, but it also brings challenges. Some of David’s sons brought him trouble, and only Solomon followed his devotion, though not fully. This genealogy is important because it shows the family line from which Jesus came (Luke 3:31 ^a). It also teaches us that God is the one who chooses leaders, not just people’s talents or family position.

v. 1–4: The Bible lists the sons born to David in Hebron. He had six sons by six different mothers. This happened before he became king over all Israel. We read about these sons in 2 Samuel 3:2–5 ^b. The Bible says, Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them (Psalm 127:5 ^c), showing that children are a blessing.

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v. 5–8: David had more sons in Jerusalem. Solomon was one of these, and he was chosen to be king after David. Solomon’s birth is special because he came from Bath-sheba. Another son was called Nathan, maybe named after the prophet Nathan who helped David repent. Jesus was a descendant of this Nathan (Luke 3:31 ^d). There are two sons named Elishama and two named Eliphelet. This probably happened because the first ones died young, and David used the names again.

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v. 9: David had other sons by his concubines, but their names are not listed. The children of concubines did not have the same honor as the others. This might be because some concubines were disloyal to David when Absalom rebelled (v. 9 ^e).

v. 10: Of all David’s sons, Solomon was chosen by God to be king after him. This was not because Solomon was better than his brothers, but because God decided it. As Jesus said, Father, because it seemed good unto thee (Matthew 11:26 ^f). Solomon’s wisdom and kingship were gifts from God, not based on personal merit, but on God’s sovereign choice (1 Chronicles 3:10 ^g) .

The Family of David After Solomon

This section continues the genealogy of David, focusing on the descendants of Solomon. While David had many sons, the Bible only follows the lines of Solomon and Nathan here. These two lines are important because Solomon’s descendants were kings, and Nathan’s line led to Jesus (Luke 3:31 ^h). The list shows both famous kings and lesser-known people. After the exile, the family became less well-known, but God’s promise to David continued. The genealogy also reminds us that God’s plans can continue even when things seem uncertain for a family or nation.

v. 10–16: The genealogy lists the kings of Judah, from Solomon down to the time of the Babylonian captivity. This is a rare example of a royal line passing from father to son for seventeen generations. This was a reward for David’s faithfulness to God. But when the captivity came, the direct line was broken, and the crown sometimes passed to brothers or uncles. This change showed that the glory of David’s house was fading.

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v. 17–19: After the exile, the descendants of David were not kings anymore. The most important person in this list is Zerubbabel, who helped lead the people back from Babylon. He is called the son of Salathiel, but here he is listed as his grandson. This is common in the Bible, where “son” can mean “descendant.” Salathiel is called the son of Jeconiah because he was adopted or took his place. Jeconiah was written as childless, and God said, though Jeconiah were the signet on my right hand, yet I would pull you off (Jeremiah 22:24 ⁱ). God later said to Zerubbabel, I will make you like my signet ring (Haggai 2:23 ^j), showing that God’s promise continued through him.

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v. 20–24: The descendants of Zerubbabel are listed, but their names are different from those in the genealogies in Matthew 1 and Luke 3. This is probably because the lists were taken from official records kept by the priests. The last name in this chapter is Anani. Some Jewish writers thought Anani might be a name for the Messiah, because of the words in Daniel 7:13 ^k: the son of man came with the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13 ^l). This shows that people were always hoping for the coming of the Messiah, especially after the days of Zerubbabel.