Nadene Goldfoot
David, King of Israel, of the tribe of Judah, has been our ideal, our hero, our standard, for the past 3 thousand years. He was born in about 1,030 BCE in Bethlehem and died in 960 BCE. 
He ruled as king after Saul from 1010 BCE to 970 BCE. David was the youngest son of Jesse. Jesse happened to be the grandson of Ruth, who plays an important part in the Torah, and Boaz. Jesse lived in Bethlehem, but out of fear of Saul, lived for a time in Moab. The royal house of David is known as THE STOCK,or root OF JESSE.
Ruth was not an Israelite. So many of our ancestors in the beginning had married people within the family. Ruth was a Moabite. This pattern of Israelite men marrying women of the land they are living in will happen over and over, more so than the Israelite women marrying outside their faith. Ruth was also a widow, and her husband had been Mahlon, an Israelite. Her mother-in-law was the Israelite Naomi, widow of Elimelech. Naomi and her husband and 2 sons, Mahlon and Chilion, had left Bethlehem for Moab during a famine period.
That's why both Naomi and Ruth went back to Bethlehem after Mahlon had died. Ruth eventually marries Boaz, one of Naomi's kinsmen. Boaz's father was Judah, son of Jacob whose name was changed to Israel. Boaz lived in Bethlehem and was a man of property.
The Moabites' country was in South Transjordan, bounded by the river Heshbon in the North, and the river Zered in the south, the Jordan River and the Dead Sea to the West, and the Syrian Desert on the East.
The Moabites were kindred to the Israelites, being traditionally descended, like the Ammonites, from Lot. Lot was Abraham's nephew, the son of Abraham's brother, Haran. Lot had traveled with Abram from Aram-naharaim to the land of Canaan, but they also had traveled with the shepherds, who quarreled with each other over pasture land for their sheep. They parted company, with Lot settling at Sodom, where he was captured by the 5 kings who had attacked the country, but was rescued by Abram and his men. (Gen 19:37). Their language was like biblical Hebrew. In the patriarchal era, they settled in their land which had been captured from the Rephaim /Emim (Deut 2:10-11). Seems like everyone lived in land they captured from some previous people. This must go back to the first homo-Sapiens taking land from Neandertals, probably a common practice.
Kings Og and Sihon of Amorites that Israelites defeated
During the Exodus Period, part of this territory between the rivers Jasbok and Arnon with his capital being Heshbon came under the rule of the Amorite monarch, King Sihon, but after his defeat by the Israelites, was occupied by the Israelites and became an object of contention between Israel, Moab and Ammon. Sihon had taken his land from the Moabites. He was defeated and killed by the Israelites after refusing them passage across his territory, and his land was partitioned between 2 of the 12 tribes of Israel, the tribes of Reuben and Gad. Og was another Amorite king of the land of of Rephaim in Bashan and Gilead, noted for his tall stature and physique. He had tried to interrupt the march of the Isrelites but was defeated. The land of Og was a strongly fortified territory throughout the Middle and late bronze Ages.
Originally divided into small tribes, the Moabites united into a single kingdom, and it was their 2nd ruler, Balak, who summoned Balaam to curse the Israelites. Under their king, Eglon, the Moabites extended their territory to the Jericho region until Eglon was killed by Ehud, one of the judges of the tribe of Benjamin. He saved Israel from the oppression of Eglon, king of Moab. (Judg.3). Back Story: When the Israelites sinned by worshipping foreign gods, God caused Eglon, king of Moab to suppress the Israelites. King Moab recruited the Ammonites and Amalekites to war against the Israelites. Eglon and coalition had success against Israel and they were able to take possession of the city of the plains (most likely Jericho). Possibly, King Eglon ruled from Jericho. Israelites paid tribute to King Eglon for 18 years. Eventually, the Israelites repented of their sins and God raised Ehud to be their military leader. Ehud was a Benjaminite and the son of Gera.
When 25 years old, he became the armor bearer to Saul, probably because he was the friend of Saul's son, Jonathan, and after displaying his military prowess in war with the Philistines.
David conquered Moab (II Sam.8:2) which remained under the suzerainty of the Northern Kingdom of Israel down to the the rebellion of King Mesha of Moab where the story of the Moabite Stone or Mesha Stele comes in. It's Mesha's accountings of his victories that are inscribed on the stone. It's a good thing that some leaders brag by doing things like this as it gives us history, albeit bragging history. To think that Mesha had once been a tributary to the House of King Omri of Israel once, he had exploited Israel's weakness after the death of king Ahab to throw off her suzerainty.
During the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III who died in 727 BCE, Moab became an Assyrian province. During the Persian Period, Arabs penetrated the country and assimilated with the inhabitants. Moab was conquered by the Israelite Hasmoneans and was later incorporated by the Romans into Arabia.
The Torah (1st 5 books of Moses), also referred to as the Pentateuch, forbids intermarriage with a Moabite (Deut: 23:4). The Talmud interpreted this as referring only to males and the prohibition was abolished in the Mishnaic Period. After all, Ruth was a Moabite. The Mishnaic Period, when the Mishnah, the legal codification containing the core of the Oral Law was compiled by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi.(135-220 CE) of Palestine (became Palestine after 135 CE)
Merab, one of the daughters of King Saul, is originally offered in marriage to David, whom Saul hopes to have killed. However, Saul’s plan fails, and Merab marries another man, while David marries Merab’s younger sister. The story of Saul’s attempt to arrange Merab’s marriage shows the social structures between fathers and daughters among the ancient Israelites and forms a part of Saul’s narrative as he reaches the end of his reign.
Michal married David. Michal was Saul's younger daughter, who fell in love with David and married him for one hundred Philistine foreskins. According to the Bible, Merab, Saul's older daughter, was to have married David, but she was given in matrimony to Adriel the Meholathite, while David married Michal. Michal was just a pawn to her father to be moved around at will. My, how Jewish women have changed.
King Saul became jealous of David who got more attention than he did; young handsome with gingy-colored hair (reddish), and this jealousy was threatening to David so badly that he had to seek refuge with King Achish of Gath. David returned to Israel after Saul and 3 of his sons had been defeated and killed at the battle at Mt. Gilboa. David had no children by Michal, however, Saul (Michal’s father and king of Israel) had given her to Palti, son of Laish, as a wife while David was in hiding. Michel lived as Palti’s wife for a number of years.
Now that he can settle down, David begins to raise a family in Hebron by his various wives. (See Appendix 3. Genealogy of the House of David.)The following sons were all born in Hebron, his 1st capital.
(1)His firstborn was Amnon the son of Ahinoam of Jezreel; (2)his second, Kileab the son of Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel; the third, (3) Absalom the son of Maacah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; (4) the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; (5)the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, (6)Ithream the son of David's wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron." (3:2-5)
3. Maacah/ Maachah daughter of neighboring King from Geshur had Absalom-very handsome, the 3rd and Tamar- very beautiful and son Hanan. Daughter of King David's son Absalom, Maacah (Maachah) was a queen and, depending upon the version of the story, the mother or the grandmother of Asa, king of Judah. Asa began to revive the practices of his ancestor King David for the purpose of ensuring proper conduct before God. When Maacah’s daughter Tamar reached puberty, her older half-brother Amnon developed an unhealthy obsession for her, and raped her. Maacah and Absalom complained to David, but he did nothing. Two years later Absalom murdered Amnon, then fled to his maternal grandfather’s kingdom. Both Maacah’s children were now disgraced, so her prestige was low. Maacah disappears from the story, but her granddaughter would become the wife of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. Concerning Asa and Maacah in 2 Chronicles we are told that (15:16): “King Asa also deposed his mother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down, broke it up and burned it in the Kidron Valley”.
4. Haggith had Adonijah the 4th of David's sons: Haggith is a biblical figure, one of the wives of David. Her name means "festive." Haggith is mentioned in 2 Samuel 3:4, 1 Kings 1–2, and 1 Chronicles 3:2. She only appears as the mother of Adonijah, the fourth of David's sons, born in Hebron, while David was fighting Saul, Haggith is mentioned three times in the old testament in the line of David’s wives. {2 Samuel 3:4; 1 Kings 1-2; 1 Chronicles 3:2}
5. Abital had Shephatiah the Fifth, Abital or Avital is a Hebrew given name of Old Testament origin. It is traditionally a female given name, but its modern usage is unisex. The name translates to my father is [the] dew. Avital is also used as a surname. Potentially, it could be a place name for the Avital moshav in Israel.1. Son of David and Abital; their fifth child. He was born while his father was still reigning at Hebron (II Sam. iii. 4; I Chron. iii. 3).
At first, Abner, Saul's general, sided with Saul's 4th son, Eshbaal (Ish-Bosheth) , whom he crowned king at Mahanaim, but after Eshbaal's murder, all the tribes accepted David as king. This led to an indecisive war between the 2 claimants to the throne, David and Ish. Ish was eventually deserted by Abner and murdered by 2 of his generals, Banaah and Rechab, who were executed by David for regicide.
In the 8th year of David's rule, David captured the Jebusite stronghold of Jerusalem which he proclaimed his capital and to which he eventually stored the Ark. He succeeded in breaking the Philistine military power and annexing the entire coastal belt. His defeat of the Edomites gave the Israelites an outlet to the Red Sea at Ezion-Geber. he crushed Ammon and Moab, which became subject to Israel, and decisively defeated Aram (Syria), annexing large tracts of territory, including Damascus, as far as the Euphrates. David signed treaties with Tyre and Sidon and extended the Israelite frontiers to an extent never again attained.
Bathsheba was his wife in Jerusalem. She had Shammua, Solomon, Shobab, and Nathan; David was enamoured after seeing her bathe outside on her roof. Her 1st husband was Uriah, the Hittite who David engineered his death in battle so he could marry her. Their 1st son died, and their 2nd was Solomon. Bathsheba ensured his taking the throne by her intervention.
Nine other sons were born of other wives:
- Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet, and one further unnamed son, who would also have died in infancy. The reader may find consolation in the fact that David himself often could not seem to keep track of all of his children.
Internally, David made energetic preparations for building a central temple and organized the national administration. In his old age, his son, Abalom, rebelled against him and was killed in the revolt; the succession was eventually secured by his son, Solomon, who had Bathsheba's help.
The Tanakh (Old Testament) depicts David's virtues and vices. He is made out to be very human. On occasion, he was ruled by his passions, like his conduct with beautiful Bathsheba, who he couldn't resist. Nevertheless, in the course of time, he became a religious symbol and the Jewish messianic hope was attached to his descendants. Jewish tradition has magnified him to the point of saying, "KING DAVID still lives!" This has attributed to him the composition of the whole Book of Psalms, many of which were certainly ascribed to him from a very early date.
David was so busy fighting that he didn't have much time to spend on his wives. He brought the land to peace and quiet and Solomon would benefit, and then have 1,000 wives!!
Christianity and Islam have derived from Judaism their admiration for David.
Resource:
The new Standard Jewish encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of_David
My biblical searches for David's wives in Tanakh, Stone Edition.
https://obscurecharacters.wordpress.com/2018/07/25/michal-adulterous-wife-of-king-david/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1SAM+25&version=NIV on Abigail
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/merab-bible
http://www.jesuswalk.com/david/07_david_jerusalem.htm
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