Concept
Christologyalso Davidic line · Bayt DavidHouse of David
The dynasty God swore would never lack a man on the throne: a promise the New Testament opens by tracing.
#kingship#archaeology
- 7passages
- 57original words
- 1approved connection
- 177cross-references
The words behind it
Hebrew and Greek standing in the 7 passages listed below, not a lexicon of "house of david" itself. The number on each word is how often it occurs in those passages; the connecting words the languages use everywhere are set aside so the words that carry meaning can be seen.
Hebrew43
33 more hebrew words ▾
The passages
Every passage this site attaches to the concept, in canon order. Each row says where it came from.
Old Testament5
- 1 Samuel 16:13approved connection
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah.
Commentary on 1 Samuel 16:132 voices
The Spirit ... came upon David - The exact phrase used of the Judges and Saul. See 1Sa 10:6, note; Jdg 3:10, note; Jdg 6:34, note; Jdg 11:29, note; Jdg 14:18, note; Jdg 15:14, note.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)Evangelical
Not that he was at present invested with the royal power, but it was entailed upon him, to come to him in due time. (2.) A divine communication of gifts and graces, to fit him for the government, and make him a type of him who was to be the Messiah, the anointed One, who received the Spirit, not by measure, but without measure.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710Puritan
- 2 Samuel 7:12listed key text
And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on 2 Samuel 7:122 voices
However, the tribe of Judah did not fail until he came for whom it was reserved, who did not himself sit upon a material throne, for the kingdom of Judea had now been transferred to Herod, the son of Antipater, the Ascalonite, and to his sons, who divided Judea into four provinces when Pilate was governor and Tiberius held the power over the whole Roman province. But his indestructible kingdom he calls the throne of David on which the Lord sat. He himself is "the expectation of nations," not of the least part of the world.
Basil of Caesarea· LETTER 236, 379Patristic
But by a special ordinance and promise of God, his successor was to be a son born after this time; and the departure from the established usage of the East in fixing the succession, can be accounted for on no other known ground, except the fulfilment of the divine promise.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
- 2 Samuel 7:16listed key text
Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on 2 Samuel 7:161 voice
David's house and kingdom have long since come to an end; it is only the Messiah's kingdom that is everlasting, and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. The supposition of committing iniquity cannot indeed be applied to the Messiah himself, but it is applicable (and very comfortable) to his spiritual seed.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710Puritan
- Isaiah 9:7listed key text
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on Isaiah 9:72 voices
The throne - Which was promised to David, and to his seed forever. For ever - From the beginning of it to all eternity. The zeal - This great work shall be brought to pass by almighty God, out of that fervent affection which he hath to his own glory, to the honour of his son, and to his people.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765Evangelical
Ps 45:6, 7), attainable only in and by Messiah. zeal, &c.--including not only Christ's hidden spiritual victory over Satan at the first coming, but the open one accompanied with "judgments" on Antichrist and every enemy at the second coming (Isa 59:17; PROPHECY AS TO THE TEN TRIBES.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
- Jeremiah 23:5listed key text
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on Jeremiah 23:52 voices
(Vers. 5, 6.) Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch (or a righteous king); and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: The Lord is our righteousness. In Hebrew, it is called Sadecenu. This which is wrongly added in the Septuagint, in the Prophets, must be completely cut off.
Jerome· Commentary on Jeremiah, 420Patristic
Even with the temporal kingship abolished, David’s mercies are still sure. A righteous Branch - Or, sprout, germ (see Isa 4:2 note). The sprout is that in which the root springs up and grows, and which, if it be destroyed, makes the root perish also. And a king shall reign ... - Rather, and he shall reign as king. David’s family is to be dethroned (temporally), that it may reign gloriously (spiritually). But compare Jer 33:17, note; Jer 33:25, note.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)Evangelical
New Testament2
- Matthew 1:1listed key text
This is the record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on Matthew 1:12 voices
Its use, then, in the opening words of this Gospel (and in Mt 1:17, 18) is in the style of the late period when our Evangelist wrote, rather than of the events he was going to record. the son of David, the son of Abraham--As Abraham was the first from whose family it was predicted that Messiah should spring (Ge 22:18), so David was the last.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871Reformed
The book of the generation - This is the proper title of the chapter. It is the same as to say, “the account of the ancestry or family, or the genealogical table of Jesus Christ.” The phrase is common in Jewish writings. Compare Gen 5:1. “This is the book of the generations of Adam,” i. e., the genealogical table of the family or descendants of Adam. See also Gen 6:9. The Jews, moreover, as we do, kept such tables of their own families. and it is probable that this was copied from the record of the family of Joseph.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)Evangelical
- Luke 1:32listed key text
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,(opening verse of the passage)
Commentary on Luke 1:322 voices
Being his last sermon before his journey to the South of France. Strictly speaking, I suppose these words refer to the human Nature of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is as to His humanity that Christ was born of Mary. The context runs thus—"Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call His name JESUS. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David.
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1760: “"He Shall Be Great"” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition), 1883
It was said also of John, that he shall be great, but of him indeed as of a great man, of Christ, as of the great God. For abundantly is poured forth the power of God; widely the greatness of the heavenly substance extended, neither confined by place, nor grasped by thought; neither determined by calculation, nor altered by age.
Ambrose of Milan· Catena Aurea by Aquinas, 397Patristic
Approved connections
1 link an editor approved, each with the reason it was kept.
- archaeology corroboration1 Samuel 16:13
Tel Dan Stele 'bytdwd' (House of David) - first extrabiblical reference to the Davidic dynasty the tree's root names; attests the dynasty, not David's biography.
Biran & Naveh, IEJ 43 (1993), 45 (1995) (cite-only)
Voices on these passages
Commentary matched to the verses above, each named with its source: the full pool sits on each verse page.
The Spirit ... came upon David - The exact phrase used of the Judges and Saul. See 1Sa 10:6, note; Jdg 3:10, note; Jdg 6:34, note; Jdg 11:29, note; Jdg 14:18, note; Jdg 15:14, note.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)Evangelical
1 Samuel 16:13
However, the tribe of Judah did not fail until he came for whom it was reserved, who did not himself sit upon a material throne, for the kingdom of Judea had now been transferred to Herod, the son of Antipater, the Ascalonite, and to his sons, who divided Judea into four provinces when Pilate was governor and Tiberius held the power over the whole Roman province. But his indestructible kingdom he calls the throne of David on which the Lord sat. He himself is "the expectation of nations," not of the least part of the world.
Basil of Caesarea· LETTER 236Patristic
2 Samuel 7:12
David's house and kingdom have long since come to an end; it is only the Messiah's kingdom that is everlasting, and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. The supposition of committing iniquity cannot indeed be applied to the Messiah himself, but it is applicable (and very comfortable) to his spiritual seed.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole BiblePuritan
2 Samuel 7:16
Study it deeper
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Trace one word to every place it stands
A word page lists every verse that word occurs in, with its definition and its range of meaning. Start with the roots that occur most under the passages above.
Walk out from the passages
The passages above carry 177 cross-references between them, links from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, the great 1830s reference work, together with the reader-voted index at OpenBible.info. The most-linked destinations:
Read it in both testaments
Set the earliest passage beside the New Testament one and ask what changed and what did not, the shape of house of david before Christ and after him.
Read the whole chapter around it
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Where this comes from
2 Samuel 7 is an unconditional grant: a house, a kingdom, a throne, forever. The prophets keep it alive through exile, when no son of David is reigning at all (Isaiah 9:7; Jeremiah 23:5).
Matthew's first sentence answers it: "Jesus Christ, the son of David"; and the Tel Dan Stele, a ninth-century BC Aramean victory inscription, names the ruling line "the house of David" in stone. The inscription names the dynasty, not the king.