How many brothers did King David have, according to the Bible? Answer: Six or seven Both numbers accord with the biblical account. In 1 Samuel 16, when God sends the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem in search of Saul’s successor, David is clearly identified as Jesse’s eighth son, with seven older brothers of which only the first three are named: Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah. Meanwhile, the later genealogy in 1 Chronicles 2:13–15, likely written down in the fourth century BCE, names David as Jesse’s seventh son, with just six older brothers: Eliab, Abinadab, Shimea (a deviation from the Samuel text), Nethanel, […]
