Troublesome Topic: Before Solomon Was Born

Here are few details about David’s life that are relevant to the life of Solomon even though they happened before Solomon was born.

David did not become king over all the Israelite tribes all at once. First he was made king over Judah and he reigned from Hebron. When he moved to Hebron he only had two wives with him, Ahinoam, and Abigail (Saul’s daughter Michal had been given to another man). David reigned over the tribe of Judah for 7 years and 6 months (II Sam 2:11). By the end of those seven and a half years, David had a total of 6 wives who bore him (at least) one son each during that time. Amnon was David’s oldest son, Kileab was second (but we don’t hear anything more about him ever again, so we presume he died very young), Absalom was third, and Adonijah was fourth. II Samuel 3:2-5 lists all six of them by name and the name of the mother of each one, since each of the boys listed was the oldest son of a different wife. This list excludes Saul’s daughter Michal because she had been given as a wife to another man, but David got her back after he became king over all the tribes of Israel.

Of interest in our study of the life of Solomon, David’s third wife was named Maacah; she was a foreign princess, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. Geshur was part of Aram, north-east of Israel, or part of Syria, north of Israel. It appears that the reason David chose to marry her was political, to form an alliance to the north of his rival, Ishbosheth. Thus David would fight against Ishbosheth from the South, while Talmai would fight against him from the North.

Jewish tradition says that David ended up having a total of 18 wives. The Jewish leaders of his day concluded that David had set a new standard and that 18 wives should be the maximum any man should have, even a king. Well, we know how well Solomon respected that standard! Of David’s 18 wives, Bathsheba was one of last, if not the last wife to be added

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