David was born in Bethlehem in B.C. 1085 (ATS Bible Dictionary, Smith’s Bible Dictionary). He was the youngest son, possibly the youngest child, of Jesse and an unnamed mother. He was the youngest of the eight brothers. Jesse was the chieftain of the clan of Judah (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia).
Samuel was sent to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king, which one he did not know (1st Samuel 16: 1). God indicated that David should be anointed (1st Samuel 16: 12). It is estimated that David was 20 at the time (Matthew Henry Commentary). However, he was not told the purpose of his anointing (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia; Old Testament History, volume 4, Chapter 10).
There were some differences between the anointing of Saul and the anointing of David. Saul was anointed secretly (1 Samuel 10: 1; International Standard Bible Encyclopedia; Old Testament History, volume 4, Chapter 10) “with a glass vial of oil, scanty and brittle” (Matthew Henry Commentary). First Samuel 10: 1 records specific words Samuel spoke at that time. David, on the other hand, was anointed in the presence of his whole family (1st Samuel 16: 13; International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) “with a horn of oil, which was more plentiful and durable” (Matthew Henry Commentary). First Samuel 16 does not indicate any words spoken.
David continued to tend the sheep until he was brought to Saul’s court to sooth him through music (Smith’s Bible Dictionary). This occurred soon after he was anointed (Easton’s Bible Dictionary) because he was still 20 at the time (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia). While Saul grew to love David (Easton’s Bible Dictionary; Holman Bible Dictionary), David came and went from Saul’s court (Smith Bible Dictionary). Some years after that, Dabid fought Goliath (Smith’s Bible Dictionary).
As was the custom of the day, David had several wives. He had “at least 8 wives and several concubines” (Answers). While Saul first said he would give his daughter Merab to David for a wife, he did not. Instead, he gave David his daughter Michal after she fell in love with David (1 Samuel 18: 17-27; Holman Bible Dictionary).
David was 30 years old when Saul died (Matthew Henry Commentary). He was crowned king of Judah (2 Samuel 2:1-4) at Hebron (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia; Smith’s Bible Dictionary). Saul’s son Ish-bosheth was crowned king of Israel (2 Samuel 2: 8) by Abner (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia), who was Saul’s uncle (Old Testament History by Alfred Edersheim, volume 4, Chapter 11). Ish-bosheth reigned two years (Matthew Henry Commentary). Matthew Henry stated: “David reigned about seven years over Judah only (v. 11), and yet (v. 10) Ish-bosheth reigned over Israel but two years: before those two years, or after, or both, it was in general for the house of Saul (ch. 3:6), and not any particular person of that house, that Abner declared. Or these two years he reigned before the war broke out (v. 12), which continued long, even the remaining five years, ch. 3:1.” These seven years were contentious (ATS Bible Dictionary). Upon Ish-bosheth’s death, David was elected king (2 Samuel 5:1, Holman Bible Dictionary; International Standard Bible Encyclopedia).
In all, David reigned 7 years in Hebron and 33 years in Jerusalem (1 Kings 2:11; 1 Chronicles 3:4). He reigned from 1009 BC to 969 BC (Got Questions). Solomon may have ascended to the throne two years before David died (Got Questions). “He died, according to Josephus, at the age of 70” (Smith’s Bible Dictionary) in the year B.C. 1015 (Easton’s Bible Dictionary).
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