Davidic line

House of David
Parent house Tribe of Judah
Country Israel
Judah
Founder David of Judah
Final ruler Zedekiah of Judah
Titles King of Israel
King of Judah
Religion Christianity
Judaism
Estate(s) Israel

The Davidic line[lower-alpha 1] refers to the tracing of lineage to King David through the texts in the Hebrew Bible, in the New Testament, and through the following centuries.

History

Judean monarchy

According to the Tanakh, upon being chosen and becoming king, one was customarily anointed with holy oil poured on one's head. In David's case, this was done by the prophet Samuel.

David and Goliath by Caravaggio
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

Initially, David was king over the Tribe of Judah only and ruled from Hebron, but after seven and a half years, the other Israelite tribes, who found themselves leaderless after the death of Ish-bosheth chose him to be their king as well[1]

All subsequent kings in both the ancient first united Kingdom of Israel and the later Kingdom of Judah claimed direct descent from King David to validate their claim to the throne in order to rule over the Israelite tribes.

After the death of David's son, King Solomon, the ten northern tribes of the Kingdom of Israel rejected the Davidic line, refusing to accept Solomon's son, Rehoboam, and instead chose as king Jeroboam and formed the northern Kingdom of Israel. This kingdom was conquered by Assyria in the 8th century BCE which exiled much of the Northern Kingdom population and ended its sovereign status. The bulk population of the Northern Kingdom of Israel was forced to relocate to Mesopotamia and mostly disappeared from history as The Ten Lost Tribes or intermixed with exiled Judean populations two centuries later, while the remaining Israelite peoples in Samaria highlands have become known as Samaritans during the classic era and to modern times.

The Exilarchate

Following the conquest of Judah by Babylon and the exile of its population, the Babylonian Exilarchate was established. The highest official of Babylonian Jewry was the exilarch (Reish Galuta, "Head of the Diaspora"). Those who held the position traced their ancestry to the House of David in the male line.[2] The position holder was regarded as a king-in-waiting, residing in Babylon and later in Achaeminid Persia during the classic era. Zerubbabel of the Davidic line is mentioned as one of the leaders of the Jewish community in the 5th century BCE, holding the title of Achaeminid Governor of Yehud Medinata.

During the Hasmonean and Herodian periods

The Hasmoneans, also known as the Maccabees, were a priestly group (kohanim) from the Tribe of Levi. They established their own monarchy in Judea following their revolt against the Hellenistic Seleucid dynasty. The Hasmoneans were not considered connected to the Davidic line nor to the Tribe of Judah. The Levites had always been excluded from the Israelite monarchy, so when the Maccabees assumed the throne in order to rededicate the defiled Second Temple, a cardinal rule was broken. According to scholars within Orthodox Judaism, this is considered to have contributed to their downfall and the eventual downfall of Judea; internal strife allowing for Roman occupation and the violent installation of Herod the Great as client king over the Roman province of Judea; and the subsequent destruction of the Second Temple by the future Emperor Titus.

During the Hasmonean period the Davidic line was largely excluded from the royal house in Judea, but some members have risen to prominence as religious and communal leaders. One of the most notable of those was Hillel the Elder, who moved to Judea from his birth place in Babylon. His great grandson Simeon ben Gamliel became one of the Jewish leaders during the Great Revolt.[3]

Middle Ages

The Exilarchate institution in Sasanian Persia was briefly abolished as a result of revolt by the Mar-Zutra II (the 30th Exilarch) in the late 5th century, with his son Mar-Zutra III being denied of the office and relocating to Tiberias - then within the Byzantine Empire. Mar Ahunai lived in the period succeeding Mar Zutra II, but for almost fifty years after the failed revolt he did not dare to appear in public, and it is not known whether even then (c. 550) he really acted as Exilarch. The names of Kafnai and his son Haninai, who were Exilarchs in the second half of the 6th century, have been preserved.

The Exilarchate in Mesopotamia was officially restored after the Arab conquest in the 7th century and continued to function during the early Caliphates. Haninai's posthumous son Bostanai was the first of the Exilarchs under Arabic rule. Exilarchs continued to be appointed until the 11th century, with some members of the Davidic line dispersing across the Islamic world. Natronai ben Habibai for instance was a rival Exilarch candidate of Judah Zakkai, but was defeated and sent to the West in banishment; this Natronai was a great scholar and according to tradition while in Spain complied the entire Talmud of his memory. There are conflicting accounts of the fate of the Exlarch family in the 11th century - according to one version Hezekiah, who was the last Exilarch and also the last Gaon, was imprisoned and tortured to death. Two of his sons fled to Islamic Spain, where they found refuge with Joseph, the son and successor of Samuel ha-Nagid. However, Jewish Quarterly Review mentions that Hezekiah was liberated from prison, and became head of the academy, and is mentioned as such by a contemporary in 1046.[4] An unsuccessful attempt of David ben Daniel of the Davidic line to establish an Exilarchate in Fatimid Egypt failed and ended with his downfall in 1094.

Descendants of the house of exilarchs were living in various places long after the office became extinct. A descendant of Hezekiah, Hiyya al-Daudi, Gaon of Andalucia, died in 1154 in Castile according to Abraham ibn Daud. Several families, as late as the 14th century, traced their descent back to Josiah, the brother of David ben Zakkai who had been banished to Chorasan (see the genealogies in [Lazarus 1890] pp. 180 et seq.). The descendants of the Karaite Exilarchs have been referred to above.

A number of Jewish families in the Iberian peninsula and within Mesopotamia continued to preserve the tradition of descent from Exilarchs in later Middle Ages, including the families of Abravanel, Benveniste, Hajj Yachya and Ben-David. One tradition also traces the ancestry of Judah Loew ben Bezalel to Babylonian Exilarchs (during the era of the geonim) and therefore also from the Davidic dynasty,[5] which is however disputed.

Jewish interpretations

In Jewish eschatology, the term mashiach, or "Messiah", came to refer to a future Jewish King from the Davidic line, who is expected to be anointed with holy anointing oil and rule the Jewish people during the Messianic Age.[6][7][8] The Messiah is often referred to as "King Messiah", or, in Hebrew, מלך משיח (melekh mashiach), and, in Aramaic, malka meshiḥa.[9]

Orthodox views have generally held that the Messiah will be descended from his father through the line of King David,[10] and will gather the Jews back into the Land of Israel, usher in an era of peace, build the Third Temple, father a male heir, re-institute the Sanhedrin, and so on. Jewish tradition alludes to two redeemers, both of whom are called mashiach and are involved in ushering in the Messianic age: Mashiach ben David; and Mashiach ben Yosef. In general, the term Messiah unqualified refers to Mashiach ben David (Messiah, son of David).[6][7]

Christian interpretations

In Christian interpretation the "Davidic covenant" of a Davidic line in 2 Samuel 7 is understood in various ways, traditionally referring to the genealogies of Christ in the New Testament. One Christian interpretation of the Davidic line counts the line continuing to Jesus of Nazareth via adoption of Joseph of Nazareth, according to the family tree of the kings of Judah in Gospel of Matthew chapter 1:1-16 (the later part of which is not recorded in the Hebrew Bible), and also in Gospel of Luke 3:23-38.

Also Saint Mary, the Virgin (Matthew 2:11 and 1:23, Luke 1:27 and then Lc 1:34-38,[11] Acts 1:14) Mother of Jesus Christ God, was in other case connected to the Davidic line (Psalm 132:11 and Gospel of Luke 1:32; and by Elizabeth, descendant of Aaron in Luke 1:5, and relative of Mary in Luke 1:36).

Another Christian interpretation emphasizes the minor, non-royal, line of David through Solomon's brother Nathan as recorded in Gospel of Luke chapter 3 (entirely undocumented in the Hebrew Bible), which is often understood to be the family tree of Mary's father. A widely spread traditional Christian interpretation relates the non-continuation of the main Davidic line from Solomon as related the godlessness of Jehoiachin in the early 500s BC, where Jeremiah cursed the main branch of the Solomonic line, saying that no descendant of "[Je]Coniah" would ever again reign on the throne of Israel (Jer. 22:30).[12] This same "curse" is also considered by some Christian commentators as the reason that Zerubbabel, the rightful Solomonic king during the time of Nehemiah, was not given a kingship under the Persian empire.[13]

David the Prince

In Mormon eschatology, Latter-Day Saints express in the belief of a Davidic prophet by the name of David who would come in the last days to prepare for the Second Coming of the Lord including the building of the Third Jewish Temple.[14]

House of David in Islam

The Quran mentioned the house of David once {Work, O family of David, in gratitude. And few of My servants are grateful.}[15] and mentioned David 16 times.

According to some Islamic sources, some of Jewish settlers in Arabia were from the Davidic line, Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi recorded: "A Jewish man from the Davidic line entered Medina and found the people in deep sorrow. He enquired the people, 'What is wrong?' Some of the people replied: Prophet Mohamed passed away".[16]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ also referred to as the House of David) (known in Hebrew as Malkhut Beit David (מלכות בית דוד‬) – "Kingdom of the House of David"

References

  1. ↑ Who's Who in the Jewish Bible, David Mandel, Jewish Publication Society, 1 Jan 2010, pg 85
  2. ↑ Max A Margolis and Alexander Marx, A History of the Jewish People (1927), p. 235.
  3. ↑ Wilhelm Bacher, Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, Simeon II. (Ben Gamaliel I.), Jewish Encyclopedia . N.b.: the Jewish Encyclopedia speaks of "his grandfather Hillel", but he sequence was Hillel the Elder-Simeon ben Hillel-Gamaliel the Elder-Simeon ben Gamliel, thus great-grandson is correct.
  4. ↑ Jewish Quarterly Review, hereafter "J. Q. R.", xv. 80.
  5. ↑ See The Maharal of Prague's Descent from King David, by Chaim Freedman, published in Avotaynu Vol 22 No 1, Spring 2006
  6. 1 2 Schochet, Jacob Immanuel. "Moshiach ben Yossef". Tutorial. Moshiach.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2002. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  7. 1 2 Blidstein, Prof. Dr. Gerald J. "Messiah in Rabbinic Thought". MESSIAH. Jewish Virtual Library and Encyclopaedia Judaica 2008 The Gale Group. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  8. ↑ Telushkin, Joseph (1991). "The Messiah". William Morrow and Co. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  9. ↑ Flusser, David. "Second Temple Period". Messiah. Encyclopaedia Judaica 2008 The Gale Group. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  10. ↑ See Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan: ""The Real Messiah A Jewish Response to Missionaries"" (PDF). Archived from the original on May 29, 2008. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  11. ↑ The Jewish expression I don't know any men, referred to the virginity of a woman, and translated with the Greek verb ginōskō, is also present with the same meaning in: Matthew 1:25; Genesis 4:1, 17; 19:8; 1 Samuel 1:19; Giudici 11:39; 21:12).
  12. ↑ H. Wayne House Israel: Land and the People 1998 114 "And yet, Judah has also been without a king of the Solomonic line since the Babylonian exile. Because of Jeremiah's curse on Jehoiachin (Coniah) in the early 500s BC (Jer. 22:30), the high priests of Israel, while serving as the ..."
  13. ↑ Warren W. Wiersbe -The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: The Complete Old Testament - 2007 p1497 "Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, Matt. 1:12; Coniah, Jer. 22:24, 28), and therefore of the royal line of David. But instead of wearing a crown and sitting on a throne, Zerubbabel was the humble governor of a ..."
  14. ↑ 'David, Prophetic Figure of Last Days'
  15. ↑ Quran 34:13
  16. ↑ Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi, Bihār al-Anwār, Dar Al-Rida Publication, Beirut, (1983), volume 30 page 99
Sources
  • The Holy Bible: 1611 Edition' (Thos. Nelson, 1993)
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