The following article was written by a purported royal genealogist who apparently was not aware that Judaic laws are not like royal European laws. When the male line goes without issue, it is of no real consequence for it is through the female lines where the royal lineage continues; not through the male lines. Therefore, not all Davidic lines went extinct as this genealogist writes. Notwithstanding, the article has some very good information.
THE TEN WIVES AND TWENTY-THREE CHILDREN OF KING DAVID
King David, the noble and illustrious King of Israel, was selected by the God of Israel to be that fiery military and enlightened ruler that created the Golden Years of the United Monarchy of Israel. He was a man of fiery passion, who loved his God, and though he did evil, he was always remorseful and of a contrite heart. He was a man of God. We also note that he was the husband of ten wives. Of these ten wives, King David had twenty-two sons, and at least, but only one daughter that is known to us today. Here is a brief summary of these ten wives:
1. Michal was the daughter of King Saul, David’s predecessor, and the first King of Israel. This lineage became extinct.
2. Ahinoam was called the “Jezreelite”. This lineage became extinct.
3. Abigail was the widow of Nabal from Mount Carmel. This lineage became extinct.
4. Maachah was the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur. This lineage through Crown Prince Absalom, with his death, became extinct.
5. Haggith’s history is unknown. This lineage with the death of Prince Absalom, Prince Adonijah became the heir expectant, yet this lineage became extinct.
6. Abital’s history is unknown. This non-royal lineage is the obscure non-royal Lineage of the Nasi (President) of the Great Sanhedrin, who was the Prince of Israel Hillel the Great when Jesus was born in 7 BCE.
7. Eglah’s history is unknown. This lineage became extinct.
8. Name unknown in history. This lineage became extinct.
9. Name unknown in history. This lineage became extinct.
10. Bathsheba, the daughter of Ammiel (Eliam) the Gilonite by the daughter of Ahithophel the Gilonite, who was married to and widowed by the death of Uriah the Hittite in the battles of King David. King David and Queen Mother Bathsheba had five known sons and one daughter:
Prince Nathan, the oldest son who became the Ancestor of the non-Royal Lineages of David.
King Solomon, the youngest son who became the Ancestor of the Royal Lineages of David.
The Lineages of the descendants of the Royal House of Solomon became divided into two main lineages after the Babylonian and Persian exile, through the Governor of Judea, Zerubabbel. The “Chosen” Jewish lineages, through the marriage of Prince of David Zerubabbel with his 3rd Jewish wife, Esthra, became the Senior Lines of Davidic descendants as dictated the Torah ruling of Ezra the Scribe. These lineages split later into two lineages by the Davidic twin descendants called; Prince Tobit, the founder of the Tobaite Line, and Prince Onaid, the founder of the Onaidite Line. Before we begin, let us search deeper and discover, who were the twenty-three known children of King David by his ten wives:
1. Michal, the daughter of King Saul (1 Samuel 14:29), was barren and left no royal heirs for King David. The Saul-Davidian dynastic lineage became extinct.
2. Ahinoam the Jezreelite (2 Samuel 25:43) had one son, (1) Prince Amnon, (II Samuel 3:2) who in the lust of his youth, raped his half-sister, (4) Princess Tamar, the full sister of Crown Prince Absalom (2 Samuel 3:3) who in revenge murdered his half-brother. This Davidian lineage became extinct.
3. Abigail (2 Samuel 25:3), the widow of Nabal from Mount Carmel had one son, (2) Prince Chileab (aka Daniel) who died apparently in his youth without having any children. This Davidian lineage became extinct.
4. Maachah (2 Samuel 3:3), the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur had two children with King David; (3) Crown Prince Absalom and his sister, (4) Princess Tamar I. Prince Absalom did become King Absalom in a palace coup against his father, King David. He had three sons by a wife, whose name was not recorded in history. All three sons died in infancy. Prince Absalom also had one daughter, Princess Tamar II, who was apparently named after her aunt, Princess Tamar, the sister of Absalom and daughter of King David. This Davidian lineage became extinct.
Princess Tamar II, the daughter of Prince Absalom who became the wife of Uriel, the Sheikh of Gibeah, and had one daughter, who became the 2nd wife of her cousin, King Rehoboam, the first King of the Kingdom of Israel. With Tamar’s marriage to Uriel, the Sheikh of Gibeah, who was not of the tribe of Judah, nor of the House of David, she gave up the rights as the dynastic heiress of her father, Crown Prince Absalom, and as such, this Davidian lineage became extinct.
5. Haggith, whose ancestry was unknown had one son by King David, called (5) Prince Adonijah. With the death of Crown Prince Absalom, Prince Adonijah became the heir-expectant to the throne of David. This Davidian lineage is presumed to have become extinct.
6. Abital, whose ancestry was unknown had one son, (6) Prince Shephatiah (Chefatia) who became the royal ancestor of a major secondary line of Davidian descendants to Hillel the Great. We assume that she was an Israelite, but may not have been Jewish. The Jewish temple leadership from the House of Hanan, the high priests, Ananias and his son-in-law, Caiphas, and the Pharisees of Beit Shammai, who were the disciples of Shammai during the years of the ministry of Jesus the Nazarene, favored this lineage, over the lineage of Jesus, for Hillel, who returned from Babylon, was accommodating to the Gentiles and whose family was not involved in the Zealot, and Zionists movements, or what was called the Fourth Philosophy.
7. Eglah, whose ancestry was also unknown had one son, (7) Prince Ithream (Yitream) whom we have no known record of progeny or descendants. By all records, this Davidian lineage became extinct.
8. The eighth wife of King David, whose name is not known, had six sons; (8) Prince Ibhar, (9) Prince Elishua (Elishama), (10) Prince Elpalet (Eliphelet), (11) Prince Eliadah (Beeliada), (12) Prince Abishai, and (13) Prince Nogah.
This wife apparently was a secondary wife, whose children did not place in prominence in the Davidian household, neither are any of their progeny known to this day. By all records, this Davidian lineage became extinct.
9. The ninth wife of King David, whose name is not known, had five sons; (14) Prince Japhia; (15) Prince Nepheg; (16) Prince Jerimoth, who had a daughter called Princess Mahalath, who became the 1st wife of her cousin, King Rehoboam, the 1st King of the Kingdom of Israel. The children of this marriage were (17) Prince Asahel; and (18) Prince Joab. With no record of any descendants, this Davidian lineage became extinct.
10. Bathsheba, was the tenth wife of King David. She was the daughter of Ammiel (Eliam) the Gilonite in his marriage to the daughter of Ahithophel the Gilonite. She was married to and widowed by the death of Uriah the Hittite in the battles of King David. Bathsheba was the passion of King David that caused him the rebuke of the Lord through the Prophet Naman. Through Bathsheba, King David had five sons;
(19) A young son who died in infancy.
(20) Prince Nathan, the ancestral heir of the secondary Davidian descendant-lineage through Prince Neriah, that merged with the Solomonic Lineage in the intra-Davidian dynastic marriage with Princess Tamar, the daughter of Crown Prince Johanan (Yohannan), who apparently died with his father, King Josiah, in battle.
(21) Prince Shammuah (Shimea); with no record of any descendants, this Davidian lineage became extinct.
(22) Prince Shobab; with no record of any descendants, this Davidian lineage became extinct.
(23) Prince Jedidiah (aka King Solomon), was the youngest son of the 10th and last wife, Queen Bathsheba. Prince Jedidiah became the 3rd King of Israel and upon his accession changed his name to King Solomon.
THE FAILURE OF KING SOLOMON AND THE KINGS OF JUDAH TO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS AND JUDGMENTS OF GOD
Since the God of Israel made a covenant with King David, which he kept, and renewed that covenant with King Solomon, did he and his sons, descendants, keep their part of the covenant, as God warned, to “keep My commandments and My statues which I have set before you? No!
Here we read about the response of the Lord of hosts when Solomon turned his life away from the life living the life of Torah.
I Kings 11:9 – “So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, and he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Because you have done this, and have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded you, “I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.”
The evidence is now history. In centuries following the life of King Solomon, there were twenty kings, all descendants of this king known for his wisdom, only seven were righteous and thirteen were noted to be wicked, evil, and did not follow the ways of the Lord.Davidic Genealogies, that the posthumous daughter of Queen Cleopatra VII and Julius Caesar was given by the undisputed ruler of Rome, Octavian, to an “foreign prince” and arrived in Jewish society as Cleopatra of Jerusalem, now the wife of the Patriarch of Judah, Jacob ben Mattat. Prince Joseph, now the oldest son, also of Cleopatra of Jerusalem and Patriarch Jacob ben Mattat, became the guardian and foster father of their grandson, who became the Jewish rabbi and messiah, known in Christian history as Jesus of Nazareth and in Jewish history as Yehoshua HaNotzri (Jesus the Nazarene).
THE SOLOMONIC LINEAGE FROM KING DAVID TO ZERUBABBEL, AS DOCUMENTED IN THE MATTHEW GENEALOGY OF JESUS (YEHOSHUA)
The Biblical lineage of the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 1:2-12) is a virtual history of the Kings of Judah since the days of the United Monarchy of Israel under King David and his son, King Solomon. To give us a sweep of the history of the Davidian Dynasty, let us look at this family dynastic history, through the genealogical lens of the ancestors of Yahshua ben Yosef ben David (Jesus son of Joseph son of David) as recorded in the genealogy of Prince Joseph the son of Jacob. Prince Jacob ben Mattat was the Patriarch of Israel, who as the Governor of the Jews under King Herod, took a contingency of Jewish troops to assist Octavian, the future Augustus Caesar in his fight for Roman primacy over Mark Antony and Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt. When Octavian won the war by the defacto twin suicide of Mark Antony and Queen Cleopatra VII, the son of Cleopatra VII and Julius Caesar, Caesarion, was killed, and it is now believed, according to the research in the
King David 1, King of Israel, who by his 10th and favorite wife, Queen Bathsheba, the daughter of Ammiel (Eliam) the Gilonite, and the former wife of Uriah the Hittite, begot;
King Solomon 2 (born as Prince Jedidiah) was the youngest of five sons, yet he was chosen as the ancestor of the chief royal lineage, who by his last and 5th Jordanian wife, became the father of;
King Rehoboam 3, who by his 2nd wife, Michaiah (Maachah), the granddaughter of Absalom, the crown prince of Solomon, the father of Princess Tamar II, Absalom’s daughter that was married to Uriel of Gibeah, became the father of;
King Abijah 4, who by his wife, Ana, the daughter of Ahimaaz the Naphalite, King Solomon’s official purveyor and Basemath, the daughter of King Solomon and his Egyptian wife, Nicaule (Tashere), by the Pharaoh Psusennes II (Psusennes III) of Egypt, became the father of;
King Asa 5, who by his non-Jewish wife, Azuba, the daughter of Shilhi and granddaughter or great-granddaughter of King Jeroboam of Israel, by his non-Jewish wife, Egyptian wife, Karamat, the daughter of Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt, became the father of
King Jehoshaphat 6, who by an unnamed wife, suspected of being of Syrian birth, became the father of;
King Joram (Jehoram, Yehoram) 7, who by his non-Jewish Hebrew-Phoenician Princess, Athalia, the daughter of King Ahab of Israel and Jezebel of Tyre, a Phoenician Princess, became the father of;
King Uzziah 8, who by his wife, Jerusha, the Zadokian Levitical daughter of the High Priest Zadok II, became the father of;
King Jotham 9, who by his wife, Ahia, the Hebrew Princess, the daughter of the Benjamite Sheikh Azrikam of the Royal House of King Saul, became the father of;
King Ahaz 10, who by his wife, Abijah, the daughter and dynastic heiress of King Zechariah of Israel of the House of Jehu, became the father of his youngest son;
King Hezekiah 11, who by his wife, Hephzibah, became the father of a daughter, (1) Bilhah who married a foreign prince, (3) Amariah, who became the father of
Gedaliah, who became the father of Ahikam, who became the father of Governor Gedaliah, who was set up to rule by King Nebuchadnezzar after the exile of King Zedekiah and the death of all his sons, the Princes of Israel. King Hezekiah became the father of the Crown Prince;
King Manasseh 12, who by his 2nd wife, Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah, became the father of;
King Amon 13, who by his wife, Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath, became the father of;
King Josiah 14, who by his wife, became the father of Princess Tamar IIIrd, who as the royal dynastic heiress, transferred the title of inheritance to her first husband, Prince Neriah, of the non-royal House of Nathan, the son of King David
King Jeconiah 15, the 1st Exilarch, the adopted father of;
Prince of Israel Shealtiel 16, the 2nd Exilarch.
THE REFORMATION OF GOOD KING JOSIAH AND THE PROPHET JEREMIAH
Good King Josiah (2 Kings 22:1; 2 Chronicles 34:1) was one of the biblical success stories in the relationships of the Kings of Judah with the God of Israel. Reigning for 31 years between the years 640 to 609 BCE, he started his rule at the tender age of eight years of age in an age in which the Nation of Judah was in social unrest and turmoil. His father, King Amon, was notoriously wicked, and his rule came in stark contrast to his son, Josiah, who was recognized as a noble and godly man, but most noted for his religious temple reforms.
When Josiah came of age to rule at the age of eight, he discharged all those of the regency that had ruled during his youth, and took charge of his own administration. Somewhere between his twelfth and his eighteenth year of rule, depending on the historical scholars, King Josiah began his spiritual and religious reformation.
Around the year of 628 BCE, the Prophet Jeremiah, a kohen and a member of the priestly family began his prophetic career as a young priest. It is of interest that Jeremiah strode into the Judean geo-political stage during the same years that the young Prince, now King Josiah began his religious reformation? Here a young King, somewhere between the years of twelve and eighteen, plotted out the political and spiritual future of his nation with his slightly older priestly relative, the future Jeremiah the Prophet.