Davidic line

House of David
בֵּית דָּוִד
CountryKingdom of Israel and Judah (c. 1010 BCE–930 BCE)
Kingdom of Judah (c. 930 BCE–587 BCE)
Place of originTribe of Judah
FounderDavid (traditional)
Final rulerZedekiah
Titles
Estate(s)Land of Israel

The Davidic line refers to the descendants of David, who established the House of David (Hebrew: בֵּית דָּוִד Bēt Dāwīḏ) in the Kingdom of Israel and Judah. In Judaism, it is based on texts from the Hebrew Bible, as well as on later Jewish traditions.

According to the biblical narrative, David of the Tribe of Judah engaged in a protracted conflict with Ish-bosheth of the Tribe of Benjamin after the latter succeeded his father Saul to become the second king of an amalgamated Israel and Judah. Amidst this struggle, God had sent his prophet Samuel to anoint David as the true king of the Israelites. Following Ish-bosheth's assassination at the hands of his own army captains, David officially acceded to the throne around 1010 BCE, replacing the House of Saul with his own and becoming the country's third king.[1][2] He was succeeded by his son Solomon, whose mother was Bathsheba. Solomon's death led to the rejection of the House of David by most of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, with only Judah and Benjamin remaining loyal: the dissenters chose Jeroboam as their monarch and formed the Kingdom of Israel in the north (Samaria); while the loyalists kept Solomon's son Rehoboam as their monarch and formed the Kingdom of Judah in the south (Judea). With the success of Jeroboam's Revolt having severed Israel's connection to the House of David, only the Judahite monarchs, except Athaliah, were part of the Davidic line.

In the aftermath of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem around 587 BCE, Solomon's Temple was destroyed and the Kingdom of Judah fell to the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Nearly 450 years later, the Hasmonean dynasty established the first independent Jewish kingdom since the Babylonian conquest, though it was not considered to be connected to the Davidic line nor to the Tribe of Judah.

In Jewish eschatology, the Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ) will be a Jewish king whose paternal bloodline traces to David. He is expected to rule over the Jewish people during the Messianic Age and in the world to come.[3][4][5]

  1. ^ Carr, David M. (2011). An Introduction to the Old Testament: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts of the Hebrew Bible. John Wiley & Sons. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-44435623-6. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  2. ^ Falk, Avner (1996). A Psychoanalytic History of the Jews. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-83863660-2. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  3. ^ Schochet, Rabbi Prof. Dr. Jacob Immanuel. "Moshiach ben Yossef". Tutorial. moshiach.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2002. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  4. ^ Blidstein, Prof. Dr. Gerald J. "Messiah in Rabbinic Thought". MESSIAH. Jewish Virtual Library and Encyclopaedia Judaica 2008 The Gale Group. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  5. ^ Telushkin, Joseph. "The Messiah". The Jewish Virtual Library Jewish Literacy. NY: William Morrow and Co., 1991. Reprinted by permission of the author. Retrieved 2 December 2012.