Jewish Family History – The Family Tree of King David
Many Jewish families claim descent from King David. The great French medieval sage Rashi reportedly traced his lineage to King David through a maternal ancestor.
The biblical genealogy of Ruth and Boaz, along with the broader genealogies found in Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38, connect this family to Jesus, a man born from the lineage of David. Tracing these lines of ancestry helps deepen our understanding of the reverence placed on family and heritage in ancient religious traditions.
Ruth
Ruth is a story of devotion. She is the Moabite who, despite the laws against her joining Israelite society, committed herself to her mother-in-law and joined her husband’s family. As a result, she became the great-grandmother of David.
The fact that this genealogy, which is found at the end of the Book of Ruth, is included in the broader genealogical table at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, elevates this story from the personal to the national. Genealogy is about establishing families and connections, and this specific genealogy shows that Ruth’s righteous persistence has a long-lasting impact.
This is especially true because the son born to Boaz and Ruth, Obed, becomes the father of Jesse — the father of David. This tells us that God’s plan for the world, which starts with the family of Ruth and continues with the Messiah, was foreordained even before the creation of the world. This is truly amazing! It also shows that God’s salvation is available to all people, regardless of their ethnicity.
Boaz
Boaz is a wealthy man from Bethlehem who married Ruth, the daughter of Salmon and Rahab. He is one of the key figures in the Bible book of Ruth, which is a story of redemption and family legacy. He is also mentioned in the genealogy of Christ, demonstrating how God’s plan of salvation was already in place long before Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan.
During this time, it was customary for the poor to glean from the fields of the wealthy. Boaz saw this and noticed Ruth. He asked her to stay near his fields, and he offered her food and protection. He also made sure to follow the levirate law, which stipulated that a relative should marry a widow in order to maintain the lineage of the dead husband.
Boaz fulfilled this duty by marrying Ruth and taking care of her. They had a son named Obed, who became the father of Jesse and David.
Jesse
Jesse is the father of David, who became king of Israel. He was a wealthy man who lived in Bethlehem, and he had several sons, including Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah. Jesse also had a daughter named Ruth. He followed spiritual leadership, and he respected the prophet Samuel. He allowed the prophet to test his sons for kingship.
When Samuel arrived, Jesse sent his seven oldest sons to meet him. However, God chose the youngest son, David, to become the king of Israel. This genealogy of king david is important because it includes a lineage that extends to the Messiah.
The name of Jesus Christ is in this lineage, and he came to be the banner for all people, Jew and Gentile alike. The New Testament begins with the phrase “this is the genealogy of the Messiah, the son of David.” We see how important this name was to the future of all nations.
David
In addition to a museum, the site also features a genealogy center that helps visitors find out if they are decendants of King David. While there is no contemporary proof that proves a direct lineage to King David, later kings of Israel called their dynasty the House of David. There are many Jewish families today that claim to be decendants of King David, although they can only do so based on detailed family traditions.
For example, one of the earliest claims to Davidic descent came from a man named Johanan Ha-Sandlar, who was a tannah in the Mishnah in the second century CE. He claimed to have a yichus brief (pedigree scroll) that dated back to David. This would mean that he was David’s great-niece. The biblical narrative presents David as a shepherd-king who leads an ideal life, but it also contains several accounts of his bloody rule. Nevertheless, he is widely honored as an ideal king and the forefather of the Messiah in Jewish prophetic literature.
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