1. T F The life of King David is well documented in ancient sources from several countries.
2. T F David’s great grandmother was a foreigner from Moab.
3. T F King David was the second ruler of Israel.

4. T F King David ruled over Judah during the civil war of the divided kingdom in Israel.
5. T F David became king over all of Israel after the civil war of the divided kingdom ended.
6. T F David was an old man when he finally became King over Israel.
7. T F David bravely fought Goliath even though he was afraid.
8. T F David gathered three stones for his fight with Goliath.
9. T F David was a ruddy, handsome fellow with beautiful eyes.
10. T F David had over a hundred wives.
11. T F King Saul became jealous or suspicious of David because of a song the women sang.
12. T F David never fought against the Philistines.
13. T F David was a musician.
14. T F Samuel, the priest, anointed David king.
15. T F All of David’s brothers were present when the priest anointed him king.
16. T F David was the youngest son of the family.
17. T F David was the family’s goat herder.
18. T F King Saul and David were best friends.
19. T F King Saul’s daughter, Michal, wanted to marry David.
20. T F David was king for many years.

1. FALSE The life of King David is well documented in ancient sources from several countries.

The only records we have of the life of King David come from the Bible. Primarily in the books of Samuel, Chronicles, Kings,^[1] and the superscriptions of some psalms.

2. TRUE David’s great grandmother was a foreigner from Moab.

His great grandmother was Ruth the Moabite from the book of Ruth. (Ruth 4:13–22, Matthew 1:4–6)

3. TRUE King David was the second ruler of Israel.

King Saul was the first king of Israel and David became the king of Israel after the death of Saul in battle and the end of ancient Isael’s civil war of the divided kingdoms. There were judges during the time before Israel had kings. The judges were temporary leaders that lead people in a more local area to right a wrong.

4. TRUE King David ruled over Judah during the war of the divided kingdom in Israel.

David was anointed king by the house of Judah after Saul’s death. The commander of Saul’s army made Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, king over Israel (the northern kingdom). A civil war between the divided kingdom ensued. David was king over Judah, the southern kingdom, for seven and a half years before becoming king of all of Israel. (2 Samuel 5:4–5)

5. TRUE David became king over all of Israel after the civil war of the divided kingdom ended.

All of the tribes of Israel came to Hebron where David was and made him king over the combined kingdoms of Israel . (2 Samuel 5:1–5)

6. FALSE David was an old man when he finally became King over Israel.

It may sound old to some people, but he was only Thirty years old when he became king of Israel. He lived to the age of seventy. (2 Samuel 5:4)

7. FALSE David bravely fought Goliath even though he was afraid.

David fought and defeated Goliath. He was confident God would give him victory over the giant man. The Bible makes no mention of fear in David while fighting Goliath.

8. FALSE David gathered three stones for his fight with Goliath.

He gathered five smooth stones from a brook before he approached the giant for battle. (1 Samuel 17:40)

9. TRUE David was a ruddy, handsome fellow with beautiful eyes.

(1 Samuel 16:12, 1 Samuel 17:42).  Ruddy means reddish as in reddish hair or reddish skin like Esau was at birth. The Bible says he was Ruddy, handsome, and had beautiful eyes.

10. False David had over a hundred wives.

He had eight or more wives.

1. Abigail the Carmelitess (1 Samuel 25:39–42),
2. Ahinoam the Jezreelitess (1 Chronicles 3:1),
3. Maacah the princess from Geshur (2 Samuel 3:3),
4. Haggith (1 Chronicles 3:2),
5. Abital (2 Samuel 3:4),
6. Eglah (1 Chronicles 3:3),
7. Bath-shua (1 Chronicles 12:24),
8. Bathsheba (1 Chronicles 3:5),
9. Abishag the Shunammite (1 Kings 1:3-4, 2:17-22),
10. more concubines and wives from Jerusalem. (2 Samuel 5:13).

These first eight listed here are not all specifically called wives, but they are the mothers of his children.  Abishag the Shunammite could be considered a wife because if a person were to marry her, they could ascend the throne and become king even though David was not intimate with Abishag. (1 Kings 1:3-4, 2:17-22). I assume the plural “more wives” brings the count to ten or more; however, this may also include some of the wives listed above. Eight wives are a lot by today’s standards, but he did not have 700 hundred wives like King Solomon did. It looks like David most likely had less than a hundred wives.

11. TRUE King Saul became jealous or suspicious of David because of a song the women sang.

The women were singing, “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.” (1 Samuel 18:7-9) This caused King Saul to become jealous of David. Saul felt David was a threat to his rule and sought to kill David multiple times. (1 Samuel 19:1, 1 Samuel 23:8, 1 Samuel 23:19–22, 1 Samuel 24:2, 1 Samuel 26:1–2).

12. FALSE David never fought against the Philistines.

Goliath and his army were Philistines. Later, David and his men fought Philistines who were raiding the threshing floors of the Israelites. (1 Samuel 23:1–5)

13. TRUE David was a musician.

David played the harp for King Saul to soothe him. (1 Samuel 16:23, 18:10, 19:9). David also composed Songs (Amos 6:5) and wrote psalms, many of his psalms were sung as songs.

14. TRUE Samuel, the priest, anointed David king.

Samuel anointed David king after God rejected Saul as king because Saul did not wait for the priest to arrive before the sacrifice. (1 Samuel 16:11-13)

15. TRUE All of David’s brothers were present when the priest anointed him king.

All the other sons of Jesse had already stood before Samuel. Then Samuel asked if there were any others, so they brought David before him. It was a big event when Samuel the priest came to their house. So, they were all there. (1 Samuel 16:11–13)

16. TRUE David was the youngest son of the family.

There was a total of eight sons in the family and David was indeed the youngest one. (1 Samuel 16:11, 1 Samuel 17:12)

17. FALSE David was the family’s goat herder.

David was the family’s shepherd taking care of the sheep, not goats. (1 Samuel 16:11, 1 Samuel 17:28)

18. FALSE King Saul and David were best friends.

Saul may have become David’s father-in-law, but they were not on friendly terms. King Saul tried to kill David on several occasions. (1 Samuel 19:9-11, 1 Samuel 23:15, 1 Samuel 24:1–2, 1 Samuel 26:1–2).

19. TRUE King Saul’s daughter, Michal, wanted to marry David.

Michal loved David. (1 Samuel 18:20–22)

20. TRUE David was king for many years.

David reigned over Judah for seven and a half years and then over all of Israel, which included Judah, for 40 years. So, David was a king for 47.5 years. (2 Samuel 2:11, 2 Samuel 5:4–5)

Bibliography and Notes

^[1] David. (2015). In Compton’s Encyclopedia. Compton’s Encyclopedia.