And David took more wives in Jerusalem and became the father of more sons and daughters.
Parallel translations
- WEB David took more wives at Jerusalem, and David became the father of more sons and daughters.
- KJV And David took more wives at Jerusalem: and David begat more sons and daughters.
- NKJV Then David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David begot more sons and daughters.
- NASB Then David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David fathered more sons and daughters.
- NLT Then David married more wives in Jerusalem, and they had more sons and daughters.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David took more wives in Jerusalem and had more children. The Chronicler notes this as part of David's expanding household, though polygamy fell short of God's ideal.
Overview
David's taking of additional wives reflects ancient royal custom and signaled dynastic strength, yet it departed from God's design of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24; Deuteronomy 17:17 warned kings against multiplying wives). The Chronicler reports it plainly without commending it. Scripture records the patriarchs' and kings' polygamy honestly while consistently showing the trouble it brought, upholding monogamy as the creational norm.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 2 Sam 5:13After he had arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.
- Eccl 9:9Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.
- 1 Kgs 11:3He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away.
- Matt 19:4–5Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’
- Eccl 7:26–29And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.
- Prov 5:18–19May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
- Deut 17:17He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
- Matt 19:8Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hardness of heart; but it was not this way from the beginning.
- 1 Chr 3:1–4These were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon by Ahinoam of Jezreel; the second was Daniel by Abigail of Carmel;
- Mal 2:14Yet you ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
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Christ at the center
The genealogies and the everlasting covenant with David trace the single thread of promise running through the generations straight to the Christ in whom the line reaches its goal.
How 1 Chronicles 14:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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