Then David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David begot 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.
- BSB And David took more wives in Jerusalem and became the father of 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 5:13David took more concubines and wives for himself out of Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to David.
- Eccl 9:9Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity: for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun.
- 1 Kgs 11:3He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
- Matt 19:4–5He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,
- Eccl 7:26–29I find more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and traps, whose hands are chains. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her; but the sinner will be ensnared by her.
- Prov 5:18–19Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
- Deut 17:17He shall not multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away. He shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
- Matt 19:8He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.
- 1 Chr 3:1–4Now these were the sons of David, who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, of Abigail the Carmelitess;
- Mal 2:14Yet you say, ‘Why?’ Because Yahweh has been witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.