Was David Judean or..?

I Chronicles.28:4

Amichai Lau-Lavie (he/him)

Jul 07, 2025

Patriots are those who defend and celebrate their nation often at all costs. Sometimes those not born into their chosen nation compensate for foreign origins by taking on extra zealous patriotic tropes.

There is a speculation that this is what may be behind King David’s rise to power.

What if David’s origins are not at all what this book wants us to believe? Was he born in Judah’s south - or Ephraim’s north?

For those of us on this journey for a while, reading through hundreds of chapters with clear tribal agendas that describe the enmity between south and north - there’s a jaw dropping surprise hiding in plain sight here.

The first book of Chronicles concludes with elaborate scenes meant to evoke eternal awe at the invincible founder king David and the proud Judean lineage he established. The curtain rises in this one before the last chapter on a dramatic scene: An aging King David summons all of Israel's leaders to Jerusalem. Princes, priests, warriors, and his own sons gather.

The crowd hushes. And then the old man rises to the occasion to deliver his final speech. It’s got no new news - and is mostly on why he was not the one to build the temple because of all the blood his hands spilled on the battlefields.

But hidden in these words, likely all made up by the authors, is an incredibly surprising secret that Sarah Japhet, one of the preeminent biblical scholars researching Chronicles suggests -- could the origin of David actually be from the north and not from the south? Is this an elaborate cover-up to justify Judean rule?

Before naming Solomon as his chosen heir, David concludes the speech with these words:

וַיִּבְחַ֡ר יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵי֩ יִשְׂרָאֵ֨ל בִּ֜י מִכֹּ֣ל בֵּית־אָבִ֗י לִהְי֨וֹת לְמֶ֤לֶךְ עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לְעוֹלָ֔ם כִּ֤י בִֽיהוּדָה֙ בָּחַ֣ר לְנָגִ֔יד וּבְבֵ֥ית יְהוּדָ֖ה בֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑י וּבִבְנֵ֣י אָבִ֔י בִּ֣י רָצָ֔ה לְהַמְלִ֖יךְ עַל־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

The God of Israel chose me from all my father’s house to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah to be ruler, and of the family of Judah, my father’s house; and of my father’s sons, He preferred to make me king over all Israel;

I Chronicles.28:4

David here claims the Divine Right of Kings - a political notion that will become popular in many civilizations granting rulers absolute power mandated by the grace of God.

God, according to this claim, chose the people Israel of all people, the tribe of Judah of all tribes, the family of Davis from all Judean families, and David from all his brothers.

Under the pomp and piety of this tribal claim to power a more subtle and subversive story might hide.

Prof. Sarah Japhet, reading this, wonders: What if David wasn't actually from the tribe of Judah? What if this text protests too much about Judean origins when in fact - he started out as a northerner—from the tribe of Ephraim? When we are first introduced to David in the Book of Samuel his family is from the town of Bethlehem, also known as Ephrat - the region of Ephraim. Samuel I 17:12 clearly claims David was the son of the ‘Ephrati man, from Bethlehem of Judah.”

Japhet wonders:

"Whether the first interpretation of ‘Ephrathi’ means ‘son of Ephraim,’ or the second means ‘belonging to the ethnic group called Ephrath,’ the conclusion about David’s origin is the same: he comes from one of the families of the tribe of Ephraim that settled in the northern part of the Judean hills and over time merged with the local Judahite population… From a later historical perspective, one can thus define David as Ephraimite, Judahite, or both."

This dual identity matters. It reframes not only David’s personal story but the story of the whole kingdom. If David was seen by many of his contemporaries as an outsider — a northerner, a hybrid, maybe even an opportunist — it explains the initial lack of enthusiasm he got from the old-guard of Judah - we read this in Samuel, but there are no shreds of such suspicion in Chronicles.

It also casts new light on his rise: Why did Samuel the prophet from Ephraimite origins choose him? Why were northern tribes like Ephraim more loyal to him than his own Judahite neighbors, even during rebellions?

Japhet notes:

"David’s Ephraimite roots help explain several aspects of his story, reign, and kingdom... Ephraim’s loyalty to David — switching allegiance from Saul of Benjamin, supporting his united monarchy, and notably not revolting against him... makes sense if he belonged to Ephraim."

But that’s not how the Chronicler wants us to remember it.

Written centuries after David lived, in the early Second Temple period, this book has a singular mission: to sanctify the Davidic line, Jerusalem, and the Temple cult. That mission requires a Judahite David, chosen by YHWH, anchored in the promises of Genesis 49 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah”, Psalms 78 “He rejected the tent of Joseph… He chose the tribe of Judah”), and 1 Chronicles 5:2 “Judah was stronger than his brothers.”

Japhet suggests that

"To legitimize David’s rule and Nathan’s prophecy that the Davidic dynasty would endure forever, it was necessary to define David unequivocally as a descendant of Judah. Later compilers and chroniclers crafted a genealogy and ideological declaration anchoring David firmly within the tribe of Judah as a definitive religious-historical principle."

So what we’re left with in these final chapters is not just an aging king giving his final speech, but a piece of ideological theater. The Chronicler puts words in David’s mouth that say: I am the chosen one, from the chosen tribe, chosen to rule forever.

The messy truth? Probably a little more complicated than this sacred myth, well crafted into revised history.

David may well have been from Ephraim. Or maybe Judah. Or maybe both. Either way, he was a master of crossing boundaries—between tribes, identities, loyalties, and legacies. That’s the real legacy he leaves his son Solomon and the generation of Judean kings who would rule - and often fight with their brothers in the north.

Neither royal house or temple stood forever, but this story is strong enough to still be believed a solid fact today.

It’s quite remarkable.

One more chapter left in Chronicles, with yet another subtle crack in the shining armor, admitting fragile existence and impermanence even as the old king hands over the keys to the kingdom he believes will last forever.

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Below the Bible Belt

Was David Judean or..?

I Chronicles.28:4

Patriots are those who defend and celebrate their nation often at all costs. Sometimes those not born into their chosen nation compensate for foreign origins by taking on extra zealous patriotic tropes.

There is a speculation that this is what may be behind King David’s rise to power.

What if David’s origins are not at all what this book wants us to believe? Was he born in Judah’s south - or Ephraim’s north?

For those of us on this journey for a while, reading through hundreds of chapters with clear tribal agendas that describe the enmity between south and north - there’s a jaw dropping surprise hiding in plain sight here.

The crowd hushes. And then the old man rises to the occasion to deliver his final speech. It’s got no new news - and is mostly on why he was not the one to build the temple because of all the blood his hands spilled on the battlefields.

Before naming Solomon as his chosen heir, David concludes the speech with these words:

The God of Israel chose me from all my father’s house to be king over Israel forever. For He chose Judah to be ruler, and of the family of Judah, my father’s house; and of my father’s sons, He preferred to make me king over all Israel;

I Chronicles.28:4

David here claims the Divine Right of Kings - a political notion that will become popular in many civilizations granting rulers absolute power mandated by the grace of God.

God, according to this claim, chose the people Israel of all people, the tribe of Judah of all tribes, the family of Davis from all Judean families, and David from all his brothers.

Under the pomp and piety of this tribal claim to power a more subtle and subversive story might hide.

Japhet wonders:

It also casts new light on his rise: Why did Samuel the prophet from Ephraimite origins choose him? Why were northern tribes like Ephraim more loyal to him than his own Judahite neighbors, even during rebellions?

Japhet notes:

"David’s Ephraimite roots help explain several aspects of his story, reign, and kingdom... Ephraim’s loyalty to David — switching allegiance from Saul of Benjamin, supporting his united monarchy, and notably not revolting against him... makes sense if he belonged to Ephraim."

But that’s not how the Chronicler wants us to remember it.

Japhet suggests that

So what we’re left with in these final chapters is not just an aging king giving his final speech, but a piece of ideological theater. The Chronicler puts words in David’s mouth that say: I am the chosen one, from the chosen tribe, chosen to rule forever.

The messy truth? Probably a little more complicated than this sacred myth, well crafted into revised history.

Neither royal house or temple stood forever, but this story is strong enough to still be believed a solid fact today.

It’s quite remarkable.

One more chapter left in Chronicles, with yet another subtle crack in the shining armor, admitting fragile existence and impermanence even as the old king hands over the keys to the kingdom he believes will last forever.

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