Of David's line, an everlasting throne
How fulfilledAttested by witnessesResearch ratingContested
12And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
13He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
14I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
15But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
16And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
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9And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
10Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
11And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
12And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
13He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
14I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
15But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
16And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
17According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
18Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?
19And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD?
1And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
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1And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
3And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:
4But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
5Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
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2Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
3And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
5Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
8But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.
32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
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29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
3Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
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1Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
2(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
3Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
4And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
5By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
6Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:
God promised David, "thy throne shall be established for ever" (), and after the kingdom fell the prophets looked for "a rod out of the stem of Jesse" () and "a righteous Branch" for David (). This was a living hope before Christianity: the Psalms of Solomon (about 60-40 BCE) pray, "raise up unto them their king, the son of David", and a Qumran text speaks of "the Branch of David". Jesus' descent from David is claimed early and independently of the Gospel genealogies. Paul calls him "made of the seed of David according to the flesh" (), and Paul knew "James the Lord's brother" (). Mark records a blind man crying "Jesus, thou Son of David" (), and Hebrews says "our Lord sprang out of Juda" (). Outside the New Testament, Hegesippus tells how the grandsons of Jesus' brother Jude confessed their Davidic descent before the emperor Domitian, and Julius Africanus records the traditions of Jesus' relatives.
It is highly probable that Jesus' Davidic descent was claimed early and from more than one direction, including his own family. Whether he was actually descended from David cannot be confirmed with the evidence we have. The promise of a throne, in the political sense first-century Jews expected, was not fulfilled in his lifetime; Christians look for it at his return (M17). Descent from David is necessary for the Messiah but does not by itself pick out one person.
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The two genealogies conflict: they give different numbers of generations and different grandfathers (Jacob in Matthew, Heli in Luke). Matthew's list is schematic: it drops three kings and Jehoiakim and runs through Jeconiah, of whom Jeremiah said "no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David" (). Both genealogies run through Joseph, the motive to establish messianic descent was strong, and pedigrees outside the priestly families were rarely kept. Raymond Brown concludes that the genealogies "tell us nothing certain".