God is a miracle working God. This month of September 2007 we celebrate 23 years of marriage, because God saved us from our sins in and through Yeshua/haMashiach/Jesus Christ. We were joined as "one" in holy matrimony "in the wonderful name of Yeshua/Jesus" in September of 1984. As a teenager, I was married, but I was not a Christian and the marriage ended in divorce. Our life together has not been without trials, but our life in Christ gives us a stability we could not have otherwise had. In fact this past year we went through a devastating house fire at our home in the Snohomish Valley that brought us to Talus at Cougar Mountain for an extended stay that we never actually planned. We're in the process of rebuilding our historic home of nearly 20 years, which has been on the Everett Historic Register since 1990.

King David, a bible hero of mine, loved the Lord, and he had the proverbial "blended family." My admiration for this man of God doesn't come from the fact that he married many women. God warned not to "multiply wives." But God's people did not always adhere to this. (1 Kings 11:3-4) King David's son Solomon multiplied wives (up to 1,000! And with his wives came a lot of problems) which was prohibited and prophesied that a king would do in Deuteronomy 17:17. In King David's life and family there were a multitude of problems, particularly with his children. But God is a God of mercy and grace. King David responded to the dealings of God in His life. He put God's word and will as foremost.

Monogamy is God's pattern, and He states this clearly in Genesis 2-3, where Adam & Eve were joined as husband and wife. But he forgives sins and says "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst (John 4:14).

Yeshua/Jesus was tired and thirsty. So on his way back to Galilee He stopped at a well in Samaria while his disciples went to town to get food. When a Samaritan woman came to the well to get water, Jesus asked her to give him a drink. She was stunned.

Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans! Why are you asking me for a drink?

Yeshua/Jesus then said an amazing thing to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.

What was he talking about? Where can you get this living water? she asked.

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

The woman stared at him. Well, sir, give me this water.

King King David had eight wives, although he appears to have had children from other women as well:

• Michal, The Hebrew meaning of whose name is "Who is like God, was the second daughter of King Saul, was cursed with barrenness.
• Ahinoam of Jezreel - Her name means "Pleasant." A woman from Jezreel, who was captured by David while he was at war with Saul, and became David's wife, and the mother of Amnon.

  It is possible for both these women named Ahinoam to be different accounts of the same woman, as the references to a woman called Ahinoam being Saul's wife are all ascribed by textual scholars to the account of the republican source of the Books of Samuel, while in the passages ascribed to the monarchial source, the only mention of a woman called Ahinoam is the description of her as a wife of David.

• Abigail, previously wife of the evil Nabal. Her name denotes "her Father's joy" or "fountain of joy."

• MaachahDavid begat Absalom and Tamar with her.
• Haggith - From the term "Festive."
  1. 2 Samuel 3:4 the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital;
  2 Samuel 3:3-5 (in Context) 2 Samuel 3 (Whole Chapter) 2. 1 Kings 1:5 Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, "I will be king." So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him.
  1 Kings 1:4-6 (in Context) 1 Kings 1 (Whole Chapter) 3. 1 Kings 1:11 Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, "Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, The name means "Festive."
  1 Kings 1:10-12 (in Context) 1 Kings 1 (Whole Chapter)
  4. 1 Kings 2:13 - [ Solomon's Throne Established ] Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. Bathsheba asked him, "Do you come peacefully?" He answered, "Yes, peacefully." - 1 Kings 2:12-14 (in Context) 1 Kings 2 (Whole Chapter)
  5. 1 Chronicles 3:2 - The third, Absalom the son of Maacah daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; 1 Chronicles 3:1-3 (in Context) 1 Chronicles 3 (Whole Chapter)
  
• Abital - The name is femine of the masculine "Father of Dew."
  1. 2 Samuel 3:4 the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 2 Samuel 3:3-5 (in Context) 2 Samuel 3 (Whole Chapter)
  2. 1 Chronicles 3:3 the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah. 1 Chronicles 3:2-4 (in Context) 1 Chronicles 3 (Whole Chapter)
  
• Eglah - Her name means "Chariot."
  1. 2 Samuel 3:5 and the sixth, Ithream the son of David's wife Eglah. These were born to David in Hebron. 2 Samuel 3:4-6 (in Context) 2 Samuel 3 (Whole Chapter)
  2. 1 Chronicles 3:3 the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; and the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah. 1 Chronicles 3:2-4 (in Context) 1 Chronicles 3 (Whole Chapter)
  
• Bathsheba, Meaning "Daughter of an oath."
  She was previously the wife of Uriah the Hittite
  1. 2 Samuel 11:1 [ David and Bathsheba ] In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 11:1-3 (in Context) 2 Samuel 11 (Whole Chapter)
  2. 2 Samuel 11:3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" 2 Samuel 11:2-4 (in Context) 2 Samuel 11 (Whole Chapter)
  3. 2 Samuel 12:24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him; 2 Samuel 12:23-25 (in Context) 2 Samuel 12 (Whole Chapter)
  4. 1 Kings 1:11 Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, "Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king without our lord David's knowing it? 1 Kings 1:10-12 (in Context) 1 Kings 1 (Whole Chapter)
  5. 1 Kings 1:15 So Bathsheba went to see the aged king in his room, where Abishag the Shunammite was attending him. 1 Kings 1:14-16 (in Context) 1 Kings 1 (Whole Chapter)
  6. 1 Kings 1:16 Bathsheba bowed low and knelt before the king. "What is it you want?" the king asked. 1 Kings 1:15-17 (in Context) 1 Kings 1 (Whole Chapter)
  7. 1 Kings 1:28 [ David Makes Solomon King ] Then King David said, "Call in Bathsheba." So she came into the king's presence and stood before him. 1 Kings 1:27-29 (in Context) 1 Kings 1 (Whole Chapter)
  8. 1 Kings 1:31 Then Bathsheba bowed low with her face to the ground and, kneeling before the king, said, "May my lord King David live forever!" 1 Kings 1:30-32 (in Context) 1 Kings 1 (Whole Chapter)
  9. 1 Kings 2:13 [ Solomon's Throne Established ] Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. Bathsheba asked him, "Do you come peacefully?" He answered, "Yes, peacefully." 1 Kings 2:12-14 (in Context) 1 Kings 2 (Whole Chapter)
  10. 1 Kings 2:18 "Very well," Bathsheba replied, "I will speak to the king for you." 1 Kings 2:17-19 (in Context) 1 Kings 2 (Whole Chapter)

• AbishagIn his old age he took the beautiful Abishag into his bed for health reasons, "but the king knew her not (intimately)" (1 Kings 1:1-4).

As given in 1 Chronicles 3, David had sons by various wives and concubines; their names are not given in Chronicles. By Bathsheba, his sons were:

• Shammua-1 Chronicles 14:4 Hebrew Shammua, a variant name for Shimea; compare 3:5.
• Shobab
• Nathan
• Solomon

His sons born in Hebron by other mothers included:

• Amnon was the progeny of David and Ahinoam
• Daniel was the progeny of David and Abigail
• Absalom was the progeny of David and Maachah
• Adonijah was the progeny of David and Haggith
• Shephatiah was the progeny of David and Abital
• Ithream was the progeny of David and Eglah

His sons born in Jerusalem by other mothers included:

• Ibhar
• Elishua
• Eliphelet
• Nogah
• Nepheg
• Japhia
• Elishama
• Eliada

According to 2 Chronicles 11:18, another son was born to David who is not mentioned in any of the genealogies:

Jerimoth

David also had at least one daughter, Tamar, progeny of David and Maachah and the full sister of Absalom. (2 Samuel 3:3)

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