One of the most revered figures in the Old Testament is David, the second king of the United Monarchy, who ruled from 1009 to 969 BC. He was the only king to be inducted into the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11 (v. 32). Some of the honorific statements made in verses 33–34 no doubt were intended for David: “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who . . . escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.”1 David’s name means “beloved one,” and he was “a man after his [God’s] own heart” (1 Sm 13:14). David prayed, “Keep me as the apple [pupil] of your eye” (Ps 17:8). His progeny was to be everlasting, since the Messiah would come from David’s line: “I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. . . . Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Sm 7:12, 7:16).
And yet, David is one of the most maligned individuals of the Old Testament! Scholars of the “minimalist” school claim that David was not a mighty king, but a fictional character, or at most a petty tribal chieftain. The claim was based on a lack of archaeological evidence for a kingdom in Judah at the time of David. That picture has changed dramatically, beginning with the discovery of the Tel Dan Stela in 1993 at Tel Dan in northern Israel. The stela was a memorial commissioned by Hazael, king of Aram (to Israel’s north), to commemorate his victory over Joram and Ahaziah at Ramoth-Gilead ca. 841 BC (2 Kgs 8:28–29). There is a remarkable reference in it to Judah as the “House of David,” proving that David was a real person and that he had a dynasty. The very same term was used throughout the Old Testament. This is the earliest ancient inscription that mentions David outside the Bible. We shall return to the Tel Dan Stela shortly. The stela was just the opening salvo, since after 1993 the Lord unleashed a torrent of evidence from the early tenth century BC, the time of David. This evidence demonstrates that David not only was a real person, but also was the ruler of a kingdom:
- 1994—Two French scholars independently recognized the phrase “House of David” in the Mesha Inscription, a Moabite stela dating to about 840 BC.2
- 1997—Egyptologist Kenneth A. Kitchen noticed the geographical term “Highland of David” in the Shishak inscription in the temple of Amun at Karnak, Egypt, ca. 928 BC.3
- 1997—Excavations began at the copper production facility at Khirbet en-Nahas in Jordan. The results of these excavations showed that the site was operated by a highly organized polity, no doubt Israel, in the time of David.
- 2005—Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar excavated a monumental building just south of the Temple Mount that she believes is the palace of David.4
- 2009—Excavations began at the copper production facility at Timna in the southern Negev. The results of these excavations showed that the site was operated by a highly organized polity, no doubt Israel, in the time of David.
- 2011—ABR excavator and researcher Brian Janeway brought together evidence that authenticates Tou, king of Hamath, who brought “articles of silver, of gold and of bronze” to David on the occasion of David’s defeat of Hadadezer, king of Zobah (2 Sm 8:9–10).5 Hamath is modern Hama in Syria, 132 miles north of Damascus.
- 2015—Khirbet Qeiyafa, a fortified administrative center 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem, was accurately dated by carbon 14 to the time of David.6
- 2018—Tel ‘Eitan, a fortified administrative center 27 miles southwest of Jerusalem, was accurately dated by carbon 14 to the time of David.
- 2023—Second Samuel 8:14 tells us that David “put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David.” Israeli archaeologist Dr. Tali Erickson-Gini summarized over 30 years of research on David’s Edomite fortresses in an online lecture on October 23, 2023.7 She reported that over 60 fortresses have been documented in Edomite territory west and south of the Dead Sea, and there are many more yet to be discovered. These fortresses protected the roads that went from the Khirbet en-Nahas and Timna copper production centers to Judah.
Fragments of the Tel Dan Stela, the first royal inscription to be found in Israel. Fragment A (right) was discovered in 1993, and Fragment B (left) in 1994. Fragment A has the phrase “House of David.” Photo credit: Todd Bolen/BiblePlaces.com.
Now, back to the Tel Dan Stela. The two surviving portions of the stela are only a fraction of the original inscription. The largest, Fragment A, is from the right side and has 13 lines of text, with the “House of David” phrase in line 9. The left portion, Fragment B, has 8 lines of text. The writing is from right to left. The suggested join between the two fragments, however, is uncertain. The original translators, Avraham Biran (the excavator) and Joseph Naveh, admitted in 1995 that “Fragments A and B cannot be joined in an obvious, unequivocal way.”8 Just recently, biblical scholar Michael Langlois, Associate Professor at the University of Strasbourg, France, published a scientific comparative analysis of the scripts of Fragments A and B using a digital imaging technique referred to as “Reflectance Transformation Imaging” (RTI).9 The results are quite amazing. In his article, Langlois concludes, “There is a definite change in handwriting between fragment A, on the one hand, and fragments B1 and B2 on the other hand…this means that the placement suggested by the editors must be abandoned: fragment B does not continue the lines started by fragment A.” The bottom line is that the reconstruction of the text of the stela must be redone. This does not in any way affect the “House of David” phrase or the names of the kings contained in the inscription; it just means that the alignment between Fragments A and B must be reevaluated. Research on the Tel Dan inscription continues . . .
Endnotes
1 All Scripture quotations in this article are from the NIV.
2 André Lemaire, “‘House of David’ Restored in Moabite Inscription,” Biblical Archaeology Review 20, no. 3 (May/June 1994): 30–37; Émile Puech, “La Stèle Araméenne de Dan: Bar Hadad II et la Coalition des Omrides et de la Maison de David,” Revue Biblique 101, no. 2 (1994): 215–41.
3 Kenneth A. Kitchen, “A Possible Mention of David in the Late Tenth Century BCE, and Deity Dod as Dead as the Dodo?,” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, no. 76 (1997): 39–41.
4 See Eilat Mazar, “Did I Find King David’s Palace?,” Biblical Archaeology Review 32, no. 1 (January/February 2006): 16–27; Eilat Mazar, The Palace of King David: Excavations at the Summit of the City of David; Preliminary Report of Seasons 2005–2007 (Jerusalem: Shoham Academic Research and Publication, 2009).
5 Brian Janeway, “Old Testament King Discovered?,” Associates for Biblical Research, February 11, 2011, https://biblearchaeology.org/research/chronological-categories/united-monarchy/2260.
6 Yosef Garfinkel et al., “King David’s City at Khirbet Qeiyafa: Results of the Second Radiocarbon Dating Project,” Radiocarbon 57, no. 5 (2015): 881–90.
7 Tali Erickson-Gini, “The Early Challenges of the United Kingdom of Israel: Facing the Edomite Frontier 3,000 Years Ago,” October 23, 2023, presentation in the online lecture series We Will Not Be Defeated: From Crisis to Revival in the Archaeology of the Land of Israel, Israel Antiquities Authority, video, 54:13, https://www.facebook.com/AntiquitiesEN/videos/349026284176520.
8 Avraham Biran and Joseph Naveh, “The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment,” Israel Exploration Journal 45, no. 1 (1995): 11.
9 Michael Langlois, “The Tel Dan Inscription after 30 Years: A Fresh Look,” Israel Exploration Journal 74, no. 2 (2024): 59–79.
Bibliography
Biran, Avraham, and Joseph Naveh. “The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment.” Israel Exploration Journal 45, no. 1 (1995): 1–18.
Erickson-Gini, Tali. “The Early Challenges of the United Kingdom of Israel: Facing the Edomite Frontier 3,000 Years Ago.” October 23, 2023. Presentation in the online lecture series We Will Not Be Defeated: From Crisis to Revival in the Archaeology of the Land of Israel, Israel Antiquities Authority. Video, 54:13. https://www.facebook.com/AntiquitiesEN/videos/349026284176520.
Garfinkel, Yosef, Katharina Streit, Saar Ganor, and Paula J. Reimer. “King David’s City at Khirbet Qeiyafa: Results of the Second Radiocarbon Dating Project.” Radiocarbon 57, no. 5 (2015): 881–90.
Janeway, Brian. “Old Testament King Discovered?” Associates for Biblical Research. February 11, 2011. https://biblearchaeology.org/research/chronological-categories/united-monarchy/2260.
Kitchen, Kenneth A. “A Possible Mention of David in the Late Tenth Century BCE, and Deity Dod as Dead as the Dodo?” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, no. 76 (1997): 29–44.
Langlois, Michael. “The Tel Dan Inscription after 30 Years: A Fresh Look.” Israel Exploration Journal 74, no. 2 (2024): 59–79.
Lemaire, André. “‘House of David’ Restored in Moabite Inscription.” Biblical Archaeology Review 20, no. 3 (May/June 1994): 30–37.
Mazar, Eilat. “Did I Find King David’s Palace?” Biblical Archaeology Review 32, no. 1 (January/February 2006): 16–27, 70.
———. The Palace of King David: Excavations at the Summit of the City of David; Preliminary Report of Seasons 2005–2007. Jerusalem: Shoham Academic Research and Publication, 2009.
Puech, Émile. “La Stèle Araméenne de Dan: Bar Hadad II et la Coalition des Omrides et de la Maison de David.” Revue Biblique 101, no. 2 (1994): 215–41.
