Editing Davidic line

{{Short description|Lineage of the Israelite king David}}
{{redirect|House of David}}
{{Royal house
| surname = House of David
| native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|he|{{Script/Hebrew|בֵּית דָּוִד}}|rtl=yes}}}}
| estate = [[Land of Israel]]
| native_name_lang = he
| coat of arms = Star of David.svg
| country = [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Kingdom of Israel and Judah]] ({{circa|1010 BCE–930 BCE)}}<br />[[Kingdom of Judah]] ({{circa|930 BCE–587 BCE}})
| titles = {{bulletedlist|[[Kings of Israel and Judah|King of Israel]]|[[Kings of Judah|King of Judah]]}}
| founder = [[David]] (traditional)
| origin = [[Tribe of Judah]]
| final ruler = [[Zedekiah]]
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=November 2021}}

The '''Davidic line''' refers to the descendants of [[David]], who established the '''House of David''' ({{Langx|he|בֵּית דָּוִד}} {{Transliteration|he|Bēt Dāwīḏ}}) in the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Kingdom of Israel and Judah]]. In [[Judaism]], the lineage is based on texts from the [[Hebrew Bible]], as well as on later [[Jewish history|Jewish traditions]].

According to the biblical narrative, David of the [[Tribe of Judah]] engaged in a protracted conflict with [[Ish-bosheth]] of the [[Tribe of Benjamin]] after the latter succeeded his father [[Saul]] to become the second king of an amalgamated [[History of ancient Israel and Judah|Israel and Judah]]. Amidst this struggle, [[Yahweh|God]] had sent his prophet [[Samuel]] to anoint David as the true king of the [[Israelites]]. Following Ish-bosheth's assassination at the hands of his own army captains, David officially acceded to the throne around 1010 BCE, replacing the [[House of Saul]] with his own and becoming the country's third<!--Do NOT change this to "second"--> king.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Carr |first1=David M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OzHhuvuEQxQC&pg=PA58 |title=An Introduction to the Old Testament: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts of the Hebrew Bible |date=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-44435623-6 |page=58 |access-date=2020-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011131758/https://books.google.com/books?id=OzHhuvuEQxQC&pg=PA58 |archive-date=2020-10-11 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Falk |first1=Avner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA115 |title=A Psychoanalytic History of the Jews |date=1996 |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press |isbn=978-0-83863660-2 |page=115 |access-date=2020-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011131816/https://books.google.com/books?id=z10-Xz9Kno4C&pg=PA115 |archive-date=2020-10-11 |url-status=live}}</ref> He was succeeded by his son [[Solomon]], whose mother was [[Bathsheba]]. Solomon's death led to the rejection of the House of David by most of the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel]], with only Judah and Benjamin remaining loyal: the dissenters chose [[Jeroboam]] as their monarch and formed the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] in the north ([[Samaria]]); while the loyalists kept Solomon's son [[Rehoboam]] as their monarch and formed the [[Kingdom of Judah]] in the south ([[Judea]]). With the success of [[Jeroboam's Revolt]] having severed Israel's connection to the House of David, only the Judahite monarchs, except [[Athaliah]], were part of the Davidic line.

In the aftermath of the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|Babylonian siege of Jerusalem]] around 587 BCE, [[Solomon's Temple]] was destroyed and the Kingdom of Judah fell to the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]]. Nearly 450 years later, the [[Hasmonean dynasty]] established the first independent Jewish kingdom since the Babylonian conquest, though it was not considered to be connected to the Davidic line nor to the Tribe of Judah.

In [[Jewish eschatology]], the [[Messiah in Judaism|Messiah]] ({{Lang|he|מָשִׁיחַ|rtl=yes}}) will be a Jewish king whose paternal bloodline traces to David. He is expected to rule over the [[Jews|Jewish people]] during the [[Messianic Age]] and in the [[world to come]].<ref name="schochet moshiah ben yossef2">{{cite web |last=Schochet |first=Rabbi Prof. Dr. Jacob Immanuel |title=Moshiach ben Yossef |url=http://www.moshiach.com/discover/tutorials/moshiach_ben_yossef.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021220182918/http://www.moshiach.com/discover/tutorials/moshiach_ben_yossef.php |archive-date=20 December 2002 |access-date=2 December 2012 |work=Tutorial |publisher=moshiach.com}}</ref><ref name="JVL messiah2">{{cite web |last=Blidstein |first=Prof. Dr. Gerald J. |title=Messiah in Rabbinic Thought |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0014_0_13744.html |access-date=2 December 2012 |work=MESSIAH |publisher=Jewish Virtual Library and Encyclopaedia Judaica 2008 The Gale Group}}</ref><ref name="JVL The Messiah2">{{cite web |last=Telushkin |first=Joseph |title=The Messiah |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/messiah.html |access-date=2 December 2012 |publisher=The Jewish Virtual Library Jewish Literacy. NY: William Morrow and Co., 1991. Reprinted by permission of the author.}}</ref>

==Historicity==
[[File:JRSLM 300116 Tel Dan Stele 01.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Tel Dan Stele]], with mention of the "House of David" highlighted in white.]]
Very little is conclusively known about the House of David. The [[Tel Dan Stele]] mentions the death of the reigning king from "BYTDWD",{{sfn|Pioske|2015|p=180}} (interpreted as "House of David") and thus far is the only extrabiblical explicit mention of [[David]] himself. The stele is dated to circa 840 BCE; however, the name of the Davidic king is not totally preserved, as much of the stele has not survived since the 9th century BCE. All that remains of the name is the final syllable, the extremely common [[Theophoric name#Yahweh|theophoric suffix]] ''-yahū''. Because the stele coincides the death of the Davidic king with the death of [[Jehoram of Israel|[Jeho]ram]], the king of the [[Kingdom of Samaria]], scholars have reconstructed the second slain king as [[Ahaziah of Judah]], the only king contemporary to Jehoram with a name ending in ''-yahū''.{{efn|Jehoram's reign in Israel saw three kings of Judah — [[Jehoshaphat]], his son [[Jehoram of Judah]], and ''his'' son, Ahaziah}}

The earliest unambiguously{{efn|'Unambiguous' as Ahaziah's name on the Tel Dan Stele is incomplete, and there is no explicit confirmation that the apical ancestor David of ''Bayt-David'' was a king}} attested king from the Davidic line is [[Uzziah]], who reigned in the 8th century BCE, about 75&nbsp;years after Ahaziah, who is named on bullae seals belonging to his servants Abijah and Shubnayahu.<ref>Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals. N. Avigad and B. Sass. Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1997, nos. 4 and 3 respectively; Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200–539 B.C.E. Lawrence J. Mykytiuk. SBL Academia Biblica 12. Atlanta, 2004, 153–59, 219.</ref> Uzziah may also be mentioned in the annals of [[Tiglath-Pileser III]]; however, the texts are largely fragmentary.<ref>Haydn, Howell M. ''[https://www.jstor.org/pss/4617145 Azariah of Judah and Tiglath-Pileser III]'' in ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', Vol. 28, No. 2 (1909), pp. 182–199</ref>{{efn|The name in the annals is ''Azariah'', not "Uzziah". While Uzziah is called "Azariah" several times in the Bible, scholars consider this to be the result of a ''later'' scribal error. Thus it is unlikely that Tiglath-Pileser's scribes would have used this name to refer to Uzziah.}} Additionally, a [[Uzziah#"Uzziah Tablet" funerary inscription|tombstone]] dated to the [[Second Temple Period]] claiming to mark the grave (or, reburial) site of Uzziah, was discovered in a convent on the [[Mount of Olives]] in 1931, but there is no way of determining if the remains were genuinely Uzziah's as the stone had to have been carved more than 700 years after Uzziah died and was originally interred, and the tablet's provenance remains a mystery. A controversial artefact called the [[Jehoash Tablet]] recalls deeds performed by [[Jehoash of Judah]], who reigned about 44 years before Uzziah; however, scholars are tensely divided on whether or not the inscription is genuine. After Uzziah, each successive king of Judah is attested to in some form, with the exception of [[Amon of Judah]]: [[Jotham]], Uzziah's successor, is named on the seals of his own son and successor, [[Ahaz]],<ref>Deutsch, Robert. "[http://www.archaeological-center.com/en/monographs/m1/ First Impression: What We Learn from King Ahaz's Seal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904042404/http://www.archaeological-center.com/en/monographs/m1 |date=4 September 2018 }}". ''Biblical Archaeology Review'', July 1998, pp. 54–56, 62</ref> who ruled from 732 to 716 BCE. [[Hezekiah]], Ahaz's son, is attested to by numerous royal seals<ref>{{cite web|title=Biblical King's seal discovered in dump site|author=Heilpern, Will|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/03/middleeast/king-hezekiah-royal-seal/|publisher=CNN|date=December 4, 2015|access-date=2016-05-03}}</ref><ref>Cross, Frank Moore (March–April 1999). "[http://members.bib-arch.org/search.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=25&Issue=2&ArticleID=3&UserID=0& King Hezekiah's Seal Bears Phoenician Imagery]". ''Biblical Archaeology Review''.</ref> and [[Sennacherib's Annals]];<ref>Oppenheim, A. L. in [[#CITEREFAnet|Pritchard 1969]], pp. 287–288</ref> [[Manasseh of Judah|Manasseh]] is recorded giving tribute to [[Esarhaddon]];<ref>Oppenheim, A. L. in [[#CITEREFAnet|Pritchard 1969]], p. 291</ref> [[Josiah]] has no relics explicitly naming him; however, seals belonging to his son Eliashib<ref>Albright, W. F. in [[#CITEREFAnet|Pritchard 1969]], p. 569</ref> and officials [[Nathan-melech]]<ref>Weiss, Bari.[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/opinion/sunday/bible-josiah-david-seal.html The Story Behind a 2,600-Year-Old Seal]
Who was Natan-Melech, the king's servant? New York Times. March 30, 2019</ref><ref>[https://m.jpost.com/Israel-News/2600-year-old-seal-discovered-in-City-of-David-585321 2,600-year old seal discovered in City of David]. Jerusalem Post. April 1, 2019</ref> and [[Asaiah]]<ref>Heltzer, Michael, ''THE SEAL OF ˓AŚAYĀHŪ''. In [[#CITEREFHallo|Hallo, 2000]], Vol. II p. 204</ref> have been discovered; and the kings [[Jehoahaz of Judah|Jehoahaz II]], [[Jehoiakim]], and [[Zedekiah]] are never explicitly named in historical records but are instead alluded to; however, [[Jeconiah]] is mentioned by name in [[Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets|Babylonian documents]] detailing the rations he and his sons were given while held prisoner during the [[Babylonian captivity]].<ref>James B. Pritchard, ed., ''Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament'' (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969) 308.</ref>

The origins of the dynasty, on the other hand, are shrouded in mystery. The Tel Dan Stele, as aforementioned, remains the only mention of David himself outside the Bible, and the historical reliability of the United Monarchy of Israel is archaeologically weak. The [[Stepped Stone Structure]] and [[Large Stone Structure]] in [[Jerusalem]], assuming [[Eilat Mazar]]'s contested stratigraphic dating of the structures to the Iron Age I is accurate, show that Jerusalem was at least somewhat populated in King David's time, and lends some credence to the biblical claim that Jerusalem was originally a Canaanite fortress; however, Jerusalem seems to have been barely developed until long after David's death,<ref name="mazar" /> bringing into question the possibility that it could have been the imperial capital described in the Bible. In David's time, the capital probably served as little more than a formidable citadel, and the Davidic "kingdom" was most likely closer to a loosely-confederated regional polity,<ref name="mazar">{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/2503754 |title=Archaeology and the Biblical Narrative: The Case of the United Monarchy |pages=29–58|journal=One God – One Cult – One Nation. Archaeological and Biblical Perspectives, Edited by Reinhard G. Kratz and Hermann Spieckermann in Collaboration with Björn Corzilius and Tanja Pilger, (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 405)|location=Berlin/ New York |first=Amihai |last=Mazar |access-date=12 October 2018}}</ref> albeit a relatively substantial one. On the other hand, excavations at [[Khirbet Qeiyafa]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Garfinkel |first1=Yossi |last2=Ganor |first2=Sa'ar |last3=Hasel |first3=Michael |title=Journal 124: Khirbat Qeiyafa preliminary report |url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1989 |website=Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel |publisher=Israel Antiquities Authority |access-date=12 June 2018 |ref=garfinkel2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623021750/http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=1989 |archive-date=23 June 2012 |date=19 April 2012}}</ref> and [[Eglon (Canaan)|Eglon]],<ref>{{cite news |title= Proof of King David? Not yet. But riveting site shores up roots of Israelite era |url= https://www.timesofisrael.com/proof-of-king-david-not-yet-but-riveting-site-shores-up-roots-of-israelite-era/ |access-date=24 October 2019 |newspaper= Times of Israel |date=14 May 2018}}</ref> as well as structures from [[Tel Hazor|Hazor]], [[Gezer]], [[Tel Megiddo|Megiddo]] and other sites conventionally dated to the 10th century BCE, are interpreted by many scholars to show that Judah was capable of accommodating large-scale urban societies centuries before minimalist scholars claim,<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Old Testament in Archaeology and History |last=Halpern |first=Baruch |publisher=Baylor University Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4813-0743-7 |pages=337–62 |editor-last=Ebeling |editor-first=Jennie R. |chapter=The United Monarchy: David between Saul and Solomon |editor-last2=Wright |editor-first2=J. Edward |editor-last3=Elliott |editor-first3=Mark Adam |editor-last4=Flesher |editor-first4=Paul V. McCracken}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Biblical World |last=Johnson |first=Benjamin J. M. |publisher=Routledge |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-317-39255-2 |edition=2nd |pages=498–519 |editor-last=Dell |editor-first=Katharine J. |chapter=Israel at the time of the united monarchy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Solomon, Scripture, and Science: The Rise of the Judahite State in the 10th Century BCE |journal=Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology |url=https://jjar.huji.ac.il/publications/solomon-scripture-and-science-rise-judahite-state-10th-century-bce |volume=1 |pages=102–125 |last=Dever |first=William G. |year=2021 |doi=10.52486/01.00001.4|doi-access=free }}</ref> and some have taken the physical archaeology of tenth-century [[Canaan]] as consistent with the former existence of a unified state on its territory,<ref>{{cite book |last= Kitchen |first= Kenneth |title= On the Reliability of the Old Testament |year=2003 |publisher= William B. Eerdmans |location= Grand Rapids, Michigan |isbn=978-0-80280-396-2 |page=158 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Kw6U05qBiXcC&pg=PA158 }}</ref> as archaeological findings demonstrate substantial development and growth at several sites, plausibly related to the tenth century.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kuhrt|first=Amélie|author-link=Amélie Kuhrt|title=The Ancient Near East, c. 3000-330 BC, Band 1|year=1995|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0-41516-762-8|page=438|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V_sfMzRPTgoC&q=Kuhrt%2C+Amiele+%281995%29.+The+Ancient+Near+East.}}</ref> Even so, as for David and his immediate descendants themselves, the position of some scholars, as described by [[Israel Finkelstein]] and [[Neil Asher Silberman|Neil Silberman]], authors of ''[[The Bible Unearthed]]'', espouses that David and Solomon may well be based on "certain historical kernels", and probably did exist in their own right, but their historical counterparts simply could not have ruled over a wealthy lavish empire as described in the Bible, and were more likely chieftains of a comparatively modest Israelite society in Judah and not regents over a kingdom proper.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Israel |last1=Finkelstein |author1-link=Israel Finkelstein |first2=Neil Asher |last2=Silberman |author2-link=Neil Asher Silberman |title=David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition |publisher=[[Free Press (publisher)|Free Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-7432-4362-9 |author-mask=3 |url=https://archive.org/details/davidsolomoninse00fink}} p. 20</ref>

==Kingdom of Israel and Judah==
{{Main|Kings of Israel and Judah}}
[[File:Genealogy of the kings of Israel and Judah.svg|thumb|500px|right|The genealogy of the [[Kings of Israel and Judah|kings of Judah, along with the kings of Israel]].]]
According to the [[Tanakh]], upon being chosen and becoming king, one was customarily anointed with [[Holy anointing oil|holy oil]] poured on one's head. In David's case, this was done by the [[prophet]] [[Samuel (Bible)|Samuel]].

Initially, David was king over the [[Tribe of Judah]] only and ruled from [[Hebron]], but after seven and a half years, the other [[Israelite]] tribes, who found themselves leaderless after the death of [[Ish-bosheth]], chose him to be their king as well.<ref>Mandel, David. ''Who's Who in the Jewish Bible''. Jewish Publication Society, 1 Jan 2010, p. 85</ref>

All subsequent kings in both the ancient first united [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Kingdom of Israel]] and the later [[Kingdom of Judah]] claimed direct descent from King David to validate their claim to the throne in order to rule over the Israelite tribes.

=== Division after Solomon's death ===
After the death of David's son, [[King Solomon]], the ten northern tribes of the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] rejected the Davidic line, refusing to accept Solomon's son, [[Rehoboam]], and instead chose as king [[Jeroboam]] and formed the northern [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]]. This kingdom was conquered by the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] in the 8th century BCE which exiled much of the Northern Kingdom population and ended its sovereign status. The bulk population of the Northern Kingdom of Israel was forced to relocate to Mesopotamia and mostly disappeared from history as [[Lost Ten Tribes|The Ten Lost Tribes]] or intermixed with exiled Judean populations two centuries later, while the remaining Israelite peoples in Samaria highlands have become known as [[Samaritans]] during the classic era and to modern times.

==The Exilarchate==
{{main|Exilarch}}
Later rabbinical authorities granted the office of exilarch to family members that traced its patrilineal<ref name="auto">Max A Margolis and Alexander Marx, ''A History of the Jewish People'' (1927), p. 235.</ref> descent from [[David]], King of Israel. The highest official of Babylonian Jewry was the [[exilarch]] ([[Reish Galuta]], "Head of the Diaspora"). Those who held the position traced their ancestry to the House of David in the male line.<ref name="auto"/> The position holder was regarded as a king-in-waiting, residing in Babylonia in the [[Achaemenid Empire]] as well as during the classic era. The [[Seder Olam Zutta]] attributes the office to [[Zerubbabel]], a member of the Davidic line, who is mentioned as one of the leaders of the Jewish community in the 6th century BC, holding the title of Achaemenid Governor of [[Yehud Medinata]].

==Hasmonean and Herodian periods==
{{Further|Hasmonean dynasty|Herodian dynasty}}
The Hasmoneans, also known as the [[Maccabees]], established their own monarchy in [[Judea]] following their [[Maccabean Revolt|revolt]] against the [[Hellenistic]] [[Seleucid dynasty]]. The Hasmoneans were not considered connected to the Davidic line nor to the [[Tribe of Judah]]. The [[Levites]] had always been excluded from the Israelite monarchy, so when the Maccabees assumed the throne in order to rededicate the defiled [[Second Temple]], a cardinal rule was broken. According to scholars within [[Orthodox Judaism]], this is considered to have contributed to their downfall and the eventual downfall of Judea; internal strife allowing for Roman occupation and the violent installation of [[Herod the Great]] as [[Client state|client king]] over the [[Judea (Roman province)|Roman province of Judea]]; and the subsequent [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destruction]] of the [[Second Temple]] by the future [[Emperor Titus]].

During the Hasmonean period, the Davidic line was largely excluded from the royal house in Judea, but some members had risen to prominence as religious and communal leaders. One of the most notable of those was [[Hillel the Elder]], who moved to Judea from his birthplace in Babylon. His great-grandson [[Simeon ben Gamliel]] became one of the Jewish leaders during the [[First Jewish–Roman War]].<ref>Wilhelm Bacher, Jacob Zallel Lauterbach (1906).  "[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13680-simeon-ii-ben-gamaliel-i Simeon II. (Ben Gamaliel I.)]", ''Jewish Encyclopedia''. N.b.: the Jewish Encyclopedia speaks of "his grandfather Hillel", but the sequence was Hillel the Elder-[[Simeon ben Hillel]]-[[Gamaliel the Elder]]-Simeon ben Gamliel, thus great-grandson is correct.</ref>

==Middle Ages==
{{main|Exilarchate}}
[[File:Halper 462 Genealogy of the Exilarchs to David and Adam, Cairo Geniza.jpg|right|thumb|''Genealogy of the Exilarchs to David and Adam'', Avraham ben Tamim, Cairo Geniza, 1100s ([[Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies|Katz Center]]/[[University of Pennsylvania|UPenn]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=[Genealogy of the Exilarchs to David and Adam]: manuscript. - Colenda Digital Repository |url=https://colenda.library.upenn.edu/catalog/81431-p30c4t39x |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=colenda.library.upenn.edu}}</ref>|alt=Genealogy of the Exilarchs to David and Adam, Avraham ben Tamim, Cairo Geniza, 1100s (Katz Center/UPenn)]]
The Exilarchate in the [[Sasanian Empire]] was briefly abolished as a result of a revolt by the [[Mar-Zutra II]] in the late 5th century CE, with his son [[Mar-Zutra III]] being denied the office and relocating to [[Tiberias]], then within the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Mar Ahunai lived in the period succeeding Mar Zutra II, but for almost fifty years after the failed revolt he did not dare to appear in public, and it is not known whether even then ({{circa|550}}) he really acted as Exilarch. The names of Kafnai and his son Haninai, who were Exilarchs in the second half of the 6th century, have been preserved.

The Exilarchate in Mesopotamia was officially restored after the [[Muslim conquest of Persia|Arab conquest]] in the 7th century and continued to function during the early [[Caliphate]]s. Exilarchs continued to be appointed until the 11th century, with some members of the Davidic line dispersing across the Islamic world. There are conflicting accounts of the fate of the Exilarch family in the 11th century; according to one version [[Hezekiah ben David]], who was the last Exilarch and also the last [[Gaon (Hebrew)|Gaon]], was imprisoned and tortured to death. Two of his sons fled to Al-Andalus, where they found refuge with Joseph, the son and successor of [[Samuel ibn Naghrillah]]. However, ''[[The Jewish Quarterly Review]]'' mentions that Hezekiah was liberated from prison, and became head of the academy, and is mentioned as such by a contemporary in 1046.<ref>Jewish Quarterly Review, hereafter "J. Q. R.", xv. 80.</ref> An unsuccessful attempt of David ben Daniel of the Davidic line to establish an Exilarchate in the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] failed and ended with his downfall in 1094.

In the 11th–15th century, families that descended from the Exilarchs that lived in the South of France ([[Narbonne]] and [[Provence]]) and in northern Iberian peninsula ([[Barcelona]], [[Aragon]] and [[Castile and León|Castile]]) received the title "[[Nasi (Hebrew title)|Nasi]]" in the communities and were called "free men". They had a special economic and social status in the Jewish community, and they were close to their respective governments, some serving as advisers and tax collectors/finance ministers.

These families had special rights in Narbonne, Barcelona, and Castile. They possessed real estate and received the title "[[Don (honorific)|Don]]" and&nbsp; ''de la Kblriih'' (''De la Cavalleria''). Among the families of the "Sons of the Free" are the families of [[Abravanel]] and [[Benveniste]].

In his book, ''[[A Jewish Princedom in Feudal France]]'', Arthur J. Zuckerman proposes a theory that from 768 to 900 CE a Jewish Princedom ruled by members of the Exilarchs existed in feudal France. However, this theory has been widely contested.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|last=Zuckerman|first=Arthur J.|title=A Jewish princedom in feudal France, 768-900|date=1972 |publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=0-231-03298-6|location=New York|oclc=333768}}</ref> Descendants of the house of exilarchs were living in various places long after the office became extinct. The grandson of Hezekiah ben David through his eldest son David ben Chyzkia, [[Hiyya al-Daudi]], died in 1154 in [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]] according to [[Abraham ibn Daud]] and is the ancestor of the [[Yaish Ibn Yahya|ibn Yahya]] family. Several families, as late as the 14th century, traced their descent back to Josiah, the brother of [[David ben Zakkai]] who had been banished to Chorasan (see the genealogies in [Lazarus 1890] pp.&nbsp;180 et seq.). The descendants of the Karaite Exilarchs have been referred to above.

A number of Jewish families in the [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberian peninsula]] and within [[Mesopotamia]] continued to preserve the tradition of descent from Exilarchs in the [[Late Middle Ages]], including the families of [[Abravanel]], [[Yaish Ibn Yahya|ibn Yahya]] and Ben-David. The patriarch of the Coronel Family, [[Abraham Senior]], is referred to in a letter of 1487 from the Jews of Castile to the Jews of Rome and Lombardy as 'the Exilarch who is over us'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beinart |first1=Haim |title=The expulsion of the Jews from Spain |date=2002 |publisher=Littman Library of Jewish Civilization |location=Oxford |isbn=1874774412 |pages=420}}</ref>  Several Ashkenazi scholars also claimed descent from King David. On his father's side, [[Rashi]] has been claimed to be a 33rd-generation descendant of [[Johanan HaSandlar]], who was a fourth-generation descendant of [[Gamaliel]], who was reputedly descended from the Davidic line.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rabbi Yehiel Ben Shlomo Heilprin - (Circa 5420-5506; 1660-1746)|url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112344/jewish/Rabbi-Yehiel-Ben-Shlomo-Heilprin.htm|access-date=2020-06-28|website=www.chabad.org|language=en}}</ref> Similarly [[Maimonides]] claimed 37 generations between him and [[Simeon ben Judah ha-Nasi]], who was also a fourth-generation descendant of Gamaliel.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Early Years|url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/107770/jewish/Early-Years.htm|access-date=2020-05-21|website=www.chabad.org|language=en}}</ref> Meir Perels traced the ancestry of [[Judah Loew ben Bezalel]] to the [[Hai Gaon]] through Judah Loew's alleged great-great-grandfather [[Judah Leib the Elder]] and therefore also from the Davidic dynasty; however, this claim is widely disputed, by many scholars such as Otto Muneles.<ref>See [http://chfreedman.blogspot.com/2007/06/maharal-of-pragues-descent-from-king.html The Maharal of Prague's Descent from King David], by Chaim Freedman, published in ''Avotaynu'' Vol 22 No 1, Spring 2006</ref> Hai Gaon was the son of [[Sherira Gaon]], who claimed descent from [[Rabbah b. Abuha]], who belonged to the family of the exilarch, thereby claiming descent from the Davidic line. Sherira's son-in-law was [[Elijah ben Menahem HaZaken]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=SHERIRA B. ḤANINA - JewishEncyclopedia.com|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13566-sherira-b-hanina|access-date=2021-05-17|website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=HAI BEN SHERIRA - JewishEncyclopedia.com|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7051-hai-ben-sherira|access-date=2021-05-17|website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> The patriarch of the [[Meisel family|Meisels family]], Yitskhak Eizik Meisels, was an alleged 10th generation descendant of the Exilarch, [[Mar Ukba]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Meizels family tree|url=https://www.davidicdynasty.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/meizels.pdf|website=Davidicdynasty.org}}</ref> The [[Berduga family]] of [[Meknes]] claim paternal descent from the Exilarch, [[Bostanai]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bar-Asher|first=Moshe|date=2010-10-01|title=Berdugo Family|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/*-COM_0004160|journal=Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World|language=en}}</ref> The Jewish banking family [[Louis Cahen d'Anvers]] claimed descent from the Davidic Line<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishrefugees.org.uk/tag/jews-of-turkey|title=Jews of Turkey Archives • Point of No Return|website=Point of No Return|date=13 October 2024 }}</ref> Rabbi [[Yosef Dayan]], who is a modern-day claimant to the Davidic throne in Israel and the founder of the Monarchist party [[Malchut Israel]], descends from the [[Dayan (surname)|Dayan family]] of [[Aleppo]], who paternally descend from Hasan ben Zakkai, the younger brother of the Exilarch [[David ben Zakkai|David I]] (d. 940). One of Hasan's descendants Solomon ben Azariah ha-Nasi settled in Aleppo were the family became Dayan's (judges) of the city and thus adopted the surname Dayan.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dayyan {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/dayyan|access-date=2020-11-27|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Harel|first=Yaron|date=2010-10-01|title=Dayan Family|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/dayan-family-SIM_000155|journal=Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World|language=en}}</ref> The [[Ruzhin (Hasidic dynasty)]] line is 
traced to King David by way of Rabbi [[Yochanan Hasandlar|Yohanan, the sandal-maker]] and master in the [[Talmud]].<ref name=Buber>[[Martin Buber]]. ''Tales of the Hasidim'', Schocken 1947; this edition 1991, p. 98-99. {{ISBN|0-8052-0995-6}}</ref>
Rabbi [[Menachem Mendel Schneerson]], the Lubavitcher Rebbe, could trace his lineage back to Rabbi Shnuer Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad Hasidic movement, and ultimately to King David.

== In Judaism ==

=== Eschatology ===
In [[Jewish eschatology]], the term ''{{lang|he-Latn|mashiach}}'', or "[[Messiah in Judaism|Messiah]]", came to refer to a future Jewish [[monarch|king]] from the Davidic line, who is expected to be anointed with [[holy anointing oil]] and rule the Jewish people during the [[Messianic Age]].<ref name="schochet moshiah ben yossef"/><ref name="JVL messiah"/><ref name="JVL The Messiah">{{cite web | url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/messiah.html | title=The Messiah | publisher=William Morrow and Co | date=1991 | access-date=2 December 2012 | last=Telushkin | first=Joseph}}</ref> The Messiah is often referred to as "King Messiah", or, in Hebrew, {{lang|he|מלך משיח}} (''{{lang|he-Latn|melekh mashiach}}''), and, in Aramaic, ''malka meshiḥa''.<ref name="JVL Flusser">{{cite web|last=Flusser|first=David|title=Second Temple Period|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0014_0_13744.html|work=Messiah|publisher=Encyclopaedia Judaica 2008 The Gale Group|access-date=2 December 2012}}</ref>

[[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] views have generally held that the Messiah will be a [[Patrilineality|patrilineal]] descendant of [[David|King David]],<ref>See [[Aryeh Kaplan|Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan]]: {{cite web |url=http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/pdf/RealMessiahBookPages_v4ab.pdf |title=The Real Messiah A Jewish Response to Missionaries |access-date=2012-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529164304/http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/pdf/RealMessiahBookPages_v4ab.pdf |archive-date=May 29, 2008 }}</ref> and will gather the Jews back into the [[Land of Israel]], usher in an era of peace, build the [[Third Temple]], father a male heir, re-institute the [[Sanhedrin]], and so on. Jewish tradition alludes to two redeemers, both of whom are called ''{{lang|he-Latn|mashiach}}'' and are involved in ushering in the [[Messianic Age#Judaism|Messianic age]]: ''{{lang|he-Latn|Mashiach ben David}}''; and ''[[Mashiach ben Joseph|Mashiach ben Yosef]]''. In general, the term ''Messiah'' unqualified refers to ''Mashiach ben David'' (Messiah, son of David).<ref name="schochet moshiah ben yossef">{{cite web | url=http://www.moshiach.com/discover/tutorials/moshiach_ben_yossef.php | title=Moshiach ben Yossef | publisher=Moshiach.com | work=Tutorial | access-date=2 December 2012 | last=Schochet | first=Jacob Immanuel | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021220182918/http://www.moshiach.com/discover/tutorials/moshiach_ben_yossef.php | archive-date=20 December 2002 }}</ref><ref name="JVL messiah">{{cite web|last=Blidstein|first=Prof. Dr. Gerald J.|title=Messiah in Rabbinic Thought|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0014_0_13744.html|work=MESSIAH|publisher=Jewish Virtual Library and Encyclopaedia Judaica 2008 The Gale Group|access-date=2 December 2012}}</ref>

=== Modern legacy ===
In 2012, ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' reported that philanthropist Susan Roth created Davidic Dynasty as subsidiary of her Eshet Chayil Foundation, dedicated to finding, databasing, and connecting Davidic descendants and running the King David Legacy Center in Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Are you a descendant of the House of David? |url=https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-features/are-you-a-descendant-of-the-house-of-david |access-date=2020-10-15 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com|date=10 January 2012 }}</ref> In 2020, Roth chose Brando Crawford, a descendant from both grandfathers, to represent the organization internationally.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leadership |url=https://www.davidicdynasty.org/leadership/ |access-date=2020-10-15 |website=Davidic Dynasty is dedicated to uniting the Jewish descendants of King David |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Twersky |first1=David |date=November 10, 2008 |title=We Are Family: King David's Descendants Gather for 'Reunion' |url=https://forward.com/news/8389/we-are-family-king-david-s-descendants-gather-f/ |access-date=2020-10-15 |website=The Forward |language=en-US}}</ref> The King David Legacy Center has seen support from [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]] Jews in Jerusalem.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Grapevine: Yes, Prime Minister… |url=https://www.jpost.com/features/in-thespotlight/grapevine-yes-prime-minister |access-date=2020-10-15 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com|date=10 January 2012 }}</ref>

==In other Abrahamic religions==

=== Christianity ===
In the [[Christianity|Christian]] interpretation the "[[Covenant (biblical)#Davidic covenant|Davidic covenant]]" of a Davidic line in [[2 Samuel]] 7 is understood in various ways, traditionally referring to the [[Genealogy of Jesus|genealogies of Jesus]] in the [[New Testament]]. One Christian interpretation of the Davidic line counts the line as continuing to [[Jesus]]  son of [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]], according to the genealogies which are written in [[Matthew 1]]:1-16 descendants of Solomon and [[Luke 3]]:23-38 descendants of Nathan son of David through the line of Mary.

Because Jews have historically believed that the Messiah will be a male-line descendant of David, the lineage of Jesus is sometimes cited as a reason why Jews do not believe that he was the Messiah. As the proposed son of God, he could not have been a male descendant of David because according to the genealogy of his earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, he did not have the proper lineage, because he would not have been a male descendant of Mary, and Joseph, who was a descendant of [[Jeconiah]], because Jeconiah's descendants are explicitly barred from ever ruling Israel by God.<ref>This is what the LORD says: 'Record this man as if he is childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none of them will sit on the throne of David or rule in Judah anymore.— Jeremiah 22:30, NIV</ref>

Another Christian interpretation emphasizes the minor, non-royal, line of David through [[Solomon]]'s brother [[Nathan (son of David)|Nathan]] as it is recorded in the [[Gospel of Luke]] [[Luke 3|chapter 3]] (entirely undocumented in the Hebrew Bible), which is often understood to be the family tree of Mary's father. A widely spread traditional Christian interpretation relates the non-continuation of the main Davidic line from Solomon to the godlessness of the line of [[Jehoiachin]] which started in the early 500s BC, when [[Jeremiah]] cursed the main branch of the Solomonic line, by saying that no descendant of "[Je]Coniah" would ever reign on the throne of Israel again ([[Jeremiah 22:30]]).<ref>H. Wayne House ''Israel: Land and the People'' 1998 114 "And yet, Judah has also been without a king of the Solomonic line since the Babylonian exile. Because of Jeremiah's curse on Jehoiachin (Coniah) in the early 500s BC (Jer. 22:30), the high priests of Israel, while serving as the ..."</ref> Some Christian commentators also believe that this same "curse" is the reason why [[Zerubbabel]], the rightful Solomonic king during the time of [[Nehemiah]], was not given a kingship under the [[Persian empire]].<ref>Warren W. Wiersbe -The Wiersbe Bible Commentary: The Complete Old Testament - 2007 p. 1497 "Zerubbabel was the grandson of King Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, Matt. 1:12; Coniah, Jer. 22:24, 28), and therefore of the royal line of David. But instead of wearing a crown and sitting on a throne, Zerubbabel was the humble governor of a ..."</ref>

The [[Tree of Jesse]] (a reference to David's father) is a traditional Christian artistic representation of Jesus' genealogical connection to David.

=== Islam ===
The [[Quran]] mentions the House of David once: "Work, O family of David, in gratitude. And few of My servants are grateful."<ref>Quran 34:13</ref> and mentions David himself sixteen times.

According to some Islamic sources, some of the [[Jewish tribes of Arabia|Jewish settlers in Arabia]] were of the Davidic line, Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi recorded: "A Jewish man from the Davidic line entered [[Medina]] and found the people in deep sorrow. He enquired the people, 'What is wrong?' Some of the people replied: [[Muhammad|Prophet Muhammad]] passed away".<ref>Mohammad-Baqer Majlesi, Bihār al-Anwār, Dar Al-Rida Publication, Beirut, (1983), volume 30 page 99</ref>

==See also==

* [[History of ancient Israel and Judah]]
** [[Kings of Israel and Judah]] 
** [[Kings of Judah]] 
*** [[LMLK seal]] 
* [[Abravanel|Abravanel family]], a Sephardic Jewish family claiming descent from David 
* [[Bagrationi dynasty]], a Georgian dynasty claiming descent from David
** [[Claim of the biblical descent of the Bagrationi dynasty]]
* [[Solomonic dynasty]], an Ethiopian dynasty claiming descent from David's son Solomon
** [[Kebra Nagast]]
* [[Tree of Jesse]], a Christian artistic depiction of Jesus' family tree beginning with David's father Jesse

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

;Sources
* {{Cite book |last1=Pioske |first1=Daniel |date=2015 |title=David's Jerusalem: Between Memory and History |series=Routledge Studies in Religion |volume=45 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1317548911 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IrKgBgAAQBAJ}}
* ''The Holy Bible: 1611 Edition'' (Thos. Nelson, 1993)

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.poeticmind.co.uk/heritage/king-david-dynasty-the-charlap-family-ascension "King David Dynasty"]
* Jewish Encyclopedia.com: [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=548&letter=E "Exilarchs"]
* A genealogy of the Exilarchs: [http://www.loebtree.com/kings.html  "From Judah to Bustanai"]
* [http://www.davidicdynasty.org Davidic Dynasty]
* [http://houseofdavidjudaica.com House of David Judaica]
* Rabbinic Sources and ''Seder Olam Zuta'': [http://www.jewishgen.org/Rabbinic/journal/descent_part2.htm  "''Seder Olam Zuta''"] & [http://www.jewishgen.org/Rabbinic/journal/descent.htm  "Rav-SIG"]

{{Rulers of Ancient Israel}}
{{Solomon}}
{{Dynasties of Ancient Israel}}

[[Category:Davidic line| ]]
[[Category:Ancient royal families]]
[[Category:Descent from antiquity]]
[[Category:Kings of ancient Judah]]
[[Category:Jewish royalty]]
[[Category:David|Line]]
[[Category:Jewish dynasties]]
[[Category:Jewish messianism]]
[[Category:Christian messianism]]