Jesse, a significant figure in the Old Testament, is best known as the father of King David, one of Israel's greatest kings. His lineage is crucial in biblical history, as it establishes the genealogical line leading to Jesus Christ, fulfilling the Messianic prophecies.

Genealogy and Family Background

Jesse was the son of Obed and the grandson of Boaz and Ruth, a Moabite woman who converted to the faith of Israel. This lineage is detailed in the Book of Ruth, which highlights the providential hand of God in preserving the line through which the Messiah would come. Jesse lived in Bethlehem, a town in the territory of Judah, which later became known as the City of David.

Role in the Anointing of David

Jesse's most prominent biblical narrative occurs in 1 Samuel 16, where the prophet Samuel is sent by God to anoint the next king of Israel from among Jesse's sons. Jesse had eight sons, and initially, he presented seven of them to Samuel. However, God did not choose any of these, prompting Samuel to inquire if there were any more sons. Jesse then mentioned his youngest son, David, who was tending sheep. Upon David's arrival, the Lord confirmed to Samuel that David was His chosen one: "Then the LORD said, 'Rise and anoint him, for he is the one'" (1 Samuel 16:12).

Jesse's Sons and Their Roles

Jesse's sons, besides David, included Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah, who are mentioned in the context of the battle against the Philistines (1 Samuel 17). Eliab, the eldest, was initially considered by Samuel for kingship due to his appearance, but God reminded Samuel that He looks at the heart rather than outward appearances (1 Samuel 16:7). David, the youngest, was chosen for his heart and character, qualities that God valued.

Jesse in Prophecy

Jesse's significance extends beyond his immediate family, as he is mentioned in Messianic prophecies. Isaiah 11:1 prophesies, "Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit" . This prophecy foretells the coming of the Messiah, who would arise from Jesse's lineage, emphasizing the enduring importance of Jesse's family in God's redemptive plan.

Legacy

Jesse's legacy is primarily carried through his son David, whose reign established a dynasty that would last for generations. The New Testament reaffirms Jesse's importance in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, as seen in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which trace Jesus' lineage back to David and, consequently, to Jesse. This connection underscores the fulfillment of God's promises to David and the continuity of His covenantal faithfulness through the ages.Jesse

gift; oblation; one who is

Jesse

(wealthy), the father of David, was the son of Obed, who again was the fruit of the union of Boaz and the Moabitess Ruth. His great-grandmother was Rahab the Canaanite, of Jericho. (Matthew 1:5) Jesse's genealogy is twice given in full in the Old Testament, viz., (Ruth 4:18-22) and 1Chr 2:5-12 He is commonly designated as "Jesse the Bethlehemite," (1 Samuel 16:1,18; 17:58) but his full title is "the Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah." ch. (1 Samuel 17:12) He is an "old man" when we first meet with him, (1 Samuel 17:12) with eight sons, ch. (1 Samuel 16:10; 17:12) residing at Bethlehem. ch (1 Samuel 16:4,5) Jesse's wealth seems to have consisted of a flock of sheep and goats, which were under the care of David. ch. (1 Samuel 16:11; 17:34,35) After David's rupture with Saul he took his father and his mother into the country of Moab and deposited them with the king, and there they disappear from our view in the records of Scripture. (B.C. 1068-61.) Who the wife of Jesse was we are not told.

Jesse

Son of Obed and father of David. He was a grandson of Ruth the Moabitess, and in he native land he found an asylum while David was most in danger from the jealous pursuit of Saul, Ruth 4:17 1 Samuel 16:1-23 17:12 22:3 Mt 1:5.

Firm, or a gift, a son of Obed, the son of Boaz and Ruth (Ruth 4:17, 22; Matthew 1:5, 6; Luke 3:32). He was the father of eight sons, the youngest of whom was David (1 Samuel 17:12). The phrase "stem of Jesse" is used for the family of David (Isaiah 11:1), and "root of Jesse" for the Messiah (Isaiah 11:10; Revelation 5:5). Jesse was a man apparently of wealth and position at Bethlehem (1 Samuel 17:17, 18, 20; Psalm 78:71). The last reference to him is of David's procuring for him an asylum with the king of Moab (1 Samuel 22:3). 1. (n.) Any representation or suggestion of the genealogy of Christ, in decorative art

2. (n.) A genealogical tree represented in stained glass.

3. (n.) A candlestick with many branches, each of which bears the name of some one of the descendants of Jesse; -- called also tree of Jesse.

JESSE

jes'-e (yishay, meaning doubtful; according to Gesenius it = "wealthy"; Olshausen, Gram., sections 277, conjectures yesh yah, "Yahweh exists"; Wellhausen (1 Samuel 14:49) explains it as 'abhishay (see ABISHAI); Iessai; Ruth 4:17, 22 1 Samuel 16; 1 Samuel 17; 20; 22; 25; 2 Samuel 20:1; 2 Samuel 23:1 1 Kings 12:16; 1 Chronicles 10:14; 1 Chronicles 12:18 Psalm 72:20 Isaiah 11:1, 10 (= Romans 15:12)); Matthew 1:5, 6 Acts 13:22): Son of Obed, grandson of Boaz, and father of King David. The grouping of the references to Jesse in 1 Samuel is bound up with that of the grouping of the whole narrative of David and Saul. See SAMUEL, BOOKS OF. There seem to be three main veins in the narrative, so far as Jesse is concerned.

(1) In 1 Samuel 16:1-13, where Jesse is called the Bethlehemite. Samuel is sent to seek among Jesse's sons successor to Saul.

Both Samuel and Jesse fail to discern at first Yahweh's choice, Samuel thinking that it would be the eldest son (1 Samuel 16:6), while Jesse had not thought it worth while to call the youngest to the feast (1 Samuel 16:11).

(2) (a) In 1 Samuel 16:14-23, Saul is mentally disturbed, and is advised to get a harpist. David "the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite" is recommended by a courtier, and Saul sends to Jesse for David.

"And Jesse took ten loaves (so emend and translate, and not as the Revised Version (British and American), "an ass laden with bread"), and a (skin) bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them" to Saul as a present with David, who becomes a courtier of Saul's with his father's consent.

(b) The next mention of Jesse is in three contemptuous references by Saul to David as "the son of Jesse" in 1 Samuel 20:27, 30, 31, part of the quarrel-scene between Saul and Jonathan. (But it is not quite certain if 1 Samuel 20 belongs to the same source as 16:14-23.) In answer to the first reference, Jonathan calls his friend "David," and Saul repeats the phrase "the son of Jesse," abusing Jonathan personally (1 Samuel 20:30, where the meaning is uncertain). The reference to David as "the son of Jesse" here and in the following verse is contemptuous, not because of any reproach that might attach itself to Jesse, but, as Budde remarks, because "an upstart is always contemptuously referred to under his father's name" in courts and society. History repeats itself!

(c) Further references of a like kind are in the passage, 1 Samuel 22:6-23, namely, in 22:7, 8, 13 by Saul, and repeated by Doeg in 22:9.

(d) The final one of this group is in 1 Samuel 25:10, where Nabal sarcastically asks "Who is David ? and who is the son of Jesse?"

(3) The parts of 1 Samuel 17-18:5 which are omitted by Septuagint B, i.e. 17:12-31, 41, 48b, 50, 55-18:6a. Here Jesse is mentioned as "an Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah" (17:12, not "that" Ephrathite, which is a grammatically impossible translation of the Massoretic Text), Ephrath or Ephrathah being another name for Bethlehem, or rather for the district. He is further said to have eight sons (17:12), of whom the three eldest had followed Saul to the war (17:13).

Jesse sends David, the shepherd, to his brothers with provisions (1 Samuel 17:17). Afterward David, on being brought to Saul and asked who he is, answers, "I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite" (1 Samuel 17:58). Jesse is also described (1 Samuel 17:12) as being "in the days of Saul an old man, advanced in years" (so emend and translate, not as the Revised Version (British and American), "stricken in years among men"). The mention of his having 8 sons in 1 Samuel 17:12 is not in agreement with 1 Chronicles 2:13-15, which gives only 7 sons with two sisters, but where Syriac gives 8, adding, from 27:18, Elihu which Massoretic Text has there probably by corruption (Curtis, Chronicles, 88). 1 Samuel 16:10 should be translated" and Jesse made his 7 sons to pass before Samuel" (not as the Revised Version (British and American), the King James Version, "seven of his sons"). Budde (Kurz. Hand-Komm., "Samuel," 114) holds 1 Samuel 16:1-13 to be a late Midrash, and (ibid., 123) omits

(a) "that" in 17:12;

(b) also "and he had 8 sons" as due to a wrong inference from 16:10;

(c) the names of the 3 eldest in 17:13;

(d) 17:14b; he then changes 17:15a, and reads thus: (12) "Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem-Judah, whose name was Jesse who was.... (years) old at the time of Saul. (13) And the 3 eldest sons of Jesse had marched with Saul to the war, (14) and David was the youngest, (15) and David had remained to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. (16) Now the Philistines came," etc.

According to all these narratives in 1 Samuel, whether all 3 be entirely independent of one another or not, Jesse had land in Bethlehem, probably outside the town wall, like Boaz (see BOAZ) his grandfather (Ruth 4:17). In 1 Samuel 22:3, 1 David entrusts his father and mother to the care of the king of Moab, but from 20:29 some have inferred that Jesse was dead (although most critics assign 22:3 at any rate to the same stratum as chapter 20).

Jonathan tells Saul that David wanted to attend a family sacrificial feast at Bethlehem (1 Samuel 20:29). Massoretic Text reads, "And he, my brother, has commanded me," whereas we should probably read with Septuagint, "and my brethren have commanded me," i.e. the members of the clan, as we have farther on in the verse, "Let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren." As to Jesse's daughters, see ABIGAIL; NAHASH.

(4) Of the other references to Jesse, the most noteworthy is that in Isaiah 11:1: "There shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit," i.e. out of Jesse's roots (compare Revelation 5:5). "Why Jesse and not David?" asks Duhm; and he answers, "Because the Messiah will be a second David, rather than a descendant of David." Marti explains it to mean that he will be, not from David, but from a collateral line of descent. Duhm's explanation suggests a parallelism between David and Christ, of whom the former may be treated as a type similar to Aaron and Melchizedek in He. Saul might pour contempt upon "the son of Jesse," but Isaiah has given Jesse here a name above all Hebrew names, and thus does Providence mock "society."

See also ROOT OF JESSE.

David Francis Roberts

ROOT OF JESSE

(shoresh yishay (Isaiah 11:10); rhiza tou Iessai (Romans 15:12)): The Hebrew and Greek words are practically the same in meaning. "Root" means descendant, branch of the family or stock. The Messianic king was to be of the family of Jesse the father of David. In Romans 15:12 Paul quotes the Septuagint of Isaiah 11:10. Jesus is a branch or descendant of the family of Jesse, as well as of David.

See also DAVID, ROOT OF.

2421. Iessai -- Jesse, the father of King David
... Jesse, the father of King David. Part of Speech: Proper Noun, Indeclinable
Transliteration: Iessai Phonetic Spelling: (es-es-sah'-ee) Short Definition: Jesse ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2421.htm - 6k1732. David -- perhaps "beloved one," a son of Jesse
... David or David. 1733 . perhaps "beloved one," a son of Jesse. Transliteration:
David or David Phonetic Spelling: (daw-veed') Short Definition: David. ...
/hebrew/1732.htm - 6k

7288. Radday -- a son of Jesse
... 7287b, 7288. Radday. 7289 . a son of Jesse. Transliteration: Radday Phonetic
Spelling: (rad-dah'-ee) Short Definition: Raddai. Word ...
/hebrew/7288.htm - 6k

52. Abishay -- "my father is Jesse," an Israelite name
... 51, 52. Abishay. 53 . "my father is Jesse," an Israelite name. Transliteration:
Abishay Phonetic Spelling: (ab-ee-shah'ee) Short Definition: Abishai. ...
/hebrew/52.htm - 6k

3448. Yishay -- father of David
... 3447, 3448. Yishay. 3449 . father of David. Transliteration: Yishay Phonetic
Spelling: (yee-shah'-ee) Short Definition: Jesse. ... Jesse. ...
/hebrew/3448.htm - 6k

The Shepherd Boy of Bethlehem.
... last the Lord told Samuel to cease from mourning for Saul, for He had rejected him,
but to fill his horn with oil, and go to Bethlehem where Jesse lived, for ...
/.../lathbury/childs story of the bible/chapter xix the shepherd boy.htm

How, Upon Saul's Transgression of the Prophet's Commands, Samuel ...
... And when Samuel mourned for him, God bid him leave off his concern for him, and
to take the holy oil, and go to Bethlehem, to Jesse the son of Obed, and to ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 8 how upon sauls.htm

Psalm LXXIII.
... St. Augustin on the Psalms. Psalm LXXIII. 1. This Psalm hath an inscription, that
is, a title, "There have failed the hymns of David, the son of Jesse. ...
/.../augustine/exposition on the book of psalms/psalm lxxiii.htm

The Shepherd-King
... fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for
I have provided Me a king among his sons.2. And Samuel said, How can I go? ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture f/the shepherd-king.htm

David the Shepherd Youth.
... He was to fill a small horn with oil and go to the village of Bethlehem, and there
anoint one of the sons of Jesse the shepherd to be the next king; but at ...
/.../anonymous/children of the old testament/david the shepherd youth.htm

The Story of David
... That father, whose name was Jesse, was one of the chief men of the town,
and David was the youngest of all his sons. There were ...
//christianbookshelf.org/steedman/david the shepherd boy/the story of david.htm

David's victory Over the Giant
... Then one of the young men said, "I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who
is a skilled musician, a strong and able man, a soldier, careful in speech ...
/.../sherman/the childrens bible/davids victory over the giant.htm

The Cost of a Lie
... Saul said to his servants who stood about him, "Hear, O Benjamites! Will
the son of Jesse give all of you fields and vineyards? ...
//christianbookshelf.org/sherman/the childrens bible/the cost of a lie.htm

Man the Image of the Creator, and Christ the Head of the Man ...
... Here is a prophecy of Isaiah: "There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,
and a flower [5541] shall spring up from his root; and upon Him shall ...
/.../tertullian/the five books against marcion/chapter viii man the image of.htm

The Story of David, the Shepherd Boy
... Judah. There find a man named Jesse, for I have chosen a king among his
sons.". ... Lord. And call Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice. ...
/.../marshall/the wonder book of bible stories/the story of david the.htm

Jesse (45 Occurrences)
... The phrase "stem of Jesse" is used for the family of David (Isaiah 11:1), and "root
of Jesse" for the Messiah (Isaiah 11:10; Revelation 5:5). Jesse was a man ...
/j/jesse.htm - 32k

Jesse's (4 Occurrences)
... Multi-Version Concordance Jesse's (4 Occurrences). 2 Samuel 20:1 Now there
happened to be there a base fellow, whose name was Sheba ...
/j/jesse's.htm - 7k

Obed (13 Occurrences)
... Boaz became the father of Obed by Ruth. Obed became the father of Jesse.
(WEB ... Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. ...
/o/obed.htm - 12k

Abi (2 Occurrences)
... Abishai, "father of Jesse," denotes one to whom Jesse is father, and so with Abihud,
"father of Judah," Abiel, "father of God," Abijah, "father of Yahweh." See ...
/a/abi.htm - 12k

Abinadab (12 Occurrences)
... (2.) The second of the eight sons of Jesse (1 Samuel 16:8). He was with Saul in
the ... 1 Samuel 16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. ...
/a/abinadab.htm - 14k

Nahash (9 Occurrences)
...Jesse's wife had apparently been first married to this man, to whom she bore Abigail
and Zeruiah, who were thus David's sisters, but only on the mother's side ...
/n/nahash.htm - 14k

Bethlehemite (4 Occurrences)
... miles South of Jerusalem. Jesse is so named in 1 Samuel 16:18; 1 Samuel
17:58, and Elhanan in 2 Samuel 21:19. The children of Bethlehem ...
/b/bethlehemite.htm - 8k

Beth-lehemite (4 Occurrences)
...Jesse is so named in 1 Samuel 16:18; 1 Samuel 17:58, and Elhanan in 2 Samuel
21:19. ... And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite. ...
/b/beth-lehemite.htm - 8k

Shammah (8 Occurrences)
... 17). (2.) One of the sons of Jesse (1 Samuel 16:9). He is also called Shimeah
(2 Samuel 13:3) and Shimma (1 Chronicles 2:13). (3 ...
/s/shammah.htm - 13k

Eliab (20 Occurrences)
... (3.) The son of Jesse, and brother of David (1 Samuel 16:6). It was he who spoke
contemptuously to David when he proposed to fight Goliath (1 Samuel 17:28). ...
/e/eliab.htm - 15k

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