Sons were born to David while he was king in Hebron for seven years (1 Chronicles 3:1–4). These are not mentioned here because the writer assumes that his readers are aware of the history of Hebron. His focus here is on Davidic blessing in Jerusalem. The list of thirteen sons born to David in Jerusalem essentially repeats 2 Samuel 5:13–16, with the exception of two additional names, Elpelet (spelled Eliphelet in 1 Chronicles 3:6) and Nogah (1 Chronicles 14:5–6). The first four sons named were born to David by Bathsheba, and the other nine sons were born to him by other wives. The Chronicler also includes in his genealogy the names of the mothers of David’s children (1 Chronicles 3:1–9). The omission of the names in Samuel may have been due to the high mortality rates of the children. The second-last son in the list is named Beeliada (Baal knows
) but is changed to Eliada (El knows
) in 1 Chronicles 3:8 and 2 Samuel 5:1–25. The change to El
had fewer negative associations with pagan gods.1 Chronicles, however, preserves at this point the original names, which included the word Baal,
and thus a potential flaw in the devotion of the Davidic house is hereby announced (but see the place-name Baal-perazim retained in 1 Chronicles 14:11).2
4 These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon,