1 Sam. 16:10 states that Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel before he brought David out to Samuel. But 1 Chronicles 2:13-15 says that David was the seventh son of Jesse. How many sons did Jesse have – eight or seven?

– Philipose, India

DR. GEORGY’S RESPONSE:

The passage in 1 Chronicles mentions the names of seven sons of Jesse. It may be because one of David’s brothers had died, and his name was not mentioned by the writer of Chronicles. It is common that the surviving children in a family speak of their family in terms of the remaining number of children. Perhaps in David’s family, that older brother would have died before marriage, leaving no children. He also would not have made any significant contribution during the reign of David for his name to be recorded in the genealogy of the sons of Jesse.