Facts About David's Wives: True or False? Quiz

Answer: True

True. Bathsheba is arguably his most famous wife, largely because of how they met, their adulterous affair and the fact David ordered the killing of her husband after she became pregnant.

Bathsheba is mentioned 13 times in the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament of the English Bible, as per the NIV Bible.

And yes, he first saw her while she was bathing. Her famous bath is recorded in 2 Samuel 11.

Answer: True

It might come as a surprise to some, but using the NIV Bible, Abigail's name appears 14 times compared to 13 for Bathsheba.

Abigail's name appears in 1 Samuel 25:3, 14, 18, 23, 32, 36, 39,40, 42, 1 Samuel 27:3, 1 Samuel 30:5, 2 Samuel 2:2, 2 Samuel 3:3 and 1 Chronicles 3:1.

Meanwhile, Bathsheba's name appears in 2 Samuel 11:3, 12:24, 1 Kings 1:11, 15, 16, 28, 31, twice in 1 Kings 2:13, 18, 19, 1 Chronicles 3:5 and Psalm 51:1.

Answer: False

Only Abigail and Bathsheba are described as beautiful. In the NIV Bible, Abigail is described as "beautiful and intelligent" in 1 Samuel 25:3 and Bathsheba is described as "very beautiful" in 2 Samuel 2:3.

Not much should be read into the fact his other wives are not described as beautiful, however. Only a handful of woman in the Old Testament are praised for their beauty, ie Sarai/Sarah (Genesis 12:14) Rebekah (Genesis 24:16), Rachel (Genesis 29:7) and Esther (Esther 2:7). In the New Testament, not a single woman is described as beautiful nor a single man as handsome.

Answer: False

Bit of a trick question here. Yes, David was requested by Saul to produce Philistine foreskins to win the hand of Michal. However, the request was for a hundred foreskins, as per 1 Samuel 18:25. According to verse 27 of the same chapter, David complied by producing two hundred foreskins and won Michal's hand in marriage.

Answer: True

True. According to 2 Samuel:3-3, Maakah was the mother of Absalom. The verse goes on to state she was the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur. However, not much is known about her as she is mentioned in passing reference.

When it comes to Absalom, it's a bit of a long story. In a nutshell, he plunged the country into civil war when he attempted to oust David his father. It all came to an ignoble end when Absalom died a highly unusual death during a heated battle between forces loyal to the two men. According to 2 Samuel 18, the battle took place in the forest of Ephraim and 20,000 men were killed. According to Scripture, Absalom had beautiful long hair that got caught in a tree branch while he was riding on a donkey. After Absalom was left hanging in mid-air, Joab, one of David's three military commanders, killed him. Even though Absalom was attempting to overthrow David and kill him in the process, Scripture reports David was deeply shaken by the death.

Answer: True

True. Adonijah came ever-so-close to becoming king, it seems. The first chapter of 1 Kings tells of Adonijah proclaiming himself as king when David was old and frail and basically out of it.

However, Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, and Nathan the prophet intervened. After telling David what was happening, Solomon was officially proclaimed king, as per 1 Kings 1:8-45.

It appears one of Adonijah's crucial mistakes was that he did not get support from Nathan.

Answer: False

False. Scripture doesn't state there was friction between David's wives. At the same time, Scripture doesn't indicate their relationships were always harmonious. However, the correct answer has to be false.

It's likely, however, Bathsheba and Haggith were at loggerheads, at least at one point in their lives. As mentioned in the answer to Question 6, Haggith's son Adonijah unsuccessfully attempted to set himself up as king. He would be denied his dream, however, when Bathsheba, with the help of Nathan the prophet, intervened to make Solomon king.

The stakes would have been high for the Haggith and Bathsheba. The mother of the king was seen as the most powerful woman in the land in Biblical times.

Answer: False

There is no indication in Scripture that David had wives with such names. Miriam was a prophetess who was the sister of Moses and Aaron, while Esther was a Jewish girl who rose to become queen of Persia and played a key role in preventing a diabolical plan to exterminate the Jews.

Miriam's story is largely told in the 15th chapter of Exodus and the 12th and 20th chapter of Numbers. Meanwhile, for details about Esther, see the Old Testament book that bears her name.

Answer: True

True. They were both wives of David but not much is known about them as they are mentioned in passing reference. According to the third chapter of 2 Samuel, Abital gave birth to Shephatiah and Eglah was the mother of Ithream. The two sons were born in Hebron.

David had at least eight wives: Michal, Abigail, Ahinoam, Eglah, Maacah, Abital, Haggith, and Bathsheba. He also had at least ten concubines, as per 2 Samuel 15:16.

Answer: True

True. None of the wives is mentioned by name. Bathsheba, however, is mentioned indirectly in the genealogy of Christ. Matthew 1:6, in the NIV Bible, mentions Solomon, "whose mother had been Uriah's wife." Three other women mentioned in Christ's genealogy in Matthew are Tamar, Rahab and Ruth.

David, however, is mentioned multiple times in the New Testament, including the genealogy of Christ in the first chapter of Matthew and the third chapter of Luke. David's name can be also found in Mark and John as well as Acts, Romans, 2 Timothy, Hebrews and Revelation.