2 Samuel 7:5, The House of David

//King David dreamed of building a house for God, but God declined the offer, awarding that privilege to David’s son, Solomon. Instead, God built David a “house” … that is, a dynasty.

A FEW scholars are skeptical, considering David’s kingdom to be mythical, or at least very small. No archaeological record has ever been found referring to King David.

That is, until 1993. Then, during an excavation in Tel Dan in northern Israel, archaeologists uncovered several fragments of a stele dating to the 9th century BCE. In it, an unnamed king (probably Hazael) of Aram-Damascus boasts about victories over Israel and Israel’s ally … the “House of David.” While the stele’s authenticity has been established, scholars continue to debate its translation, specifically the meaning of the “house of David.”

Here is the translated text:

1. [ ]…[ ] and cut [ ]
2. [ ] my father went up [ ] he fought at […]
3. And my father lay down; he went to his [fathers]. Now the king of I[s]/rael had penetrated
4. into my father’s land before. [But then] Hadad made me king,
5. And Hadad marched before me. So I went forth from [the] seven[…]/s
6. of my rule, and I killed [seve]nty kin[gs] who had harnessed thou[sands of cha]/riots
7. and thousands of cavalry. [And I killed …]ram son of […]
8. the king of Israel, and I killed […]yahu son of [… the ki]/ng of
9. the House of David. And I made [their towns into ruins and turned]
10. their land into [a desolation …]
11. others and […Then…became ki]/ng
12. over Is[rael…And I laid]
13. siege against […]