The New Testament gospels apply the messianic epithet “son of David” to Jesus of Nazareth (Johnson 1968; Fitzmyer 1971; Jonge 1991; Charlesworth 1995; Evans 2008, 1801–1812; Bauer 2019). To understand the meaning and significance of this title as applied to Jesus, it is best to view it through a lens informed by its Judaic background.

Davidic messianism flourished in the two centuries leading up to the time of Jesus but traces back to the Davidic covenant, whereby king David, God’s anointed messiah, will have a descendant called God’s “son” (2 Sam. 7:14) and sit on his throne forever (2 Sam. 7:10–16; Ps. 89:1–4, 19–37; 132:11–12). It is from this foundation that Davidic messianism grew (Pomykala 1995). 

This messianic descendant is often referred to as the “Branch,” an epithet that may have originated with the prophet Isaiah: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots” (11:1). The prophet Jeremiah’s use of the epithetic demonstrates how later messianic expectation and hope grew stronger: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king” (23:5) and “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring forth for David” (33:15). According to Zechariah: “Hear now … behold, I will bring my servant the Branch” (3:8) and “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch” (6:12).

Elsewhere, David is referred to as “prince” (2 Sam. 6:21; 7:8; 1 Chr. 17:7), as is his son, Solomon (1 Chr. 29:22). This epithet, also present in the Dead Sea Scrolls (1QSb 5:50; 1QM 5:1; 11Q5 28:11), became incorporated into Davidic messianism (Ezek. 34:24; 37:25). The Dead Sea Scrolls also use the “Branch” epithet (4Q161 fr. 8×17; 4Q174 frs 1–2 i 12; 4Q252 5:3). The author of 1 Maccabees says that “David, because he was merciful, inherited the throne of the kingdom for ever” (2:57). Psalms of Solomon shows hopes that God will “raise up to them [Israelites] their king, the son of David, at the time, in the which you choose, O God, that he may reign over Israel your servant. And gird him with strength, that he may shatter unrighteous rulers. And that he may purge Jerusalem from nations that trample [her] down to destruction” (17:21–22).

The messianic epithets, hopes, and expectations in these texts demonstrate a “vigorous and sustained hope” for a royal messiah within various groups of Israel at the time of Jesus, a “hope [that] was probably fairly widespread at a popular level” (Dunn 1992, 367). As such, “addressing Jesus as “son of David” would have invoked much of this messianic expectation” (Evans 2008, 1803).

References

Bauer, David R. 2019. The Gospel of the Son of God: An Introduction to Matthew. Westmont, Illinois: InterVarsity Press.

Charlesworth, J. H. 1996. “Solomon and Jesus: The Son of David in Ante-Markan Traditions (Mark 10:47).” In Biblical and Humane: A Festschrift for John F. Priest, edited by D. L. Barr and E. S. Malbon, 125–151. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.

Dunn, J. D. G. 1992. “Messianic Ideas and their Influence on the Jesus of History.” In The Messiah: Developments in Earliest Judaism and Christianity, edited by J. H. Charlesworth, 365-381. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.

Evans, Craig A. 2008. “Son of David.” In The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Historical Jesus, edited by Craig A. Evans, 1801-1812. Routledge (Apple Books).

Fitzmyer, J. A. 1971. “The Son of David Tradition and Matt 22:41–46 and Parallels.” In Essays on the Semitic Background of the New Testament, edited by J. A. Fitzmyer, 113–126. London: Chapman.

Johnson, S. E. 1968. “The David-Royal Motif in the Gospels.” JBL 87:136–150.

Jonge, M. de. 1991. “Jesus, Son of David and Son of God.” In Jewish Eschatology, Early Christian Christology and the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, edited by M. de. Jonge, 135-144. Leiden: Brill.

Pomykala, K. E. 1995. The Davidic Dynasty Tradition in Early Judaism: Its History and Significance for Messianism. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press.