We have another list of names in 1 Chronicles 3.
David has six sons born to him in his seven and a half years in Hebron.
He has nine more sons born to him in his thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
In addition to those, he had four sons with Bathsheba. She’s the only one recorded as having more than one son, though it’s possible there were others and it’s just not told us. The last nine don’t have their mothers listed.
The first group of sons do.
The firstborn son is given to a mother with a name that means kindred sweetness. Her son is a fool, though, and winds up dead.
He’s killed by the son of Maacah, whose name means oppression.
The wise Abigail has a son, Daniel, but he’s never mentioned in the vying for the throne. He must have died or some other problem arose with him.
The most short-lived attempt at the crown was by Adonijah, whose mother’s name is Festal. Adonijah does get a feast to celebrate his kingship, but it ends abruptly with Solomon taking the throne.
I find a couple of things interesting with Solomon and Bathsheba, besides the fact that she’s the only one listed with multiple sons. The Lord blessed her and David seems to have shown her favor as well.
Bathsheba’s name is written differently here. It’s Bath-shua. Does SHUA sound familiar? As in Yeshua, Jesus, savior, salvation? Bat is the word for daughter. Here, in Chronicles, Bathsheba makes it into the history books as Bath-shua, the daughter of salvation.
The other unique thing in the verse about Solomon and Bathsheba is that Solomon is listed last among her sons by David. We know that Solomon had to be the first born of her sons to David after the baby of their affair died. Typically, the firstborn would be listed first. We can see Jacob’s sons listed with Reuben first as an example.
Why is Solomon listed last among them? I don’t know; it’s one of those intriguing mysteries. I feel like the Bible is chock full of gold nuggets that we have yet to pan out. Someday, I hope we see them all. But, I wonder if we’ll see them all at once, or if we’ll get to uncover them little by little and always be learning. Since God is infinite, I wonder if we’ll always be getting to know Him for all eternity! It’s a relationship that will never grow stale.