The fourth episode of the gripping eight-part drama, , continues today on Prime Video. The series, inspired by biblical tales, recounts the legendary story of David (portrayed by Michael Iskander) against the colossal Goliath (Martyn Ford).
Last week, the first three episodes were released simultaneously to captivate audiences, and now viewers are eager to learn more about David’s history and lineage.
Who was David’s mother?
While the Bible does not name David’s mother, the Jewish text, the Talmud, identifies her as Nitzevet (Siir Tilif).
In the series, she meets a tragic end after being attacked by a lion while defending a young David. This leaves him devastated, already being an outcast and people assuming he was illegitimate rather than Jesse’s son, reports the .
David found himself alone in the fields tending to the sheep (Image: PRIME VIDEO)
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According to the New International Version, Psalm 69:8 in the Bible states: “I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children; for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.”
This suggests that he was considered an outsider within his own family who believed he wasn’t one of them.
Was David a bastard?
In the series, David is referred to as a “bastard” by Samuel (Stephen Lang), with the prophet finding humour in God’s choice to have the ostracised shepherd boy become the next king of .
David was made to work as a shepherd in the fields and was not permitted to join his brothers on the battlefield.
House of David sees the lead character shunned from society (Image: PRIME VIDEO)
In the gripping biblical drama, Jesse (portrayed by Louis Ferreira) is convinced his son is illegitimate, although the Bible doesn’t explicitly state this. David’s sense of alienation is captured in Psalm 69:8, where he speaks of being scorned and derided.
A Jewish interpretation suggests that the term “stranger” used in this context shares roots with the word for bastard, possibly influencing Samuel’s treatment of David in the series. However, traditional Jewish narratives dispute David’s illegitimacy.
The Midrash, a Jewish Biblical commentary, recounts how Jesse’s grandfather Boaz wed a Moabite woman named Ruth. Under Jewish law, Hebrew women were forbidden to marry Moabite men due to historical grievances, but it was unclear if the reverse was true.
After a single night of marriage ending with Boaz’s death—seen by some as divine disapproval—Ruth conceived Obed, who fathered Jesse, as detailed in the Midrash passage Zuta, Ruth 4. Despite the cloud of illegitimacy over Obed and Jesse, their piety eventually led to their acceptance within the community.
Jesse, who was married to Hebrew woman Nitzevet and had seven sons, began to question his own lineage due to his mixed heritage. This led him to separate from Nitzevet as he didn’t want to sin in God’s eyes.
David was thought to be illegitimate (Image: PRIME VIDEO)
Jesse even started doubting the legitimacy of his own sons because of his Moabite blood and decided he wanted a legitimate child. According to Redeeminggod.com, the law allowed him, as a Moabite convert, to marry a female convert to Judaism and thus produce what he believed to be a legitimate heir.
Jesse planned to sleep with his wife’s Canaanite maidservant but she informed Nitzevet of her husband’s plan. The two women agreed to switch places, resulting in Jesse unknowingly sleeping with his wife and Nitzevet becoming pregnant with David.
When Nitzevet started showing signs of pregnancy, she was shunned by her other sons who believed she’d committed adultery. However, out of love for his wife, Jesse forbade any harm coming to her or the baby.
Nitzevet chose not to reveal to Jesse that he was the father, carrying the shame in silence to spare her husband further embarrassment. This seems to confirm that David wasn’t illegitimate and the truth remained buried.
House of David episodes drop on Thursdays on Prime Video