Who is nahash?

Answer 1

The short answer is 'several people'. Nahash, coming from a root word meaning 'serpent', was a unisex name; like 'Lesley' it could be either a boy or girl's name. In the ancient Levant (Bible lands of Palestine), The Bible mentions 2 specific persons in 2nd Samuel chapters 10-12.

The first Nahash was King of Ammon, and suffered a minor defeat by King Saul; two of his sons eventually succeeded him during the reign of King David (1077-1037 BC). The second Nahash was the parent of David's two older half-sisters, Zeruiah and Abigail. If that Nahash was female, she was David's mother, if male, the former husband of David's mother (his father, of course, was Jesse). Scholars generally believe Nahash was the (possibly) non-Israelite father of David's half-sisters and that his mother was a widow with two young daughters when she married Jesse.

The text of the Bible is ambiguous on the second Nahash's gender, perhaps deliberately so. Later on, some scholars (with no evidence but considerable vehemence) insisted Nahash was another name of Jesse, which is highly unlikely.

However, it is possible that as an enemy of Saul, David was given shelter by King Nahash, despite the Ammonites technically being considered reprehensible by the ancient Israelites. As today, names tended to be familial, tribal, national; perhaps David got a warm welcome from the Ammonite king because his two half-sisters were Nahash's relatives-possibly as close as nieces or granddaughters through a dead namesake son. Nahash wasn't a popular Hebrew name, though not entirely unheard of.

It would have been highly inconvenient for later Rabbis of the more radical type to have it known that the glorious King David's mother a) was married to someone else before Jesse, b) that her first husband was a non-Jew, c) that he belonged to the despised Ammonites and d) was probably/possibly a member of the Ammon Royal Family.

Of course that theory is just conjecture, but it could account for the deliberate ambiguity that David's family is treated with in the Bible, which is unusual given that usually great clarity was utilised to establish relationships.

For example, David was born in 1107 BC, and was only 14 when he first encountered Saul and Jonathan, in 1094-3BC. Although he and Jonathan became great friends, they did not even register each other's existence until David became a semi-permanent member of Saul's royal retinue 18 months later in 1092 BC.

The point is however that in 1194 BC, David's father Jesse was "already old amongst men" (1st Samuel 17:12). Since the Israelites were accustomed to persons living lifespans of 70-80 years, Jesse must have been at least 85 years old in 1192 BC for his lifespan to have been so noteworthy.

In short, Jesse was either not monogamous, or he had been widowed at least once (like David's mother) and David's mother had to be at least 40 years younger that Jesse (b.abt 1180-1175 BC) to have been of childbearing age in 1107, when she had David. Given she already had two young daughters, it is likely she was probably in her late 20s/early 30s in 1107 bC.

It is therefore highly likely that at least Jesse's 3 eldest sons, Eliab, Abinadab and Shimmea, if not more, were also half-brothers of David, by an earlier or the primary wife of Jesse. Altogether he had 8 sons, though the 7th born died without any children and is unnamed in the bible.

As a man "mighty in wealth", Jesse might have been tempted to have wives and concubines, and he was also unlikely to have many rivals for his fortune; his father Obed was the son of Boaz (an extremely rich Israelite) and Ruth the Moabitess - given Boaz was in his 60s-70s when Obed was born, it is highly probable Obed was an only child who inherited his father's entire fortune. 1st Samuel 17 highlights the 'bad blood' between David and Eliab, Jesse's firstborn and heir, making it more likely they were half-brothers. David certainly had a great deal more to do with his half-sisters' sons during his reign, indicating a lack of emotional closeness to Jesse's other sons.

It is possible, though no evidence exists, that Jesse married consecutively rather than concurrently - his first 3 sons could have been by his first wife; sons 4,5 and 6 by his second wife or a simultaneous wife or concubine, then sons 7 and 8 could have been by David's mother; perhaps David's only full brother was the 7th, immediately his elder, who died as a young man without children. There is no way to know.

Finally, one possibility to really confuse - it is entirely possible that Nahash was a title rather than a personal name, like Pharaoh, and Abimelech and Jabin were titles rather than names. A more modern parallel, though fanciful, is that of Merlin and Arthur - Merlin, the ancient name for Eagle was a title, not a name, and so was Arthur, deriving from a title meaning 'Bear'; in ancient tribes, names had great significance, so calling a great warrior or wise man (magician) Nahash (snake like cunning) or the Bear (Arthur) was a bit of Propaganda. Again, there is no way to know due to the immense span of time since that period, but it is interesting to speculate on the deliberate ambiguity that seems to exist in the text on the issue of who Nahash really was.