How old was David when he became king of Israel? To answer this question, we must look at the timeline of David’s life—from his anointing to his coronation and beyond.
How Old Was David When Samuel Anointed Him King?
The life of King David is a fascinating story filled with triumph, failure, betrayal, and restoration. As a shepherd, songwriter, giant slayer, fugitive, father, and king, David experienced as much as any man could in a lifetime. Through every season, he uniquely saw God’s hand at work in his life.
David’s story begins in the Bible when the prophet Samuel anoints him as the new king over Israel per God’s instruction (1 Samuel 16:1-13). The anointing came on the heels of God’s rejection of Saul as king (1 Samuel 15:10-35) following Saul’s failure to wipe out the Amalekites as God had commanded (1 Samuel 15:1-9).
In response, the prophet Samuel rebuked Saul:
“Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king” (1 Samuel 15:23).
Furthermore, Samuel pronounced that “the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you” (1 Samuel 15:28).
Soon after, God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse to anoint a new king from among Jesse’s sons (1 Samuel 16:1). This was to fulfill what Scripture promised, that the true king of Israel, and ultimately the Messiah (Genesis 3:15; Numbers 24:17; 1 Samuel 2:10), would come from the tribe of Judah (Ruth 4:12, 22; Genesis 49:10), and be from the village of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:2-6).
Not surprisingly, when approached by Samuel, Jesse brought forward his oldest and most impressive sons first. However, in reviewing each, Samuel was reminded that “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). In many ways, this stood in direct contrast to what Israel had grown accustomed to in King Saul, who was said to have been both “handsome” and physically “taller than any of the people” (1 Samuel 9:2).
Nevertheless, God rejected Jesse’s seven oldest sons in favor of the eighth and youngest, the family shepherd whom Jesse had not even bothered to summon (1 Samuel 16:11). Here, David, the youngest son of Jesse but firstborn over Israel (Psalms 89:27) was anointed as God’s chosen king (1 Samuel 16:13).
But how old was David when he first was anointed? Scripture does not say.
As the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, David was young enough for his father to disregard him when presenting his sons to the prophet Samuel but old enough to be entrusted with caring for the family flock. Therefore, David was probably a pre-teen or early teen who had yet to reach physical maturity and fighting age when he was anointed.
Other details in the story support this.
Before David’s encounter with the Philistine giant Goliath, Jesse did not send his youngest sons with his three oldest boys to fight with the armies of Israel (1 Samuel 17:12-16). Instead, David remained behind with the sheep. He was only sent to the front lines to deliver food and supplies to his older brothers, probably in their early twenties (Numbers 1:3; 1 Samuel 17:17-19).
It is also worth noting that neither King Saul nor Goliath regarded David as much of a physical threat when he stepped forward to face the Philistine giant (1 Samuel 17:33, 41-44). In both cases, the king of Israel and the Philistine champion specifically mentioned David’s “youth.”
How Old Was David When He Killed Goliath?
So how old was David when he stood toe to toe with Goliath?
Most indications point to him being anywhere from 12 to 15 years old. He may have been even younger when Samuel anointed him king over Israel.
On another note, shortly after David was anointed king, Scripture records that the son of Jesse split time between his father’s flock and the courts of King Saul, who had commissioned him to play music whenever his soul was tormented by an evil spirit (1 Samuel 16:14-23). When brought forward, David was heralded as “a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man, and the Lord is with him” (1 Samuel 16:18).
To some readers, this description seems inconsistent with the more youthful, inexperienced David presented to King Saul during Israel’s campaign against the Philistines (1 Samuel 17:33).
In the Goliath story, David’s brothers also chastised their younger brother for coming to “see the battle” (1 Samuel 17:28). That also doesn’t seem to align with the description of David being a “mighty man of valor” and a skilled warrior.
Furthermore, when David appears in the court of King Saul, he eventually becomes the king’s trusted armor bearer (1 Samuel 16:21). Later, however, when David steps forward to face Goliath, King Saul attempts to clothe David with his garments, bronze helmet, and armor, to which David responds, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” (1 Samuel 17:39). This has led some to ask: shouldn’t the king’s armor bearer be more familiar with the king’s armor?
Lastly, in 1 Samuel 16, King Saul requests that Jesse allow his youngest son to remain in the king’s company to play music and refresh his troubled soul (1 Samuel 16:22-23). Following David’s victory over Goliath, King Saul asks his general Abner to find out “whose son the youth is.” (1 Samuel 17:56). Didn’t he already know?
These peculiarities have made it difficult to establish an exact timeline of David’s early life. However, some explanations can be provided.
One thought is that King Saul, in his tormented mental state, forgot about David’s father and family heritage. The king of Israel undoubtedly also had many servants, and though Scripture tells us he eventually came to love David, it is conceivable he lost track of his servants and staff.
Furthermore, David seems to split time between playing music for the king and tending to his family’s flock. Only after David had killed Goliath would David become the kind of hero impossible for the king to forget.
Another possibility is that the chronology of 1 Samuel 16 and 17 is not perfectly linear. If that is the case, David (at age 13-15) could have killed Goliath (1 Samuel 17) shortly after being anointed king (sometime between 10-13) (1 Samuel 16:12-13).
After his battle with Goliath, David would have returned home and resumed his duties as the family shepherd. A few years later, in his late teens or early twenties, David was summoned to play music for King Saul, and there became his trusted armor bearer (1 Samuel 16:14-23).
In any case, the exact timeline of David’s early life is difficult to lock down.
How Old Was David When He Became King in Hebron?
When it comes to the exact timeline of David’s life and how old he was when certain events took place, many dates are approximations rather than fixed markers. However, the Bible clarifies that David was 30 years old when he became king in Hebron following the deaths of King Saul and his son Jonathan (1 Samuel 31).
Shortly after Saul’s surviving son, Ish-bosheth, was murdered by his own advisors (2 Samuel 4), the Bible tells us that “all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron” and there made him king (2 Samuel 5:1-3). It then states that David was 30 when he became king, reigned for 40 years: seven and a half years in Hebron, 33 years over the whole nation (2 Samuel 5:1-5).
This passage gives us a more concrete foundation from which to build out the rest of David’s timeline.
How Old Was David When He Became King Over the Entire Nation of Israel?
Suppose David was 30 years old when he became king at Hebron, where he reigned for seven years and six months. In that case, it follows that David would have been around 37 or 38 when he eventually claimed the city of Jerusalem from the Jebusites and established it as the capital of Israel (2 Samuel 5:5-12; 1 Chronicles 11:4-9).
Furthermore, if David reigned in Jerusalem over the entire nation for an additional 33 years, adding to the seven he ruled in Hebron, David would have been king for a total of 40 years, making him around 70 years old when he died and handed the kingdom to his son Solomon.
How Long Was David King After Absalom’s Revolt?
From 37 to 70, David reigned over all of Israel and became the nation’s greatest king. However, several significant events marked the remainder of David’s tenure as monarch, and not always for the better.
Not only did David engage in an adulterous affair with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his mighty men (2 Samuel 11-12). He would later have to deal with an attempted coup by his son (2 Samuel 15).
Scripture does not say how old David was when he slept with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. However, most evidence points to David committing this sin within a few years of becoming king over Jerusalem, perhaps in his late thirties or early forties.
This moral lapse had a lasting impact on David’s children, who saw their father’s reputation damaged and the shame of his failure become a stain on their family for years to come.
Furthermore, David’s numerous marriages probably did little to foster unity amongst his sons. If anything, different sons of different mothers probably spent much of their childhood fighting for their father’s time, affection, and favor. This tension had devastating consequences when David’s oldest son Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar and was later murdered by her brother Absalom (2 Samuel 13).
Absalom fled Jerusalem and remained separated from his father and family for years (2 Samuel 14:21). When he was finally recalled to Jerusalem, he would remain apart from his father for another two years (2 Samuel 14:33). And by the time David reconciled with him, resentment had already set in. Shortly after, Absalom conspired to usurp his father’s throne and seize the kingdom (2 Samuel 15:1-2, Samuel 15:37, 2 Samuel 16:15).
But how old was David during Absalom’s rebellion?
Once again, Scripture does not say. However, the Bible does tell us that Absalom was born in Hebron during David’s preliminary seven-year reign (2 Samuel 3:1-5; 1 Chronicles 3:1-4). This means Absalom would have been born sometime in David’s early to mid-thirties.
Assuming that Absalom was at least in his late teens or early twenties when he murdered Amnon, that would mean he was in his mid to late twenties when he returned to Jerusalem and perhaps closer to 30 when he conspired against his father.
Given that Absalom inspired many in Israel to support him over his father, 30 years old seems like a respectable age to gain a national following. Ironically, 30 was also the age his father was when he was made king at Hebron.
Of course, if Absalom was around 30 when he rebelled against his father, that would put David in his sixties when he fought his son. David’s general, Joab, killed Absolom in the ensuing conflict.
In any case, the tragedy of Absalom’s rebellion would likely be one of David’s last significant political events, as he would die a few years later at 70. King David lived a full life. His reign had its ups and downs, but God was with him through it all.
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/Tomertu
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