The Davidic Timeline

I personally do not feel qualified to set this or that date for the milestones of David's life. However, I believe that it is important to have a rough idea of when this or that event took place. It is reasonable to assume that most of Samuel is chronological, and Chronicles is as well, but less so. All verses which help to determine when this or that occurred have been included in the "Narrative" section.

Top of the Page	Bibliography

Bracketed dates are derived from the Scripture, based upon author's original premises. The dates of Gerrit Verkuyl, the editor of the Modern Language Bible (the New Berkeley Version in Modern English) have been recently added because, unlike the other sources, he recognizes that the final chapters of 2Samuel are not in chronological order. The Bible Truth 4U dates are all in parentheses now.

Fenton-
Farrar

(F. L. Smith)	Gerrit Verkuyl

(Bible Truth 4U)	Reese's Chronology Bible	Scripture	Narrative
[1085 b.c.]	(1040 b.c.)	[1055 b.c.]	Ruth 4:22	David is born.
1063 b.c.	(1025 b.c.)	1Sam. 16:1–17	David is anointed by Samuel (at age 15 by Bible Truth 4U).
1063 b.c.	1030 b.c.	1Sam. 16:18–23	David plays music for King Saul.
1062 b.c.	1029 b.c.	1Sam. 17	David defeats Goliath.
1062 b.c.	1Sam. 18:1–9	Jonathan's love for David.
1060 b.c.	1Sam. 18:10–16	Saul's attempts to kill a young David.
1060 b.c.	1Sam. 18:17–28	Saul persuades David to war against the Philistines.
1059 b.c.	1Sam. 19	Saul sends soldiers to David's house to kill him; David escapes and leaves Gibeah.
1058 b.c.	1Sam. 20	Jonathan and Saul's conflict over David. Jonathan and David make a pact.
1Sam. 21:1–9	David goes to Nob and endangers the priests there.
1058 b.c.	1Sam. 21:10–15	David escapes to Gath in Philistia.
1058 b.c.	1028 b.c.	1Sam. 22:1–6	David goes to the cave of Adullam.
1057 b.c.	1Sam. 22:7–23	Saul kills the priests of Nob; one priest escapes to David.
1057 b.c.	1Sam. 23:1–14	David saves Keilah from the Philistines. The men of Keilah betray David over to Saul.
1056 b.c.	1Sam. 23:15–29	David and the men of Ziph.
1055 b.c.	1Sam. 23:19–29	The Ziphites betray David to Saul
1056 b.c.	1Sam. 24	Saul continues to pursue David; David chooses not to kill Saul.
1055 b.c.	1027 b.c.	1Sam. 25	Samuel dies. David marries Abigail.
1054 b.c.	1Sam. 26	David again spares Saul's life.
1054 b.c.	(1012 b.c.)	1026 b.c.	1Sam. 27:1–5	David goes to the King of Gath for refuge. Bible Truth 4U estimates his age to be about 28.
1053 b.c.	1Sam. 27:6–12	David is assigned the city of Ziklag by the King of Gath. 1Sam. 27:7 And the number of days that David lived in the field of the Philistines was a year of days and 4 months.
1053 b.c.	1Sam. 28	Saul goes to a medium.
1054 b.c.	1Sam. 29	God keeps David from warring against Saul.
1054 b.c.	1Sam. 30	The Amalekites raid David's camp; David defeats the Amalekites.
The only way the Fenton-Farrar dates make sense is if 1Sam. 29 and 30 occur at the very end of 1054 and 1Sam. 28 occurs a few days later at the beginning of 1053 b.c. David would actually be returning to his camp very nearly coterminous with Saul's defeat.
1054 b.c.

(c. 1011 b.c.)	1010 b.c.	1025 b.c.	1Sam. 31:1–10

1Chron. 10:1–12	The deaths of Jonathan and Saul (at ages 58 and 80, respectively1); the Philistines defeat the Israelites. 2Sam. 4:4 And Jonathan, Saul's son, had a son who was lame in his feet. He was 5 years old when the news of Saul and Jonathan came out of Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And as she made haste to flee he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth.
After the Philistines defeated Jonathan and Saul, did they just return home or did they set up garrisons in this part of Israel? The latter is the most logical; particularly after defeating the armies of Saul. Reese's chronology allows no time for this.
1054 b.c.	2Sam. 1:1–27	The defeat of Saul at Gilboa is reported to David.
1055 b.c.

(c. 1010 b.c.)	1010 b.c.

(1010 b.c.)	1025 b.c.	2Sam. 2:1–4	David becomes king over Judah (the southern kingdom). David is 30. 2Sam. 5:4 David was 30 years old when he began to reign. He reigned 40 years.
1054 b.c.

c. 1011 b.c.	1025 b.c.	2Sam. 2:8–10	Ish-Bosheth, son of Saul, is made king over portions of the northern kingdom, helped by General Abner. 2Sam. 2:10 Ishbosheth, Saul's son, was 40 years old when he began to reign over Israel, and reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.
It is not clear how much of northern Israel Ish-Bosheth ruled over and it is not clear what the Philistines were doing at this time. Logically, the Philistines had set up garrisons and were controlling portions of central Israel at this time.
On the other hand, it is possible that David, within months of being in exile, moved to Judah as king over Southern Israel.
2Sam. 2:11	2Sam. 2:11 And it happened, the number of days that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was 7 years and 6 months. 2Sam. 5:5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah 7 years and 6 months, and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years over all Israel and Judah. Confirmed in 1Chron. 3:4
1053 b.c.	2Sam. 2:12–3:1	There are military conflicts between David and Ish-Bosheth. Asaphel, David's nephew, is killed while pursuing Abner.
1003 b.c.	c. 1022 b.c.	2Sam. 3:2–5	David is ruling from Hebron with his wives and he is fathering children. Approximate time Absalom is born, as per Reese.
1048 b.c.

(c. 1004 b.c.)	2Sam. 3:6–13	Ish-Bosheth and Abner have a falling out. Abner offers his allegiance to David.
1048 b.c.	c.1023–

1022 b.c.	2Sam. 3:22–39	Joab and Abishai kill Abner to avenge their brother's death.
1003 b.c.	2Sam. 4:1–12	Ish-Bosheth is murdered.
1048 b.c.

(c. 1004 b.c.)	1003 b.c.

(1003 b.c.)	1018 b.c.	2Sam. 5:1–3

1Chron. 11:1–3	David becomes king over all Israel. He is still ruling from Hebron. David is approximately 37 years old, according to Bible Truth 4U.
2Sam. 5:4–5	2Sam. 5:4–5 David was thirty years old when he began to reign. He reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah 7 years and 6 months, and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years over all Israel and Judah.
1043 b.c.	c. 1017–

1010 b.c.

c. 1015–

1010 b.c.2	2Sam. 5:6–8

1Chron. 11:4–5	David captures Jerusalem and makes it the capitol of all Israel. He acquires more wives and children in Jerusalem.
1011 b.c.	April 1017	1Chron. 12:8–15	The Gadites join David
1003-
1002 b.c.	1016 b.c.	1Chron. 13:1–4	David expresses his desire to bring the Ark to Jerusalem, and the congregation agrees.
1003 b.c. and following	2Sam. 5:11–12

1Chron. 14:1–2	Hiram builds David's house.
1047 b.c.	2Sam. 5:17–25

1Chron. 14:8–17	Wars with the Philistines.
1042 b.c.	1002 b.c.	2Sam. 6

1Chron. 13, 15–16	David moves the Ark of God to Jerusalem.
1041 b.c.	1014 b.c.	2Sam. 7

1Chron. 17

Psalm 89	David desires to build a Temple for God; the Davidic Covenant.
1040 b.c.	1002–995 b.c.	1010 b.c.	2Sam. 8

1Chron. 18	David defeats Moab, Hadadezer the Aramæans at Damascus, Edom and Hamath.
1040 b.c.	2Sam. 9:1–13	Jonathan's son (and Saul's grandson) is honored by David. His former servant, Ziba, is reassigned to him by David.
1037 b.c.	c. 995 b.c.	1006 b.c.	2Sam. 10:1–14

1Chron. 19:1–15	Conflict with the Ammonites.
994 b.c.	2Sam. 21:15–22

1Chron. 20:4–8	Philistine wars.
1037 b.c.	2Sam. 10:15–19

1Chron. 19:16–19	David defeats the Aramæans.
1035 b.c.	c. 994 b.c.	2Sam. 11:1

1Chron. 20:1a	Conflict with Ammonites is resumed. 1Chron. 20:1 And it happened after the year had ended, at the time kings go forth, Joab led out the power of the army and wasted the country of the sons of Ammon. And he came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. And Joab struck Rabbah and destroyed it.
1035 b.c.	1005 b.c.

c. 1016 b.c. (Klassen)	2Sam. 11:2–25	David's sin with Bathsheba. He has her husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed in battle.
1034 b.c.	1004 b.c.

c.1016 b.c. (Klassen)	2Sam. 11:26–12:23

Psalm 32 51	David marries Bathsheba. David is rebuked by Nathan. David calls for God's forgiveness and cleansing.
c. 993 b.c.

(1000 b.c.)	1003 b.c.

c. 1015 b.c. (Klassen)	2Sam. 12:24–25	Birth of Solomon. David is approximately 40 years old (BT4U).
c. 994 b.c.	2Sam. 12:26–31

1Chron. 20:1b–3	Conflict with Ammonites is concluded.
1032 b.c.	c. 990 b.c.

(990 b.c.)	1002 b.c.	2Sam. 13:1–22	David's son, Amnon, rapes David's daughter, Tamar.
1030 b.c.	[990–985 b.c.]

1001–999 b.
c.998 b.c. (Klassen – date was changed; typo in Reese)	2Sam. 13:23–39	David's son Absalom kills Amnon and flees. 2Sam. 13:23 And it happened after 2 full years Absalom had sheepshearers in Baal-hazor, beside Ephraim. And Absalom invited all the king's sons. 2Sam. 13:38 And Absalom fled and went to Geshur, and was there 3 years.
1025 b.c.	[985–983 b.c.]	996 b.c.

995 b.c.

(Klassen)	2Sam. 14	Joab tries to reunite David and Absalom. 2Sam. 14:28 And Absalom lived 2 full years in Jerusalem and did not see the king's face.
1024 b.c.	983–979 b.c.

(979–961 b.c.) (?)	994–993 b.c.	2Sam. 15	Absalom rebels against David and David goes into exile. 2Sam. 15:6–10 And in this way Absalom did to all Israel that came to the king for judgment. And Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. And it happened at the end of 40 (4?) years, Absalom said to the king, Please let me go and pay my vow which I have vowed to Jehovah in Hebron. For your servant vowed a vow while I lived at Geshur in Syria, saying, If Jehovah will indeed bring me again to Jerusalem, then I will serve Jehovah. And the king said to him, Go in peace. And he arose and went to Hebron. But Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as you hear the sound of the ram's horn, then you shall say, Absalom reigns in Hebron! Many have said that this reading is corrupt and ought to be 4 years.3
2Sam. 16:1–14	David's relationship with the two factions of Israel.
1023 b.c.	2Sam. 16:15–17:23	David gains the upper hand over Absalom by means of intrigue and deception.
1023 b.c.	c. 979 b.c.	992 b.c.	2Sam. 17:24–18:18	David's army defeats Absalom's army in battle and Absalom is subsequently killed. Absalom is approximately 30 years old (Reese). According to Reese, David would be 63 years old and according to Fenton-Farrar, he would be 62 years old.
1023 b.c.	c. 979 b.c.	2Sam. 18:19–19:8	David reacts to Absalom's death.
1023 b.c.	c. 979 b.c.	2Sam. 19:9–20	David returns to Jerusalem.
c. 979 b.c.	2Sam. 20:1–3	David returns to Jerusalem; Sheba ben Bichri prepares to revolt against David.
1022 b.c.	c. 979 b.c.	2Sam. 20:4–13	Joab kills Amasa.
c. 979 b.c.	2Sam. 20:14–22	Joab puts down Sheba's rebellion.
From this point forward, there is a problem. These final chapters of 2Samuel did not occur in this sort of chronological order, and yet, these sources treat them as if they did. These final few chapters form an appendix to 2Samuel, not a continuation of it. Therefore, I have gone back and added a source who understands this to be the case.
1021 b.c.	c. 990 b.c.

(976–964 b.c.) (?)	991–989 b.c.

992–900 b.c.

(Klassen)	2Sam. 21:1–3	Famine in Israel. 2Sam. 21:1 And there was a famine in the days of David 3 years, year after year. And David inquired of Jehovah. And Jehovah answered, For Saul, and for his bloody house, because he killed the Gibeonites.
2Sam. 21:2–9	Wrong against Gibeonites corrected.
1018 b.c.	1005–995 b.c.	988 b.c.	2Sam. 21:15–22

1Chron. 20:4–8	Final war against the Philistines.
1018 b.c.	2Sam. 22:1–51	David's song of thanksgiving.
1018 b.c.	970 b.c.	2Sam. 23:1–39	David's roll call of military heroes.
1017 b.c.	c. 995 b.c.

c. 975 b.c.4

(975–965 b.c.) (?)	988 b.c.	2Sam. 24:1–25

1Chron. 21:1–30	David is inspired by Satan to take a census and is disciplined by God. 2Sam. 24:13 And Gad came to David, and told him, and said to him, Shall 7 years of famine come upon you and on your land? Or will you flee three months before your enemies while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days' plague in your land? And advise, and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent me. 1Chron. 21:11–12 And Gad came to David and said to him, So says Jehovah, Choose for yourself: either 3 years of famine, or 3 months to be swept away before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtake you, or else 3 days of the sword of Jehovah, even the plague in the land, and the angel of Jehovah destroying throughout all the border of Israel. And now say what word I shall bring again to Him who sent me.
1Chron. 22	Preparations are made by David for the Temple. His son, Solomon, assists.
971–970 b.c.	985 b.c.	1Chron. 23–29	A national convocation.
970 b.c.	985 b.c.	1Chron. 28–29	A national convocation.
970 b.c.	986 b.c.	1Kings 1	David's health fails; there is intrigue among his sons. Solomon is made king. 2Sam. 5:4 David was 30 years old when he began to reign. He reigned 40 years. Obviously, this would make him 70 years old when he dies. Compare 1Chron. 26:31
(c. 971 b.c.)	970 b.c.

(970 b.c.)	985 b.c.	1Kings 2	David dies; Solomon becomes king in his stead. 1Kiings 2:11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were 40 years. He reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned 33 years in Jerusalem. 1Chron. 29:27 is a parallel passage.

Top of the Page	Bibliography

Bibliography

Fenton-Farrar from http://thetencommandmentsministry.us/ministry/ferrar_fenton/pdf/first-samuel.pdf and from http://thetencommandmentsministry.us/ministry/ferrar_fenton/pdf/second-samuel.pdf both accessed June 22, 2012.

F. Lagard Smith's numbers come from The Open Bible; the New Living Translation; Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN; ©1996, pp. 432–489.

Bible Truth 4U from http://bibletruth4u.com/2010/07/30/david-timeline/ accessed October 2, 2011.

Bible Truth 4U seems to be very close to the dates found in The Modern Language Bible (also called The Berkeley Version); Revised Edition; Gerris Verkuyl, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief; Hendrickson Publishers, ©1969. I have since added these dates from the Berkeley Version, as there were more of them.

The Reese Chronological Bible; KJV translation; Editor: Edward Reese; ©1977 by Edward Reese and Klassen's dating system ©1975 by Frank R. Klassen; 1980 by Bethany House Publishers, South Minneapolis, MN; p. 444–588. If there are 2 dates listed, generally, the first one is Reese's and the second is Klassen's.

Related Links
www.kukis.org	Exegesis	Exegetical Studies in Samuel
Doctrines	Charts	Doctrinal Index