Evidence of the Historicity of King David and Jesus :: By Debra Hodges

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Are you the kind of person who likes to have facts in front of you to draw your interest and capture your attention?

Do you view the Christian Bible as a collection of myths and legends? Do you have a mythical view of King David and Jesus Christ rather than believing they are actual historical figures? Do you believe the Apostle Paul was writing about a celestial Jesus and viewed Him the same way that people living in the first century viewed all the other Greek and Roman gods?

What do you believe about Miracles? Are they impossible? What is your worldview? Is it theistic (believing in a God or higher power) or naturalistic (believing the universe can be explained solely by natural laws without a deity)? If the latter is your belief, is that philosophy helping you feel happy and fulfilled, or do you feel that something is lacking in your life? Read on to discover facts that may persuade you to consider the Biblical worldview.

Evidence for the Existence of King David

In the last few decades, archaeological excavations in Israel have uncovered physical evidence that supports the existence of King David and his line of Kings (1000 BCE – 586 BCE).

THE LARGE STONE STRUCTURE was discovered in August 2005 by Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar in the oldest part of Jerusalem (the eastern side, which is known as the City of David). It is a large public building potentially dating back to the time of King David and is often considered a possible candidate for his palace because of its proximity to the Stepped Stone Structure.

The STEPPED-STONE STRUCTURE is the largest Iron Age structure in Israel. It is built onto the side of a hill and is as tall as a 12-story building. It now seems to be part of the same building complex as the Large-Stone Structure, and most archaeologists think this is clearly the palace of King David.

The TEL DAN STELE was discovered in 1993 at Tel Dan, which is an archaeological site in Israel in upper Galilee next to the Golan Heights. It is a 9th-century B.C. basalt slab that mentions the “House of David.” Its pieces were used to construct an ancient stone wall that has survived into modern times. The surviving inscription details that an individual killed Jehoram of Israel, the son of Ahab, the king of the House of David (see 2nd book of Kings).

The GATH OSTRACON (a piece of pottery with writing on it) was discovered at Tell es-Safi in 2005 (the site of the biblical Philistine city of Gath). It dates to the Iron Age 2 period when David and Goliath lived. It contains two names on it that are similar to the name “Goliath.”

Name-rings on the Bubastis Portal at the Karnak Temple represent the bound prisoners that Pharaoh Shishak conquered. The text “hadabiyat-dawit” on name-rings 105 and 106 translate to: “Heights or Highlands of Dawit” (House of David).

The MESHA STELE aka the Moabite Stone is a black basalt monument discovered in August 1868 in Dhiban, Jordan by missionary Frederick Klein. Inscriptions on it record the victories of Mesha, the King of Moab against the Kingdom of Israel (800 B.C.) and includes the phrase “House of David.”

Many BULLAE (clay seal impressions) have been found attesting to at least 5 Davidic Kings such as Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Manasseh.

Evidence for the Existence of King Solomon and His Temple

Is there any legitimate evidence to show that Solomon’s Temple (957 BCE – 586 BCE) existed? Six nearly identical chambered gates have been discovered in Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. These provide evidence that King Solomon engaged in large building projects. Copper mines have been discovered in the southern Negev region (part of Edom) which relate to King Solomon’s Temple. Excavations show that copper production in this region peaked during the 10th century B.C. This was at the same time as the reign of King David and King Solomon. Also found in this area were 10th-century B.C. weaponry, a 5-meter-high fortified wall, a gatehouse, and a donkey stable with ancient manure showing that the straw that the donkeys ate came from Jerusalem.

Another piece of evidence that corroborates the Biblical narrative that Solomon had aid from the Phoenician King Hiram in the building of the first temple was the discovery of a ROYAL SARCOPHAGUS dated from the 10th century B.C. It was discovered in Byblos, and the inscription on it reads, “Ahiram, King of Byblos.”

Reliability of the New Testament

Skepticism about the reliability of the New Testament text started at the end of the 19th century. Julius Wellhausen in 1878 undermined the historical reliability of the Bible in his book The Documentary Hypothesis. He said that the use of different names for God (Yahweh, Elohim, and Law Giver) in the Torah (first 5 books of the Bible written by Moses) meant that the Torah had been written by multiple authors. However, at that time there was a lack of archaeological and textual evidence relating to the customs and practices described in the Patriarchal narratives in the Bible. Since then, archaeologists have discovered middle Bronze age social customs, covenants, codes (such as the Code of Hammurabi), personal names, slave prices, and place names mentioned in the Old Testament. Examples of these discoveries include Egyptian excretion texts, Dilbat tablets, Mari tablets, and EBLA TABLETS.

The New Testament records are incredibly accurate. There are minor differences in manuscripts, called variants. None of them impact or change key Christian beliefs or claims. Documents written closer to the time of the events they describe have more historical value. The oldest known manuscript of the New Testament is A FRAGMENT FROM THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, Rylands Library Papyrus P52, which may date back to the first half of the 2nd century (125–175 CE).

The New Testament has been preserved in more ancient manuscripts than any other document from antiquity. There are approximately 5,800 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. In addition, there are 10,000 Latin manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in other languages.

The discovery of the DEAD SEA SCROLLS has been heralded as one of the most significant archeological finds of the twentieth century. Many scrolls and a copper cylinder were found comprising almost the entire Bible. The text is identical to Biblical manuscripts discovered later and provides details about the culture and history of first-century Israel. They are important because they are a testament to the way God has preserved His Word throughout the centuries.

The New Testament Gospels display a historical, documentary genre or style of writing, especially the Gospel of Luke. Because of this evidence, we have good reason to be confident that the New Testament has come down to us in much the same form as its original composition.

Evidence for the Existence of Jesus

The following archeological discoveries corroborate the existence of places mentioned in the Gospel narratives and display the context or conditions in which Jesus lived.

A PAVED STONE MENTIONING ERASTUS was discovered in northeast Corinth. Paul mentioned Erastus in a letter he wrote to the Christians in Rome when he was in Corinth.

The ASSUMPTION OF MOSES is an early first-century document attesting to the existence of King Herod (ruled 34 years).

A SYNAGOGUE MADE OF BLACK BASALT was discovered under the ruins of a 4th-century synagogue in Capernaum.

STONE WATERPOTS were discovered in the area around Cana that were like those used at the wedding in Cana (John 2: 1-12) in contrast to commonly used clay waterpots.

The remains of buildings and a synagogue were identified in 1838 by Eduard Robinson as CAPERNAUM of the New Testament period.

JACOB’S WELL was discovered near the archaeological site of Tell Balata — thought to be the biblical Shechem, which is about 63km north of Jerusalem.

Jesus provided an interpretive key to understand the prophecies about Him. For example, the Book of Jonah and the life of Jesus are often compared in several ways, including:

  • Message: Both Jonah and Jesus preached messages that were rejected by Jews but accepted by Gentiles.
  • Storm: Both Jonah and Jesus were in boats that were overtaken by storms.
  • Sleep: Both Jonah and Jesus slept in the boat during the storm.
  • Wake-up: Both Jonah and Jesus were woken up by the panic-stricken sailors or disciples.
  • Divine intervention: Both Jonah and Jesus experienced miraculous divine intervention that calmed the sea.
  • Resurrection: Jesus rose gloriously from the dead while Jonah was spat out of a fish.

In the story of Abraham and Isaac, the ram is slaughtered on Mount Moriah in place of Isaac. Jesus is the true Isaac. In Jesus, God brings his own promised Son into death and through it. Just like God spares Isaac, God spares humanity because he takes the cross on Himself.

Another parallel between an Old Testament figure and the life of Jesus of Nazareth is in the story of Joseph who became governor of Egypt after his brothers sold him into slavery. He is depicted as a Savior because he saved the whole Jewish tribe from famine, while Jesus saves those that repent of their sin. Both went through suffering and betrayal.

Jesus is often referred to as the Passover Lamb, and there are many ways that Jesus’ life corresponded to the Passover lamb, including:

  • Four Days: the Passover lamb had to be chosen and brought into the house four days before Passover, and Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey four days before His death on the cross. Just as the lamb was inspected to ensure it was completely pure and free of blemishes, Jesus was interrogated by the Sanhedrin, the High Priest Caiaphas, Pontius Pilate, and by the chief priests and scribes.
  • Sacrifice: Jesus was sacrificed for the sins of others, like the Passover lamb.
  • Age: Jesus was a mature male, like the Passover lamb.
  • Body: Jesus’ body was taken down and wrapped in linen, like the Passover lamb.
  • Biblical references: Paul called Jesus “Christ our Passover” in 1 Corinthians 5:7, and John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God” in John 1:29.

There are too many of these literary patterns in the Old Testament that match precisely to be coincidental. There must have been design behind them all, as that design could not have been known by the authors. Design theory is one improbable match after another and is a way Jesus gets us to recognize who He is.

Consider the “Trilemma” argument for the deity of Jesus that atheist-turned-Christian author C.S. Lewis proposed in his book Mere Christianity. “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice.” The records of the life of Jesus (in the gospel accounts and in the writings of extra-biblical authors such as Josephus and Tacitus) portray Jesus as a good and wise teacher; traits that are exactly the opposite the traits of an insane person. In Antiquities 18:63, Josephus writes: “About this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was the achiever of extraordinary deeds and was a teacher of those who accept the truth gladly.”

Tacitus was a member of the Roman Senate and a great historian. In The Annals Book 15, he wrote about Jesus and the Christians of that era:

“Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.”

Early Church Fathers such as Polycarp, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Hippolytus, Tertullian, and Origen believed that Jesus was not insane but that He was God. Irenaeus of Lyons (Ad 130-202) portrayed Jesus as having a perpetually good, loving nature derived from His heavenly Father. In Against Heresies, he wrote: “But that He is Himself in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, and Lord, and King Eternal, and the Incarnate Word, proclaimed by all the prophets, the apostles, and by the Spirit Himself, may be seen by all who have attained to even a small portion of the truth.”

Faith in Jesus Christ is not blind faith. It is grounded in archaeological and extra-biblical evidence that Jesus Christ was a real person who existed during the first century. The following archeological finds attest to the reality of key figures mentioned in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ trial.

Evidence of Caiaphas’ Tomb – the tomb of this priest was discovered in a burial cave in south Jerusalem in 1990. Two of the 12 stone boxes (ossuaries) had the name Caiaphas written on the side. The text “Joseph, son of Caiaphas” was inscribed on the side of the most elaborately decorated ossuary found in this cave.

The Pilate inscription in 1961, a stone plaque engraved with Pilate’s name and title was discovered in Caesarea, the Roman port and capital of Judea in Christ’s day. “The two-foot by three-foot slab, now known as the Pilate Inscription, was … apparently written to commemorate Pilate’s erection and dedication of a Tiberium, a temple for the worship of Tiberias Caesar, the Roman emperor during Pilate’s term over Judea. The Latin inscription of four lines gives his title as ‘Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea,’ a title very similar to that used of him in the Gospels (see Luke 3:1). This was the first archaeological find to mention Pilate, and again testified to the accuracy of the Gospel writers.

The Coins of Herod Antipas – as Tetrarch of Galilee, Herod Antipas had the right to mint his own coins. The archaeological record reveals that he minted coins of four denominations during his reign.

The Nazareth Inscription is an edict from an unnamed Caesar inscribed in Greek on a marble slab (tablet). The decree imposed a death penalty in Israel for anyone caught disturbing graves or moving bodies from family tombs, and specifically “sepulcher-sealing tombs,” such as the one Jesus was buried in. It was acquired by Wilhelm Froeher in 1878 who recorded that it came from Nazareth.

Gruesome evidence of crucifixion in 1968, the body of a crucified man dating to the first century was found in Jerusalem. Here the true method of crucifixion was discovered: His ankles, not his feet, had been nailed and could easily support his weight.

Arcosolium tombs have been found around Jerusalem that perfectly fit the description given by the Gospel writers. “In Roman times, the entrance was often closed with a large circular stone, set up on edge and rolled in its groove to the mouth of the tomb so as to close it securely.

God expects us to use our minds wisely, in a way that discerns between truth and error. There is well-documented evidence that Jesus was a real man who lived in the first century in Israel, performed many miracles, and rose from the dead on the third day after He was crucified.

Dr. Titus Kennedy (archaeologist) and Dr. Gary Habermas, respectively, have written many books containing huge amounts of evidence related to the existence of Jesus and the facts of the resurrection. The following are some of their most popular books.

Books by Dr. Kennedy

  • Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries That Bring the Bible to Life
  • Excavating the Evidence for Jesus: The Archaeology and History of Christ and the Gospels
  • The Essential Archaeological Guide to Bible Lands: Uncovering Biblical Sites of the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean World

Books by Dr. Habermas

 

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