Jesse, in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), the father of King David. Jesse was the son of Obed and the grandson of Boaz and Ruth. He was a farmer and sheep breeder in Bethlehem. David was the youngest of Jesse’s eight sons. The appellation “son of Jesse” served as a synonym for David, both at Saul ’s court and, subsequently, when David became king. It became a standard poetic metaphor ...
Jesse (wealthy), the father of David, was the son of Obed, who again was the fruit of the union of Boaz and the Moabitess Ruth. His great-grandmother was Rahab the Canaanite, of Jericho. (Matthew 1:5) Jesse's genealogy is twice given in full in the Old Testament, viz., (Ruth 4:18-22) and 1Chr 2:5-12 He is commonly designated as "Jesse the Bethlehemite," (1 Samuel 16:1,18; 17:58) but his full ...