Was David an Ephrathite or a Judahite?

Question: In 1 Samuel 17:12 David is said to be an Ephrathite. I thought he was a Judahite? Is that mixed lineage? or are those two lineages connected in some way I don’t understand? David is the first king in the line of Judah, right? the beginning of the fulfillment of Genesis 49?

Answer: Doing a word search of Ephrath I found that it was an alternate name for Bethlehem (Gen 35:19) but also distinguished in some way from Bethlehem (Ruth 1:2; 4:11). It is often the case that a town or area is named for a person of honor. Perhaps there was an Ephrath who founded Bethlehem, or part of the town was considered populated by his lineage. It became a title for people like David’s ancestor Naomi and thus attached to him. The name seems to have been attached to Bethlehem before Judah was born (Genesis 35:19) or else it is a name that came to be associated with Bethlehem afterwards that was being read back into the text in Genesis to identify it for current readers. If the latter is true, then it could have been a descendent of Judah for which it was named. If not, then it is unclear what it designates as far as literal genealogy, for it is apparent that David was descended from Judah.

 

One reader’s response: “Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.” Ruth 1:2.  David was of Ephraim and lived in the area of Bethlehemjudah.

Another reader’s response: Descendents of Ephraim were referred to as Ephrathites or sons of Ephraim in the bible. The blessing of Abraham is given by Isaac to Jacob/Israel to Josephs son Ephraim

My reply: Descendents of Ephraim were NOT referred to as Ephrathites. Ephrathites were people associated with Bethlehem, also known as Ephrath or Ephrathah. See https://www.gotquestions.org/Ephrathites.html for more help on this. Ephrathites were therefore not descendants of Ephraim but of Judah.

Another reader’s response: The descendants of Ephraim were referred to as Ephrathites or sons of Ephraim in the Bible Dictionary. A Dictionary of the Bible Volume 1”, and the, “Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible,” both dictionaries confirm that the Ephrathites were Ephraimites.