Muslims and Christians both honour David. In both books, he kills Goliath, and God makes him king. But the two books also tell some parts very differently. This page puts them side by side. Every quote is copied from its source, with a link so you can check it.
| Topic | Quran & Islam | Bible & Christianity | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| The man | Prophet Dāwūd, named 16 times in the Quran | King David, whose story is told mainly in 1 and 2 Samuel | Same man |
| Shepherd boy | The Quran does not mention it | Yes. He was “keeping the sheep” when God chose him | Only in the Bible |
| Goliath | “David killed Goliath” (2:251) | He killed him “with a sling and with a stone” | Agree |
| King | God gave him “kingship and wisdom” | King for 40 years | Agree |
| Prophet | Yes, one of God’s prophets | The New Testament calls him “a prophet”. Christians often call him King David | Agree |
| His book | God gave him the Zabur (“the Psalms”) | 73 of the 150 Psalms have the heading “of David” | Agree, with a difference |
| Bathsheba | Not in the Quran. Many Muslims reject this story | He took Uriah’s wife and had Uriah killed. Then he repented | Big difference |
| Forgiveness | He asked forgiveness, and God forgave him | He confessed, and God put away his sin | Agree |
| Jesus | Named together with Jesus. The Quran never calls Jesus “son of David” | Jesus is “the son of David”, the promised king | Big difference |
Both books speak about the same man. God chose David. He became king of the Children of Israel. His son Solomon ruled after him. Muslims call him Prophet Dāwūd. Christians usually call him King David.
Both books agreeThe Quran names David 16 times, in 16 verses. Here, God tells Prophet Muhammad to remember him:
Be patient ˹O Prophet˺ with what they say. And remember Our servant, David, the man of strength. Indeed, he ˹constantly˺ turned ˹to Allah˺.
In simple words: God calls David “the man of strength”. David always turned back to God.
We strengthened his kingship, and gave him wisdom and sound judgment.
The Quran names David among the prophets (Quran 6:84) and says of them: “Those were the ones to whom We gave the Scripture, wisdom, and prophethood.” After David, his son Solomon took his place (Quran 27:16).
The Bible tells David’s life mainly in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. God sends the prophet Samuel to the family of a man called Jesse, to find the next king (1 Samuel 16:1). The youngest son is out with the sheep:
Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your children here?” He said, “There remains yet the youngest. Behold, he is keeping the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down until he comes here.” He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with a handsome face and good appearance. Yahweh said, “Arise! Anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the middle of his brothers. Then Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
In simple words: Samuel pours oil from a horn on David. This is called “anointing”. It shows that God has chosen him.
David became king at 30 and ruled for 40 years (2 Samuel 5:4). Solomon ruled after him (1 Kings 2:10–12).
Historians say only the Bible tells David’s life directly. In 1993, archaeologists found a broken stone at Tel Dan, in the north of Israel. Most scholars date it to the 9th century BCE. (BCE means “before the Common Era”: the years before year 1.) Most scholars think it says “House of David”, meaning David’s royal family. It is the oldest widely accepted mention of David outside the Bible. A few scholars read those words differently. Historians do not agree on when exactly David ruled.
The only sources directly attesting to David’s life are from biblical literature.
David’s reign may have occurred around the 9th century BC, although the timeframe of his reign and geographical boundaries of his kingdom are disputed
. — Wikipedia, “David”, Historicity
The Tel Dan stele is generally dated to the 9th-century BCE, though some scholars have proposed later dates
. It is the earliest widely accepted reference to the name David as the founder of a Judahite polity outside of the Hebrew Bible
. On the reading “House of David”: The latter reading is accepted by a majority of scholars, but not all.
— Wikipedia, “Tel Dan stele”
The 16 Quran verses that name David (counted in the Arabic text): 2:251, 4:163, 5:78, 6:84, 17:55, 21:78, 21:79, 27:15, 27:16, 34:10, 34:13, 38:17, 38:22, 38:24, 38:26, 38:30. The same count, sixteen times
, is in Wikipedia, “David in Islam”.
Yes. David kills Goliath, the champion of the enemy army. King Saul’s army wins the battle. Both books say the victory came from God.
Both books agreeThe Quran calls Saul “Ṭālūt” and Goliath “Jālūt”. These are their Arabic names. Saul’s army was small. Before the battle, they prayed:
250When they advanced to face Goliath and his warriors, they prayed, “Our Lord! Shower us with perseverance, make our steps firm, and give us victory over the disbelieving people.” 251So they defeated them by Allah’s Will, and David killed Goliath. And Allah blessed David with kingship and wisdom and taught him what He willed. Had Allah not repelled a group of people by ˹the might of˺ another, corruption would have dominated the earth, but Allah is Gracious to all.
In simple words: They asked God for patience and victory. David killed Goliath. Then God made David king and gave him wisdom.
Before the battle, Saul tested his soldiers with a river. Most of them failed:
When Saul marched forth with his army, he cautioned: “Allah will test you with a river. So whoever drinks ˹his fill˺ from it is not with me, and whoever does not taste it—except a sip from the hollow of his hands—is definitely with me.” They all drank ˹their fill˺ except for a few! When he and the ˹remaining˺ faithful with him crossed the river, they said, “Now we are no match for Goliath and his warriors.” But those ˹believers˺ who were certain they would meet Allah reasoned, “How many times has a small force vanquished a mighty army by the Will of Allah! And Allah is ˹always˺ with the steadfast.”
The Quran does not say how David killed Goliath. Ibn Kathir was a Muslim scholar of the 14th century. He wrote a famous tafsir, a book that explains the Quran. He mentions the sling, and says the detail comes from “Israelite accounts”:
Israelite accounts claimed that (Prophet) David killed Goliath with a slingshot that he had, which he launched at Goliath causing his death.
— Tafsir Ibn Kathir (short English version) on 2:251
Goliath was a champion of the Philistines, a people at war with Israel (1 Samuel 17:4). David speaks to him before the fight:
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
David put his hand in his bag, took a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
In simple words: Goliath had a sword and a spear. David had only a sling and a stone. He said “the battle is Yahweh’s”, and he won.
Both. In Islam, David is a prophet who received a holy book, and he is a king. Christians often call him King David. But the New Testament also calls him a prophet, and Orthodox churches honour him as “Prophet and King David”.
Both books agreeThe Quran lists David with the other prophets who received God’s message:
Indeed, We have sent revelation to you ˹O Prophet˺ as We sent revelation to Noah and the prophets after him. We also sent revelation to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and his descendants, ˹as well as˺ Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon. And to David We gave the Psalms.
In simple words: God sent His message to Prophet Muhammad, as He did to Noah and many prophets after him. David is one of them. God gave him a book.
God also made him a ruler:
˹We instructed him:˺ “O David! We have surely made you an authority in the land, so judge between people with truth. And do not follow ˹your˺ desires or they will lead you astray from Allah’s Way. Surely those who go astray from Allah’s Way will suffer a severe punishment for neglecting the Day of Reckoning.”
This means: David had power over people. God told him to judge fairly and not follow his own wishes.
The Quran names David among the prophets (Quran 6:84). Two verses later it tells Prophet Muhammad: “These ˹prophets˺ were ˹rightly˺ guided by Allah, so follow their guidance.” Ibn Abbas, a companion of Prophet Muhammad, used this verse to explain why the Prophet copied something David did. (“Prostration” means bowing down with the forehead on the ground. “Surat Sa`d” is chapter 38 of the Quran, which tells David’s story.)
I asked Mujahid regarding the prostration in Surat Sa`d. He said, "I asked Ibn `Abbas, 'What evidence makes you prostrate?' He said, "Don't you recite:--'And among his progeny, David and Solomon..(6.84). Those are they whom Allah had guided. So follow their guidance.' (6.90) So David was the one of those prophets whom Prophet (Muhammad) was ordered to follow. David prostrated, so Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) (Muhammad) performed this prostration too
In the New Testament, Peter, one of Jesus’ first followers, calls David a prophet:
“Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,
In simple words: David was a prophet. God promised him that the Christ would come from his family. (“Christ” is the Greek word for “Messiah”, the promised king. See John 1:41.)
David’s last words say that God’s Spirit spoke through him:
Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse says, the man who was raised on high says, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel: “Yahweh’s Spirit spoke by me. His word was on my tongue.
Catholic and Orthodox Christians honour David as a saint, a holy person. Eastern Orthodox churches keep a feast day for the “Holy Righteous Prophet and King David”. The Orthodox Church in America calls him “the Holy Righteous David the King”.
The Quran says God gave David a book called the “Zabur”. The translation on quran.com writes it as “the Psalms”. In most Bibles, the Book of Psalms has 150 songs and prayers. 73 of them have a heading that names David. The Quran’s translator links one Quran sentence to a psalm.
Agree, with a differenceSurely, following the ˹heavenly˺ Record, We decreed in the Scriptures: “My righteous servants shall inherit the land.”
The righteous shall inherit the land, and live in it forever.
In simple words: The Quran says this promise was written in earlier Scriptures. Its translator says it refers to Psalm 37:29.
Your Lord knows best all those in the heavens and the earth. And We have surely favoured some prophets above others, and to David We gave the Psalms.
Prophet Muhammad said David could read the Zabur very quickly:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The reciting of the Zabur (i.e. Psalms) was made easy for David. He used to order that his riding animals be saddled, and would finish reciting the Zabur before they were saddled. And he would never eat except from the earnings of his manual work
In simple words: David finished reciting (reading aloud) the Zabur in the short time it took to get his animals ready for a ride.
The Quran does not say. In Prophet Muhammad’s time, Jews read the Torah to Muslims and explained it. He gave this advice:
The people of the Scripture (Jews) used to recite the Torah in Hebrew and they used to explain it in Arabic to the Muslims. On that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Do not believe the people of the Scripture or disbelieve them, but say:-- "We believe in Allah and what is revealed to us
This means: Muslims should not call such reports true, and should not call them false. They hold to what God revealed to them.
Psalm 23 is one of the psalms with David’s name in its heading (“A Psalm by David”). It begins:
Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing.
The Psalms are still an important part of worship in most churches.
In the Jewish and Western Christian traditions, there are 150 psalms, and several more in the Eastern Christian churches.
Many carry names, the most common (73 psalms) being ‘of David’
. The article adds that the Psalms have remained an important part of worship in most Christian Churches
.
Modern scholars are less sure who wrote them: Davidic authorship of the Psalms is not accepted as a historical fact by modern scholars.
— Wikipedia, “Psalms”
The Quran says the mountains and the birds praised God together with David. Prophet Muhammad said David’s way of praying and fasting is the one God loves most. The Bible remembers David as a musician who played the harp.
Each book adds its own details18We truly subjected the mountains to hymn ˹Our praises˺ along with him in the evening and after sunrise. 19And ˹We subjected˺ the birds, flocking together. All turned to him ˹echoing his hymns˺.
In simple words: When David praised God, the mountains and the birds praised God with him.
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said to me, "The most beloved fasting to Allah was the fasting of (the Prophet) David who used to fast on alternate days. And the most beloved prayer to Allah was the prayer of David who used to sleep for (the first) half of the night and pray for 1/3 of it and (again) sleep for a sixth of it
God also taught David a skill with metal:
10Indeed, We granted David a ˹great˺ privilege from Us, ˹commanding:˺ “O mountains! Echo his hymns! And the birds as well.” We made iron mouldable for him, 11instructing: “Make full-length armour, ˹perfectly˺ balancing the links. And work righteousness ˹O family of David!˺. Indeed, I am All-Seeing of what you do.”
In simple words: God made iron soft for David and taught him to make armour.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Nobody has ever eaten a better meal than that which one has earned by working with one's own hands. The Prophet of Allah, David (ﷺ) used to eat from the earnings of his manual labor
Another hadith says David ate only from what he earned with his own hands (Sahih al-Bukhari 2073). Prophet Muhammad also praised a companion’s beautiful voice as one of the sweet voices “of the family of David” (Sahih al-Bukhari 5048).
Before he became king, David played music for King Saul:
When the spirit from God was on Saul, David took the harp, and played with his hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
In simple words: When Saul was troubled, David played the harp, and Saul felt better.
David’s last words call him “the sweet psalmist of Israel”, meaning a writer of sweet songs to God (2 Samuel 23:1–2). The Bible also calls him “a man after [God’s] heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). The New Testament explains this: a man “who will do all my will” (Acts 13:22).
Yes. The Quran says God gave David “wisdom and sound judgment”. The Bible says David “executed justice”. A hadith tells of two mothers and one baby: David judges first, and his son Solomon judges better. The Bible has a similar story, but only King Solomon is in it.
Agree, with differences78And ˹remember˺ when David and Solomon passed judgment regarding the crops ruined ˹at night˺ by someone’s sheep, and We were witness to their judgments. 79We guided ˹young˺ Solomon to a fairer settlement, and granted each of them wisdom and knowledge. We subjected the mountains as well as the birds to hymn ˹Our praises˺ along with David. It is We Who did ˹it all˺.
A hadith tells another case judged by father and son:
… There were two women, each of whom had a child with her. A wolf came and took away the child of one of them, whereupon the other said, 'It has taken your child.' The first said, 'But it has taken your child.' So they both carried the case before David who judged that the living child be given to the elder lady. So both of them went to Solomon bin David and informed him (of the case). He said, 'Bring me a knife so as to cut the child into two pieces and distribute it between them.' The younger lady said, 'May Allah be merciful to you! Don't do that, for it is her (i.e. the other lady's) child.' So he gave the child to the younger lady
In simple words: Solomon asks for a knife to cut the child in two. The younger woman begs him not to do it. So Solomon gives the child to her.
The Bible says David ruled fairly:
David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness for all his people.
Later, two women come to King Solomon. Both say a baby is theirs. Solomon says:
The king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. The king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.” Then the woman whose the living child was spoke to the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no way kill him!” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide him.” Then the king answered, “Give her the living child, and definitely do not kill him. She is his mother.”
In simple words: The real mother would rather give her son away than see him killed. So Solomon knows she is the mother. The test is like the one in the hadith. But in the Bible, David is not in the story. It happens after David has died and Solomon is king (1 Kings 2:10–12).
This is the biggest difference. The Bible says David slept with Bathsheba, another man’s wife. Then he had her husband killed in battle. God sent the prophet Nathan, and David repented. The Quran does not tell this story. It tells of a test, after which David asks God’s forgiveness. Many Muslims reject the Bathsheba story.
Big differenceTwo men climb into David’s private prayer room and ask him to judge:
21Has the story of the two plaintiffs, who scaled the ˹wall of David’s˺ sanctuary, reached you ˹O Prophet˺? 22When they came into David’s presence, he was startled by them. They said, “Have no fear. ˹We are merely˺ two in a dispute: one of us has wronged the other. So judge between us with truth—do not go beyond ˹it˺—and guide us to the right way. 23This is my brother. He has ninety-nine sheep while I have ˹only˺ one. ˹Still˺ he asked me to give it up to him, overwhelming me with ˹his˺ argument.” 24David ˹eventually˺ ruled, “He has definitely wronged you in demanding ˹to add˺ your sheep to his. And certainly many partners wrong each other, except those who believe and do good—but how few are they!” Then David realized that We had tested him so he asked for his Lord’s forgiveness, fell down in prostration, and turned ˹to Him in repentance˺. 25So We forgave that for him. And he will indeed have ˹a status of˺ closeness to Us and an honourable destination!
In simple words: One man has 99 sheep. The other has only one. The first man wants that one too. David says this is wrong. Then David understands that God was testing him. He asks forgiveness and bows to the ground. God forgives him and brings him close to Him.
The Quran does not say what the test was. It does not name Uriah or Bathsheba.
Some old commentaries tell a longer story here. Ibn Kathir says it comes mostly from “Isra’iliyat”. These are stories that add details to Quran stories. The name means “from the Israelites”, and some of them come from Jewish sources. His advice is to say little and leave it to God:
The scholars of Tafsir mention a story which is mostly based upon Isra'iliyat narrations. Nothing has been reported about this from the Infallible Prophet that we could accept as true.
… So, it is better to speak briefly of this story and refer knowledge of it to Allah, may He be exalted. For the Qur'an is true and what it contains is also true.
— Tafsir Ibn Kathir (short English version) on 38:21–25
Since there is no mention in the Quran of the wrong David did to Uriah nor any reference to Bathsheba, Muslims reject this narrative.
— Wikipedia, “David”, Islam, citing Brannon Wheeler, The A to Z of Prophets in Islam and Judaism
Prophet Muhammad bowed to the ground when he recited this chapter of the Quran (Sahih al-Bukhari 1069). Ibn Abbas explained that David bowed here, so the Prophet bowed too (Sahih al-Bukhari 4807).
One evening, David sees a woman from his roof:
At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to look at. David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, Uriah the Hittite’s wife?” David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house.
Later, he sends her husband Uriah to die in battle:
In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. He wrote in the letter, saying, “Send Uriah to the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck, and die.”
God sends the prophet Nathan. Nathan tells a story about a rich man who takes a poor man’s only lamb. David is angry with the rich man (2 Samuel 12:5). Then Nathan says:
Nathan said to David, “You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.” Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has put away your sin. You will not die.
The heading of Psalm 51 says David wrote it “when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba” (that is, after he slept with her) (Psalm 51). It begins:
Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.
The Bible does not hide this sin. It says David did right all his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite
(1 Kings 15:5).
For Christians, David’s honest repentance is a lesson. The old Catholic Encyclopedia says: his contrition was so sincere that God pardoned him
, and The spirit in which David accepted these penalties has made him for all time the model of penitents.
— Catholic Encyclopedia (1908), “King David”
This means: “contrition” is deep sorrow for a sin. A “penitent” is a person who repents.
This is my brother. He has ninety-nine sheep while I have ˹only˺ one. ˹Still˺ he asked me to give it up to him, overwhelming me with ˹his˺ argument.”
Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him, and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him. A traveler came to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
In the Quran, one man has 99 sheep and the other has one. In the Bible, a rich man has many flocks and a poor man has one lamb. In both, the man with many wants the other man’s only one. In the Bible, Nathan’s story points to David and Bathsheba. The Quran does not say what its story points to. Both books end the same way: David turns to God, and God forgives him (Quran 38:24–25; 2 Samuel 12:13).
The New Testament links David to Jesus many times. It calls Jesus “the son of David”, meaning his descendant. God had promised David that his family would rule forever. The New Testament says Jesus will receive “the throne of his father, David”. The Quran names David and Jesus together, but it never calls Jesus “son of David”. It calls him “Jesus, son of Mary”.
Big differenceThe disbelievers among the Children of Israel were condemned in the revelations of David and Jesus, son of Mary. That was for their disobedience and violations.
In simple words: The messages God gave to David and to Jesus both spoke against those of the Children of Israel who disobeyed.
Muslims also call Jesus the Messiah:
˹Remember˺ when the angels proclaimed, “O Mary! Allah gives you good news of a Word from Him, his name will be the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary; honoured in this world and the Hereafter, and he will be one of those nearest ˹to Allah˺.
The Quran also says Jesus is not God (Quran 5:72).
God makes a promise to David:
Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.”’”
The New Testament opens by linking Jesus to that promise:
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Before Jesus is born, the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26–27) tells Mary:
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David,
Joseph, Mary’s husband-to-be, was “of the house and family of David”. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, “David’s city” (Luke 2:4–7). Crowds called Jesus “the son of David” (Matthew 21:9). And Jesus says, “I am the root and the offspring of David” (Revelation 22:16).
Jesus quotes a psalm of David (Psalm 110:1) and asks a question about it:
Jesus responded, as he taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? For David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.”’ Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?” The common people heard him gladly.
In simple words: Jesus asks how the Messiah can be David’s son if David calls him “Lord”.
Early Christian writers also saw David’s life as a picture of Jesus’ life: Bethlehem is the birthplace of both; the shepherd life of David points out Christ, the Good Shepherd
. — Catholic Encyclopedia (1908), “King David”
Both the Quran (3:45) and the New Testament (John 1:41) call Jesus the Messiah. The Quran’s translator explains that Messiah means “the anointed one”. In the Bible, David was anointed with oil when God chose him to be king (1 Samuel 16:13).