Was David’s second son, born in Hebron, called Chileab or Daniel?

Both lists plainly mean the same son: in each he is David’s second son, born in Hebron, and his mother is Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow. Only the name differs, and the simplest explanation, given by Keil and Delitzsch, is that he had two names. That was common in Israel. Gideon was also called Jerubbaal (Judges 6:32; 7:1), Solomon was also named Jedidiah (2 Samuel 12:24–25), and King Uzziah was also Azariah (2 Kings 15:1, 13). The other five sons have the same names and mothers in both lists, so the writer of Chronicles was not careless; he gives this son a name he knew him by.

The names may even tell us why there were two. Daniel means ‘God is my judge’, and John Gill suggested that David gave it in thanks that God had judged his cause against Nabal (1 Samuel 25:39). Chileab is of uncertain meaning, and Jewish tradition explained it as ‘like his father’. This son is not mentioned again, even in the later struggles over the succession, perhaps because he died young.

A copyist’s slip

Some scholars, among them the writer of the article ‘Chileab’ in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, think that the name in Samuel was damaged in copying (see textual). On this view Daniel is the son’s true name, and Chronicles preserves it. Keil and Delitzsch thought a copyist’s error unlikely, as the two names are too different.