Jesse

Father of King David, from Bethlehem in the tribe of Judah, whose house was visited by the prophet Samuel to anoint a new king. When Samuel examined Jesse’s sons, God passed over the older brothers and chose the youngest, David, who was tending sheep (1 Samuel 16:1-13). The “root of Jesse” and “stump of Jesse” became messianic titles in Isaiah 11:1, 10—prophesying that a shoot would spring from Jesse’s line to reign in righteousness. The “Jesse Tree” became a significant motif in Christian art, depicting the ancestry of Jesus through David. Both Matthew 1 and Luke 3 trace Jesus’s lineage through Jesse, fulfilling the Davidic covenant.