Christians, Muslims and modern Jews have fallen under the impression that the 'messiah' is supposed to be a descendant of King David. Christians and Muslims believe that the messiah is Jesus Christ whereas the Jews think it will be someone else. Yet none of them are paying close attention to what the stories of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament are actually talking about. It does not say that the messiah is a descendant of King David, but rather it says that the messiah / anointed one is King David himself. Now of course the term 'messiah' was used somewhat loosely. For example Cyrus the Great is referred to as a 'messiah'. But what I'm about to argue is that King David was believed by the early Jews to be the 'savior' who would return from the dead at the end of times.

The people who wrote the Hebrew Bible believed that their bodies would be physically resurrected out of their graves at the end times / last days. They believed that the New Jerusalem would be the capital of the 'new earth' and that David would be the resurrected messiah king. In other words, they thought that King David would resurrect from the dead at the end times (along with the rest of the Jews) and that he himself would be the messiah. They would then live forever in this New Jerusalem. David is described as being the "righteous branch" who would be raised / resurrected from the earth to become the prince of the New Jerusalem.

The following Old Testament quotes are an example of David being described as the king/prince who will be 'raised up' (resurrected).