Was King David a Redhead? A Closer Look at the Meaning of “Admoni”
by Ram ben Ze'ev Was King David a Redhead? A Closer Look at the Meaning of “Admoni” Among the many legends that have taken root over the centuries concerning דוד המלך (King David), one of the most persistent is the claim that he was a redhead. This belief is often drawn from a single verse in שמואל א (Shmuel Alef) טז:יב, which describes דוד as: והוא אדמני עם יפה עינים וטוב ראי Many modern readers interpret אדמני (admoni) to mean “red-haired,” seizing on the root אדמ (“red”) and projecting the...
