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Can a King of the House of David (i.e an inherited - not appointed - King), serve as king while his father is still alive?

I think King Shlomo might have been king during his father's lifetime.

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Exactly. It is explicit in the beginning of Melachim Aleph (1:30) that King David ordered for Solomon to reign in his lifetime, which answers your question.

כִּ֡י כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ נִשְׁבַּ֨עְתִּי לָ֜ךְ בַּיהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר כִּֽי־שְׁלֹמֹ֤ה בְנֵךְ֙ יִמְלֹ֣ךְ אַחֲרַ֔י וְה֛וּא יֵשֵׁ֥ב עַל־כִּסְאִ֖י תַּחְתָּ֑י כִּ֛י כֵּ֥ן אֶעֱשֶׂ֖ה הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃

As I swore unto you by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying: Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; verily so will I do this day.’

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  • Welcome to Mi Yodeya, and thanks very much for your first two answers! Please consider registering your account, to enable more site features, including voting. I hope you'll look around and find other Q&A of interest and stay learning with us.
    – mbloch
    Mar 7, 2016 at 11:15
  • I'd like to second @mbloch's welcome, and also make a suggestion. It would make this answer more valuable if you quote the text that makes it explicit inside the answer. You can copy (with attribution) text from sites such as sefaria.org.
    – Scimonster
    Mar 7, 2016 at 11:35
  • In case it is not clear how to do it, I edited your answer with an example quote. Not sure if that is the one you would have used so feel free to edit again. Also sefaria (which I used) has an outdated translation so I typically update the translation where required
    – mbloch
    Mar 7, 2016 at 11:39
  • @mbloch If you are going to adjust the translation, you should say so explicitly so it doesn't look like someone's claiming something is Sefaria's translation when it isn't. (like say "translation adapted from Sefaria's" or something like that)
    – Double AA ♦
    Mar 7, 2016 at 13:50
  • @DoubleAA you are right. Although I don't think I ever changed the meaning. It is rather modernizing thee -> you, Lord -> God, etc. but your point is fully taken and I will take care
    – mbloch
    Mar 7, 2016 at 13:51

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