A DAVIDIDE REUNION?

Descendants of King David to gather in Jerusalem
Friday, October 13, 2006
[STATEN ISLAND] ADVANCE STAFF WRITER

Ehrlich. Polak. Safrin. Roth.

Genealogists say these are a few of the 100 or so family names whose bearers are likely to be Jewish descendants of King David, often considered the greatest of the ancient kings of Israel.

More than 1,000 Jewish descendants of King David from around the world who can lay claim to such a heritage will participate in an historic reunion in Jerusalem in May that will also mark the official inauguration of the Worldwide Davidic Dynasty Genealogy Center and Museum in the Old City.

[...]

I'm afraid I'm skeptical. Granting that there was a historical David (and I do, although what we can know about him is another question), I still would say that it is exceedingly unlikely that accurate genealogies back to him have been preserved during the last 3000 years and, even if they were, there would be a negligible amount of David's genetic material in any surviving lineal descendants today.