David
By Margaret P. Foerster
Categories: Old Testament Kings
- David was the second king of Israel and the
most famous.
- He had at least six brothers and two sisters.
- He was introduced to the royal court of King
Saul as a harpist.
- After defeating Goliath and being so successful
in tribal wars, David was given military command.
- He married one of Saul's daughters, Michal.
- David was best friends with Saul's son, Jonathan,
whom Saul wanted to succeed him as king.
- Jonathan put aside personal ambition to help
his friend David.
- David's rise to fame was extraordinary. He
became so successful that King Saul was jealous
and attempted to kill him.
- David had to flee from Saul: he became a fugitive
or outlaw.
- David had opportunities to kill King Saul,
but he refused to kill God's anointed.
- After Saul's and Jonathan's deaths, David
was crowned king by the tribe of Judah. The
northern tribes crowned a son of Saul.
- Seven years later, David became king of the
united tribes.
- He established Jerusalem as Israel's capital
and religious center.
- David, a deeply religious man, brought the
Ark to Jerusalem.
- After David became king, he took Jonathan's
crippled son, Mephibosheth, into his inner circle
of friends.
- David set up an effective central government
and appointed administrators to be responsible
for tribal areas.
- David was a brilliant military strategist
and warrior. He was a powerful ruler in the
early tenth century.
- David was a poet as well as a musician. Many
of the Psalms are attributed to David.
- David publicly confessed his sin of adultery
with Bathsheba and his arrangement that her
husband, Uriah, be killed in battle (see Psalm
51).
- David's last years were spent making preparations
to build a temple, which his son Solomon would
later construct.
Bibliography
Alter, Robert and Frank Kermode. The Literary Guide to the Bible. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. 1987.
Brueggeman, Walter. "1 & 2 Samuel." Interpretation. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1990.
Evans, Mary. "1 and 2 Samuel." New International Biblical Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2000.
Mills, Watson and Richard Wilson. Mercer Commentary on the Bible. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1995
Newsom, Carol and Sharon Ringe. The Women's Bible Commentary. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992.
Payne, David. "I & II Samuel." The Daily Study Bible Series. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1982.
Peterson, Eugene. "First and Second Samuel." The Westminster Bible Companion. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999.
Robinson, Gnana. "1 & 2 Samuel, Let Us Be Like the Nations." The International Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B Eerdmans, 1993.
Sanford, John. King Saul, The Tragic Hero. New York: Paulist Press. 1985. |
