King David - the Bible story

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David - The Flawed Hero

People in the story
David, a self-made man of exception ability and charisma - brilliant and yet flawed. He was
fascinating to later generations because the Bible shows him not as a perfect hero, but as a
realistically drawn man who tried to do God's will.
Samuel, a holy man and king-maker

Famous Bible Kings

Saul, the king David betrayed and replaced

Michal and Jonathan, the daughter and son of Saul, both of whom loved David
Absalom, son of King David
Bathsheba, mother of David's heir Solomon

David and Samuel

The boy David uses
lateral thinking

David is introduced to us in three different stories, as he faces

three different men: Samuel, Goliath and King Saul.
In the first story, a wise man and soothsayer called Samuel is
looking for someone who will be God's chosen one. He chooses David over all his older
brothers - and naturally they do not like it.

David and Goliath

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Bible Stories: People of the Old Testament - Bible Study Resource: King David: shepherd boy, musician, wily warrior and King

David and Saul

In the third story, David charms King Saul with his music and poetry, and is accepted into the inner core of Saul's court. Each of the
three stories is significant, because they show a different aspect of David:

his ability to charm and engage the right people

his use of cunning rather than traditional fighting methods - the Israelites were most successful in battle when they used
guerrilla warfare

his great personal charm, which he used without scruple all his life.

David replaces King Saul

David joined the court of Saul. He was adept at playing the harp, and Saul enjoyed his music. We know this was common at the
time, from a a pre-Israelite plaque found at Megiddo (see at right, as a harpist plays for his prince much as David did for Saul (1
Samuel 18:10).
Court musicians had access to the king, and David made the
most of it. But even while he seemed to sympathise with Saul's
problems, David constantly undermined the King. Of course, Saul
was no fool. He saw what was happening. He ruled by public
acclamation, and now David was drawing the popular vote to
himself.
Several times he tried to get rid of David, and in the end David
was forced to flee. But not before he had formed close
relationships with two of Saul's children

Jonathan, Saul's trusted son and heir, and

Michal, Saul's younger daughter who fell passionately in love with David.

In an attempt to lessen the threat David posed, Saul let Michal marry David, but it did no good, and eventually Saul made an open
attempt on David's life.

David, helped by Michal, fled from the court, becoming an outlaw. Michal was left
behind, becoming increasingly bitter when David failed to send for her.
David then acquired two additional wives, Abigail and Ahinoam, and a considerable
number of seasoned warriors. They formed an outlaw group moving from place to
place and living by their wits. He took this band of men and began fighting for his
former enemies, the Philistines, but he did not actually take part in the battle in which
Saul and all but one of his sons, including Jonathan, died. He did, however, send
large gifts to the Israelite leaders as a conciliatory measure.

David Becomes King

When David heard that Saul and his sons were dead, he went to Hebron. There he was anointed king by the men of Judah who
had received his gifts.
One of Saul's sons remained alive, Ishbosheth, but he was murdered in his bed by two of his retainers who brought the boy's head
to David.

David, now a king himself, sensibly killed the two retainers who had killed their king. He
also took Michal back from her second husband, even though she was most reluctant to
leave him - and he to leave her.
David now launched himself on the task of uniting Israel and extending its territory - by
alliance or warfare. He moved his capital to Jerusalem, since it was more central to the
northern provinces he now included in his territory.

Jerusalem Becomes David's Holy City

He also brought the Ark from Hebron to Jerusalem, thus making his new capital a sacred city. The map at right shows Jebus, the
fortress David occupied, in the lower right.

In the procession leading the Ark into the city, a lightly-clad David pranced at the head
of the procession so that his genitals were displayed. Michal, conscious of the need
for royal dignity, was contemptuous of his behavior and said so. He was not pleased by
this criticism. He no longer needed the royal status she had given him, so he relegated
her, now an unnecessary thorn in his side, to perpetual chastity - and childlessness.
One of the first things that David did in Jerusalem was get an extended building
program under way. He began to plan a suitable temple to house the Ark, and a palace
for himself and his growing family.

David and Bathsheba

David began empire-building. He became engrossed in reform and administration, and
no longer accompanied his military forces when they went into battle. Instead, he
stayed in Jerusalem.
One evening when he was walking on the

terrace of his palace he saw a woman

bathing after her menstrual period, and sent for

her. She came, they had sexual intercourse,

and in due course she discovered she was

pregnant.

Since she - Bathsheba - was already married this posed a problem, which David solved by organizing the death in battle of her
husband. She entered David's harem, the baby was born, but she later gave birth to another son who became King Solomon.

Absalom's Revolt
David seems to have had little control over his children.
The heir apparent Ammon raped his half-sister Tamar and then refused to marry her - marriage would have
been the normal procedure at that time, despite the fact that they were half-brother and sister.
Tamar's brother Absalom bided his time, the murdered Ammon, and later led a revolt against his own father,
David, but was killed in battle.
David's family life is not too far removed from Greek tragedy.

Succession to the Throne

When David was old his sexual potency failed him. This was a serious problem since the potency of the king was still linked with
the well-being of the country. A beautiful young woman was introduced, naked, into David's bed, but it did not good.

Seeing his chance, David's eldest remaining son Adonijah led an attempted coup d'etat against his
father, to take power from the ailing old man. He was supported by his own brothers and by the
general populace - the 'people of the land'.
But Bathsheba had other ideas - she wanted the throne for her son. If Adonijah became king, her
own son Solomon and his brothers would almost certainly be executed.
She formed an alliance with various powerful groups in the country, religious and military, and
replaced Adonijah with her son Solomon.
Soon after, David died - he 'slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the city of David. The time
that David reigned over Israel was forty years: seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three in Jerusalem'.

Jerusalem from the air. The area in the bottom right corner
corresponds to the fortress of Jebus, shown on the map further up the page

Historical background to the Story of David

Note: The reign of David saw the beginning of a transition from rule by autonomous tribal leaders to an organized kingship.
This was not popular with ordinary Jewish tribesmen, who believed they were being increasingly enslaved, subjects of a king rather
than free men. H.D.Kitto in The Greeks writes about the Greek attitude to slavery, but it could just as well apply to the Israelites'
wary relationship with their kings:
Slavery and despotism are things that maim the soul, for, as Homer says, 'Zeus takes away from a man half of his manhood if the
day of enslavement lays hold of him'. The Oriental custom of obeisance struck the Greek as not 'eleutheron'; in his eyes it was an
affront to human dignity. Even to the gods the Greek prayed like a man, erect; though he knew as well as any the difference
between the human and the divine. That he was not a god, he knew; but he was at least a man. He knew that the gods were quick
to strike down without mercy the man who aped divinity, and that of all human qualities they most approved of modesty and
reverence. (H.D.Kitto, The Greeks, p10)
Arbitrary government offended an Israelite to his core. It showed no respect for his person. Israel was surrounded by countries
where law was arbitrary, expressing the private will of a king: palace government, not government according to a law derived from
God. Acceptance of despotism like this would make an Israelite a slave.
This concept of a citizen's rights emerged in Israel before it even did in Greece. Successive kings had to battle against it.

Bible Text for the story of David