David
was an important
King
of
Israel
. He is described in the
Old Testament
books of
1 Samuel
and
2 Samuel
, the
Qu'ran
, and
Baha'i
scripture. He was the father of King
Solomon
, and an
ancestor
of
Jesus
.
David was the youngest of the eight sons of
Jesse
, a shepherd; Jesse was the grandson of Ruth (
Ruth
4: 17, 22). David was a
shepherd
, like his father. While taking care of the sheep, he would use a
sling
to keep wild animals from hurting them. He would also play his
harp
. Many of the songs he wrote during his life are found in the book of
Psalms
.
When
Saul
, the first King of Israel, disobeyed the Lord’s
command
to destroy
Amalek
, God sent an evil spirit in him to
torment
him.
He called David, the shepherd, to his
palace
because David was good at playing the harp, and the soft music soothed Saul when he was being tormented by the evil spirit. Saul "liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers."
[1]
So, "...whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him."
[2]
He unknowingly puts in his court the person God chose to
replace
him.
When David was about twelve years old,
[
source?
]
his older brothers had to join the army to fight for
Israel
, under the leadership of King Saul. His father was worried about them, and sent David to check on them. He took his harp with him, and King Saul, who was very troubled, heard him play and found it soothing
[
source?
]
. He asked for David to remain with the army.
At the time David arrived, a
giant
Philistine enemy, Goliath, was mocking the
Israelites
and
God
, saying, “Who will come and fight me? If he wins, we will be your slaves, but if I win, then you will be our slaves!” All the Israelites were afraid. When David saw this, he was very angry, and he said, “I will go and fight him!”
David's
faith
was very different from that of King Saul, who, not thinking about God, immediately said, "You are not able...you are only a boy..." But David said
confidently
, "The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the
lion
and the paw of the
bear
will deliver (save) me from the hand of this Philistine."
[3]
He had faith, not in his own fighting skills, but in the power of God, whose
honor
has been hurt by the
Philistines
and whose
covenant
promises
had been forgotten by the
Israelites
.
When King Saul saw that David was brave enough to fight Goliath, he agreed to send him. Saul gave David
armour
and weapons, but they were too heavy for him. David told Saul that he would use his
sling
instead. He then used a smooth stone and hit Goliath in the forehead, killing him instantly. Using Goliath’s own
sword
, David cut off Goliath's head. Although Saul was pleased at the victory, he began to worry that David would begin to seek power.
Later, because of David's excellent fighting skills and loyalty to God, King Saul appointed David to a high rank in the army and married him to one of his own daughters,
Michal
. Whenever David went into battle, he returned with a victory, and all the people were pleased with him, and King Saul treasured him very much. David became a close companion and friend of Saul's son
Jonathan
. But one day, when King Saul was coming out to greet his people, the women of the town came out, singing and dancing, with
tambourines
and
lutes
. And as they danced, they sang the following words:
"Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands."
Saul, hearing this song, was seized with fury and jealousy, and began to suspect that the people liked David more than him.
Saul's jealousy then began to heat into hatred, and he wanted to kill David, but not yet with his own hand - and so he asked David to marry his daughter, Merab, but David refused politely, and Merab was married to Adriel of Meholah. Then he asked, again, for David to marry Michal, who was in
love
with David. David again refused. Finally, he asked him to bring a hundred Philistine
foreskins
, and then he would give the
bride
over. David was pleased to become Saul's son-in-law when he heard this, and agreed. Saul thought, "Now he will be killed by the Philistine's hand!" But God was with David, and he was not hurt. Saul tells Jonathan and all the officials to kill David, but Jonathan loved David very much (and had made a
covenant
of friendship with him), and warned Saul not to. Saul listened, but later he grew angry again, and kept trying to kill David. Many times David did not kill Saul when he had a chance to, but instead said, "How can I kill the Lord's anointed?" and spared Saul; and many times Saul blessed David and repented, and determined to stop trying to kill David - but he always returned with a
spear
.
In battle with the Philistines, Saul's sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua were killed (the
surviving
son
, Ish-Bosheth or Esh-Baal, was later made king by Abner). Saul was
injured
, and he said to his armor-bearer to kill him before "...these
uncircumcised
fellows will come and run me through and
abuse
me."
[4]
The armor-bearer was too afraid to do it, so Saul "...took his own
sword
and fell on it",
[4]
killing himself. The armor-bearer killed himself, as well. "So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day."
[5]
An Amalekite came to David and lied that he had killed Saul, probably hoping that David would reward him. David realized that Saul was dead, and ripped his clothes and
wept
. He was not
happy
to hear that Saul was dead, and even killed the Amalekite, thinking that he was Saul's murderer. He was anointed again in front of everybody.
Meanwhile, Ish-Bosheth, the only son of Saul left, was made king by Abner, a relative of Saul. "The war between the house of Saul and the house of David lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.",
[6]
Later, Abner slept with one of Saul's
concubines
, and Ish-Bosheth asked, "Why did you sleep with my father's concubine?" Ish-Bosheth suspected that Abner wanted to be king instead of him (sleeping with the concubine of a king was thought very important). Abner became very
angry
and decided to help David instead. However, Joab, the commander of David's army, did not like Abner because Abner had killed his brother. Maybe he also thought his job as the leader of the army would not be safe if Abner helped David, because Abner was very powerful in the northern tribes of Israel. So, Joab killed him by
stabbing
him in the
stomach
. David cursed Joab for murdering Abner and said that he did not join in the killing.
When Ish-Bosheth heard that Abner had died, he became very worried: the northern tribes were now without a strong leader. Two men, Recab and his brother Baanah, killed Ish-Bosheth in his house and brought his
head
to David, saying, "This day the LORD has avenged my lord the king against Saul." David was very angry, and killed them: cutting off the
hands
that had killed Ish-Bosheth and the
feet
that had run with the news. They buried the head of Ish-Bosheth in Abner's tomb.
All the tribes of Israel then came to David and made him
king
over Israel.
A few years after David had captured
Jerusalem
, he asked, "Is there anyone...to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" remembering the promise he had made.
[7]
They found a servant of King Saul named Ziba, who said that there was still a son of Jonathan who was
crippled
in both
feet
named Mephibosheth. David told Mephibosheth that he would get back all the land Saul had when he was king, and that Mephibosheth would always eat at his table - a mark of great honor. Mephibosheth bowed down and cried, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"
[8]
From then on, Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem and always ate at the king's table like one of David's sons.
One day, David was walking around on the roof of his palace when he saw a very
beautiful
woman
bathing
. David found out that her name was
Bathsheba
, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite, who was one of David's royal guards. David "sent messengers to get her...and he slept with her."
[9]
Because of this, David eventually broke the sixth, seventh, ninth and tenth
commandments
[10]
She soon became
pregnant
. The law said that both David and Bathsheba must die for their sin. David made Uriah come back from battle and tried to make him go back home and sleep with Bathsheba, so everybody would think it was Uriah's son. But Uriah did not go home, saying, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents...How could I go to my house...and lie with my wife?"
[11]
His
devotion
demonstrated how sinful David was. Finally, when David could not make him go home, he decided to make Uriah die so he could marry Bathsheba himself quickly. He said, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest (most violent). Then withdraw (go away) from him so he will be struck down and die."
[12]
Because of this, Uriah died.
David married Bathsheba, but "...the thing David had done displeased the LORD." So, Nathan the prophet went and told him that he had done a very bad sin. David saw he was
guilty
and was very sorry. He said, "I have sinned against the Lord."
[13]
Nathan told David that he was forgiven, and the LORD
mercifully
did not make David die, as the law said he must. However, Nathan said that Bathsheba's first son, born as a result of their sins would die. After Nathan had gone home, the child became sick and died. David was very sad, but humbly
accepted
the
results
of his
sin
. Bathsheba had another son, and they named him
Solomon
. The LORD loved him, and said to name him Jedidah (it means
loved by the LORD
)
[14]
This name showed that the LORD loved Solomon from when he was born, and also showed that the LORD still
loved
David, even though he had
sinned
.
After the overthrow of King
Zedekiah
of the House of David his lineage was carried on by the
Exilarchs
. Descendants of the house of exilarchs were living in various places long after the office became extinct. A descendant of Hezekiah,
Hiyya al-Daudi
, Gaon of Andalucia, died in 1154 in
Castile
according to Abraham ibn Daud. Several families, as late as the 14th century, traced their descent back to Josiah, the brother of David ben Zakkai who had been banished to Chorasan (see the genealogies in [Lazarus 1890] pp. 180 et seq.). The descendants of the Karaite Exilarchs have been referred to above.A number of Jewish families in the
Iberian peninsula
and within
Mesopotamia
continued to preserve the tradition of descent from Exilarchs in the
Late Middle Ages
, including the families of
Abravanel
,
Benveniste
, Hajj Yachya and Ben-David. One tradition also traces the ancestry of
Judah Loew ben Bezalel
to Babylonian Exilarchs (during the era of the
geonim
) and therefore also from the Davidic dynasty,
[15]
which is however disputed. According to another tradition, Rabbi
Elazar Rokeach of Amsterdam
of the
Belz (Hasidic dynasty)
was a descendent from the house of
King David
. Another Rabbanic Dynasty Charlap also are reportably from the House of King David.
[16]
Leonard Cohen
's song "
Hallelujah
" has references to David ("there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord", "The baffled king composing Hallelujah") and Bathsheba ("you saw her bathing on the roof") in its opening verses.
- ↑
1 Samuel 16: 21 NIV
- ↑
1 Samuel 16: 23 NIV
- ↑
1 Samuel 17:37 NIV
- ↑
4.0
4.1
1 Samuel 31: 4 NIV
- ↑
1 Samuel 31: 5 NIV
- ↑
2 Samuel 3: 1 NIV
- ↑
2 Samuel 9: 1 NIV
- ↑
2 Samuel 9: 8 NIV
- ↑
2 Samuel 11: 4 NIV
- ↑
Exodus 20: 13~17
- ↑
2 Samuel 11:11 NIV
- ↑
2 Samuel 11: 14 NIV
- ↑
2 Samuel 12: 13 NIV
- ↑
2 Samuel 12: 25
- ↑
See
The Maharal of Prague's Descent from King David
, by Chaim Freedman, published in
Avotaynu
Vol 22 No 1, Spring 2006
- ↑
Davidic genealogy links