★ David (Bible)

A highly dysfunctional family. And a very flawed man. But a man who could not be ignored. Jonathan Kirsch, author King David

That does not tell us who he was or what he did. We’re thrown back on two kinds of evidence: Biblical narrative and archaeology. Professor Baruch Halpern, Pennsylvania University

David: He ain’t no plaster saint – he murders a bunch of people on his way to the throne; all the people he murders he has alibis for. Professor Baruch Halpern

He stabbed his enemies in the front, and his friends in the back. Professor Baruch Halpern

King David really did exist. There is no doubt about it. He reigned in the tenth century B.C. But was his kingdom the vast empire described in the Bible? The Bible Unearthed: The Kings, History 2007

David did not build a prestigious capital. ibid.

The discovery of the Tel Dan Stele in 1993 and 1994 was probably the single most important discovery related to David that’s ever been found. Because it is the first mention of David or the House of David outside the Bible that we’ve got. Professor Eric Cline

The story of King David ... The Israelites already had a king called Saul ... David was like a son to Saul. Empires Special: Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites: By the Rivers of Babylon, PBS 2003

It is a long time since I shed any blood. David and Bathsheba 1951 starring Gregory Peck & Susan Hayward & James Robinson Justice & Jayne Meadows & Raymond Massey & Kieron Moore et al, director Henry King, David in tent

You have a wife, Uriah? ibid.

You have never loved anyone but yourself. ibid. David’s wife

Now you understand why I sent for you. ibid. David to Bathsheba

Surely a man is entitled to the privacy of his dreams? ibid.

David, did you really kill Goliath? Was he truly as big as they say? ibid. Bathsheba

How are the mighty fallen in the midst of battle. ibid. David

Consider how this box of wood has outlived the flesh that made it and preserved it and venerated it. ibid. David

You are the man. ibid. Nathan to David

You cannot escape the punishment of the Lord. His justice is still unsatisfied. ibid.

A God without mercy. A God who thinks only of his Justice. So you must die. ibid. David to Bathsheba

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. I Samuel 16:13

Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep.

And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.

And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.

And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.

And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. I Samuel 16:19-23

And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. I Samuel 17:49-51

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. I Samuel 18:1

Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. I Samuel 18:3

And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?

And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.

And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul. I Samuel 18:8-12

And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son in law: and the days were not expired.

Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David, and that Michal Saul’s daughter loved him.

And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David’s enemy continually. I Samuel 18:25-29

And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.

But Jonathan Saul's son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself. I Samuel 19:1&2

And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.

And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand. I Samuel 19:8&9

And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.

And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets? I Samuel 19:20&21&23&24

And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. I Samuel 20:3

So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the Lord even require it at the hand of David’s enemies. I Samuel 20:16

And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also.

And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah: and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. I Samuel 22:1