Category Archives: King David

II Samuel Ch 8-9-10: David, the Philistines, and Mephibosheth

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Chapter 8 ends with David at the absolute apex of his powers and reputation.   He finally subdues the Philistines who have been the mortal enemies of the Israelites.   From here David tackles the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Arameans…….  But does he start to lose himself?   Is there something suspicious about David hunting down Saul’s last remaining relative, Mephibosheth, and sequestering him at the royal table?

Pay attention to what battles David leads and which ones he sits out in Chapter 10.  Notably, while he defeats the Arameans, he leaves the Ammonites for Joab to defeat later.  This incomplete work on David’s part foreshadows his sitting out the entire season in which the kings normally go out to battle (Chapter 11).

The high point of David’s kingdom

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Chapters 6-8, which we will study on December 5th, bring us to the high point of King David’s kingdom. With much rejoicing, David brings the long lost ark to Jerusalem and YHWH promises David (Everett Fox translation)

“I will make you a great name,
like the name of the great-ones that are on the earth” [2 Sam 7:9]

“Secure is your house and your kingdom for the ages” [2 Sam 7:16]

David defeats the Philistines finally for good. And yet, there is something wrong – is David setting his own sons up as priests? Instead of a harmonious alliance with Michal, daughter of King Saul, David goes his own way, and his sons after him quarrel endlessly. As chapter 9 opens, it is unclear if David takes in Jonathan’s lame son to do him a kindness, or to kidnap him.

“Just as we sense completion at hand, the narrator unsettles us. David, chosen and supported by Yhwh, is no simple model of piety.” The HarperCollins Bible Commentary p. 267

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In preparation for reading Chapters 4-5, think about this:

“Three stages characterize the solidification of David’s ascension to power as Israel’s second king: the elimination of rivals, principally from the house of Sha’ul, the establishment of a capital, and the subduing of external enemies.  The accomplishment of the first is marred by three violent deaths: one in battle (David’s nephew Asa’el), one standing by a gate (Sha’ul’s general Avner), and one in bed “Sha’ul’s son Ish-Boshet).  All three are stabbed in the heart. While David absolves himself of these events, and we are inclined to believe him, the conclusion is inescapable: that, as Polzin (1993) points out, kingship in Israel is ‘a major cause of frequent fratricide on a tribal or national level.’  It is a pattern that will be repeated in the second half of the book, within the royal house itself.”  – Everett Fox Give us a King pp  153

Study Oct 17 – Michal and Paltiel

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When Michal, David’s wife, rescued him from Saul, David fled, leaving her behind (1 Sam 19:12).   Saul gave her as wife to Paltiel (1 Sam 25:44).   After the death of Saul, David demanded his wife back.  When they took Michal from Paltiel, “her  husband went with her, weeping as he went.”  (2 Sam 3:13-16).  Such a poignant story.  We wonder if David ever loved anyone.

Study of II Samuel is Coming Oct 3

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Stay tuned as we pick up our study of King David and all the assorted siblings, soldiers, children, wives and mothers.  On October 3rd join us for II Samuel, Chapter 1 & 2.   Read David’s poignant lament over the deaths of Jonathan and Saul, and learn about his first days as King over Judah.

“David’s story has a way of shifting out from under us.  It is a story that refuses to be tamed, secured, or neatly ordered.”
-Gunn and Fewell: Narrative in the Hebrew Bible.

Wednesday, June 6, 7:30pm, 1 Samuel Chapter 31 and 2 Samuel Chapter 1

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——-Marc Chagall  The Death of Saul

Join us as we finish the first book of Samuel (it really finishes with 2 Samuel Ch 1).
Cry with us as we say goodbye to Saul whom we have come to know.
 As we study David’s famous elegy over the slain Saul and Jonathan, question with us, “Who is David?”

“Thy beauty, O Israel,
Upon thy high places is slain.
How the mighty are fallen.”
— 2 Samuel 1:19

 “David’s story has a way of shifting out from under us. 
It is a story that refuses to be tamed, secured, or neatly ordered.” 
 —David M. Gunn and Danna Nolan Fewell. Narrative in the Hebrew Bible. 

Wednesday, May 16, 7:30pm, 1 Samuel Chapters 28-29

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The Witch of Endor Raising the Spirit of Samuel, 1800, by William Blake
Clipped on 12-May-2012, from Drawing Life by Fred Hatt


Chapter 28 is the story of the ghost-wife, or necromancer, also called the Witch of Endor, who conjures Samuel up from the grave in response to Saul’s plea.   Some commentators feel this story is the basis for the witches in Macbeth.

“This woman has defied the decree against calling the dead [Lev 20-27;  Deut 18:10-11] and is still adept at her trade.  This story sets the stage for centuries of Jewish women’s spiritual arts that were banished underground but somehow managed to survive…Talking directly to God, the spirit world, the dead and angels bypasses the traditional authority structure.  It is a rebellious act. It circumvents the authority of the king, the priests, and the institutional prophets.” 

“How ironic that an unnamed woman, practicing an illegal craft, becomes advisor to the king!”  
—–Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael in The Women’s Haftarah Commentary

Wednesday, May 2, 1 Samuel Chapters 26-28

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The chief business of women in the reigns of Kings Saul and David seems to have been to rescue men from the craft and greed of each other.
——Elizabeth Cady Stanton The Woman’s Bible (1898)

David, as a man who is sincere but hardly a saint, has through the ages provided a powerful model for repentance…He emerges from Samuel as a humble and humbled king, who points the way to the possibilities of genuine change.”
——Everett Fox Give us a King

He is also, from the start, quite calculating, and it can scarcely be an accident that until the midpoint of his story every one of his utterances, without exception, is made on a public occasion and arguably is contrived to serve his political interests.”  He is “constantly prepared to do almost anything in order to survive.”
——Robert Alter The David Story

To seek clearly circumscribed definitions in this text is to be frustrated at every turn.  What is a king, a priest, a military leader, and what is the difference?  That question is the story of Samuel and Saul.  What is an assassin, what is a politician, and what is the difference?  That is the story of David.
——Regina Schwartz in “Not in Heaven”