How Does the Bible Portray King David - Essay Example

? King David Introduction King David is one of the most prominent figures in the history of ancient Israeli Kingdom, and he was indeed a national heritage. David was a shepherd boy with a humble beginning and a heart that was always seeking after his creator. The bible portrays King David as an enigmatic, fascinating and heroic character that is providentially chosen to guide the Israelites after the death of King Saul. David takes over the leadership of King Saul after the king dies in the battle field. He was jubilantly welcomed by Saul’s troops that crowned him as King, and later he assumed power after anointment by Prophet Samuel. David was a youthful military leader prior to his kingship. His leadership would liberate Israel from the cold hearted culture developed by the first king that Israelites had chosen to lead them in rebellion, because they could not hold and wait for God’s purpose and timing. According to the bible, David was a King that at times experienced failure in his humanity, yet as told he still sought God with his whole heart. However, today there are those that would say that David’s Kingdom and David were indeed Israel’s imagination and a legendary military hero that never existed in the actual sense. Liberal critical consensus about David has long been that he was a legendary figure in the history of Israel. There are scholars that often stress that the stories on King David are mere embellishments of a national hero whose existence is not in history is not certain (Huyck, 1). For example, Kyle McCarter states that: “The Bible is our only source of information about David.  No ancient inscription mentions him.  No archaeological discovery can be securely linked to him. . . .We cannot assume, therefore, that a statement about David in a given part of the Bible derives from an early source.  The David of Chronicles, for example, is the idealized David of the second Commonwealth, not the David of history (Huyck, 1).” Contrary to this statement and many others like it, archeological evidence has tallied with most historical mentioning within the bible and other historical literature and findings to prove that indeed the Kingdom of David and David as king existed at some point in history. This has strengthened the biblical view and story that indeed David was not a mere myth, but true King that existed and left a legendary mark in the history if Israel (Huyck, 1). The first recently highlighted and iconic archeological finding that attested to this occurred seven years after the discovery of the Solomonic gate by the Mazars. In that instance in 1993, an archaeological team digging in the northern part of Israel discovered a large stone tabled with inscriptions that read: “House of David “and “King of Israel.” This stunning uncovered piece of evidence was dated back to the 9th Century B.C. This is indeed one of the many uncovered evidence that proofs that David’s kingdom not only existed, but his reign started a royal dynasty. The twelve acre triangle city developed by David’s reign lay some 350 feet, south of the today’s walled Jerusalem, beyond and on the eastern ridge known as Ophel. Benjamin Mazar is quoted by the Associated Press, as having said that: “Now we have more or less the feeling that this is really a gate of Jerusalem from the period of the kings of Judah” (April 21, 1986). This leaves most people wondering as to whether archaeology is indeed coming up to fill the bits and prove the biblical history that recounts the life and leadership of David. Eilat Mazar indeed attests to this statement by saying that she had learned to pore and relate to biblical text to an extent that she had discovered that indeed it makes descriptions of true historical reality. Eilat states that: “It is not a simple matter to differentiate the layers of textual sources that have been piled…over generations; but it is clear that concealed within the Biblical text are grains of detailed historical truth (Coogan 71).” The Biblical King David King David was born around 1040 BC in Bethlehem, Judea and grew up in a humble background where he herded sheep for his father. As a herding young boy David had begun sharpening his music, war and hunting skills that would later shape his life in a major way. David rises to the limelight after his heroic defeat of the Philistine giant soldier known as Goliath. A deed that earned him the famous way in which he is known as the child giant-slayer, that ended as the King of Israel. The human life if David with a great heroic tone is told in the bible within the books of 1 Chronicles, 1Kings, 2 Samuel, and 1 Samuel (Coogan 70-81). David was the youngest and eighth son of Jesse. After his heroic acts, David was appointed to the King’s court as an armor bearer and musician for Saul, who was the first King of Israel. Later, after killing the giant Philistine soldier-Goliath-David becomes a great friend to Jonathan, who is Saul’ son. Instead of Jonathan, David succeeds Saul as the second King of Israel. Under the Kingship of David (1010 to 970 B.C), all Israel’s regions united and won numerous battles with the surrounding enemies such as the Philistines. In this era Jerusalem was named the “City of David” and thus became the center of leadership and governance. The Kingdom’s religious nature also automatically meant that it became a worship center for the Israelites under the Kingship of David. David’s personal life is turbulent and it experiences various incidences that at times bring him in direct conflict with God. His turbulent life includes incidences of adultery with Bathsheba, who was a wife to one of his soldiers, and the death of his own rebellious son named Absalom. Amongst his notable failures before God as told in the story of the prophet Nathan is the killing of Bathsheba’s husband at war. King David had ordered Bathsheba’s husband to be killed because he wanted to marry her. Prior to his death, King David anointed one of his younger sons, Solomon as the next inheritor of his thrown (Killebrew & Vaughn 100-126). David is also known for his apparently contested authorship of numerous songs, prayers and poetic works such as the book of Psalms. These compositions have headings which associate them King David’s reign and his authorship. The actual authorship of some of these works is however not so well known and is under dispute. David leads the entire united Israel under his leadership until his death when he hands over to his son. According to the Gospels of Luke, Matthew and the Hebrew Bible David was the ancestor of Jesus Christ through Mary and Joseph. David is depicted as a righteous King, but he is also shown as being human and not without fault. His image is developed as a brave warrior, poet and musician traditionally accredited for the Psalms. Edwin Thiele places the approximate date of his leadership between c. 1040-970 BC, and David’s reign in Judah to c. 1010-1003 BC and the leadership over the United Israeli to c. 1003-970 BC. The only books that record his story are the books of Chronicles, Kings and Samuel. The Tel Dan Stele may hold records to the existence of the Judean royal dynasty in the mid nineteenth century known as the “House of David.” David’s history and life is indeed very significant to both Christians and Jews. Judaism recognizes David Hamelekh or David as the King of Jewish people and Israel. In Christian religions David is recognized as the father of the Messiah’s lineage. In Islam David is referred to as Dawud and is considered be the King of a nation and a prophet (Coogan 68). Indeed to command such an appearance in most religions is a direct implication that indeed David was a great figure that was most probably historical and truly existed in Israel history. The Tel Dan Stele is actually one of the pieces of archaeological evidence that we can hold on to in the defense of the existence of the dynasty and kingship of David as well as his Kingdom. The Tel Dan Stele is a stone bearing inscriptions which was unearthed in 1993/1994 in excavations in northern Israel region known as Tel Dan (Athas 29). The author of the stele was probably Hazael-the king of Damascus or one of his sons. The stele contains Aramaic inscriptions which commemorate victories over ancient local tribes of people including the “House of David” or Israel. This inscription on the stele led to great excitement in the scholarly world and among biblical archaeologists. The letters '??? ???' were identified as being akin to early Aramaic and Hebrew words that stood for the “House of David.” Research shows that if this reference refers to David’s lineage then this would be the first time the name of King David has gained recognition at an archaeological site. According to Denver, the scholarly agreement amongst epigraphers and archaeologists is that the fragment was an authentic reference to the King David mentioned within the bible (Athas, 129). The inscription on the stele dates to the 9th or 8th centuries BCE according to the used archaeological dating style. The Assyrian 733/732 BCE deduced the limit established at the 8th century from the destruction layer whose identification relates to a well historically recorded conquest. The destruction layer was above the layer where the stele pieces were discovered, thus implying that it had taken place after the erection of the stele. This was later broken to pieces and these pieces were used in Tel Dan for construction by Hebrew builders, it is however not easy to determine how long after the conquest by the Assyrians that these earlier events occurred (Athas, 81) Evidence and proof of the existence of an actual King David Kingdom Archaeological discoveries have rendered great support to the claims of existence of King David and a United Israel kingdom under his leadership. A part from the earlier mentioned archaeological discoveries, the most significant discovery lies in the work done in Khirbet Qeiyafa. Archaeological discoveries made in Khirbet Qeiyafa are very important in the debate on the veracity of the bible’s account of the Kingship of David at the start of the Iron Age II. Because there have been no archaeological findings which could corroborate claims of the presence of a magnificent biblical building, a number of scholars have promoted opinions that the purported Kingdom was no more than a small tribal entity. In defense of the possibility of existence of the Kingdom, Garfinkel states that the debate cannot be answered only by findings from the Qeiyafa excavations; however, he notes that it is evidently clear that there was a kingdom of Judah already in existence, which was already established as a centrally controlled and organized state within the 10th century BCE period. Gershon Galil from the University of Haifa identified the location in 2010 as the “Neta’im” mentioned in 1 Chronicles 4:23, because of its closeness to Khirbet Gurrayathe also known as the biblical Gederah. Inhabitants from these two cities were known to be ‘potters’ and they all were in the King’s service (Flurry 47). This description offers great evidence because it is consistent with archaeological discoveries that were made on the same site. Shirbet Qeiyafa also known as the Elah fortress is the site of an old city overlooking the Valley of Elah. The ruins to this site were uncovered in 2007in the close proximity of the Beit Shemesh Israeli city, which is 20 miles away from Jerusalem. The site has a 700 meter wall made of stone that weigh an estimated eight tones each. The fortress was located in the Judean Kingdom along the main road from the coastal plain and Philistia to the hill country on the east. Archaeologists claim that this may have been the Sha’arayim biblical city which is alternatively known as Neta’im. This reference indeed links the site to David’s era and Kingdom according to material extracts from the book of Samuel as textual support from biblical literature. In the book of Samuel we learn that after David had killed the Philistine giant Goliath, in the valley of Elah, between Azekah and Socoh, the philistines escaped from the Israelites through the Proad of Shajarayim (1 Samuel 17:52). In this instance Shajarayim is again mentioned in close proximity to Azekah, Elah Valley and Socoh. The city of lists in the tribe of Simeon also mentions Shajarayim as one of the cities. This relation from biblical text and archaeological evidence from excavations support and prove the probable existence of the sites mentioned in the biblical books on the era of David’s leadership (Ganor & Garfinkel 129b). According to the provided information it may be conceived that there were two cities under the name of Shafarayim, with one located in the Negev whereas the other was near Elah valley. However, Shafarayim’s appearance in the lists in the tribe of Simeon is a little problematic. There is a total of three parallel pieces of writing for the Negev city list and Simeon’s tribe: Joshua 19, Joshua 15 and 1 Chronicles 4. In each list and similar location a different name is found: Shafarayim in one Chronicles 4:31, Sharuhen in Joshua 19:6 and Shilhim in Joshua 15:32. These inconsistencies are usually taken to be scribe errors because all three start with the common letter Shin (Ariel & Shiloh 48). This city’s name does not make appearance again in the other two lists and thus implying that indeed there was no second city with such a name in the Negev. The three appearances however prove and attest to the existence of such a city in association to the Davidic era. However, of major neglect is the association of the last closing words: “until the reign of David” only in the Shafarayim version and in adjacent immediacy to the name. Apparently, 1 Chronicles 4:31R32 has a statement that claims “these were their towns until the reign of David.” The statement however has a missing connection to the list that is lost which includes cities from the time prior to David’s regency. This shows that indeed the Davidic reign was important in the history of Israel because there was expansion of the kingdom in this reign to include other conquered towns and thus supporting the possibility of United Kingdom under the reign of David which included other towns in the vicinity of Israel. There is great speculation about the whereabouts of the biblical city of Shafarayim. These have however, lacked a solid base, with only the Mazar family excavations offering promising results that may in the near future settle the doubts. However, of greater importance to this paper is the association of the city of Shafarayim with King David two times in the biblical tradition. Shafarayim does not receive any mention in relation to any other later period associated with the first temple tradition. This notable observation is in line with radiometric and archaeological data which indicates a single phase of settled life in the early 10th century BCE in Khirbet Qeiyafa (Ganor & Garfinkel 70a). All these prove the existence of a united Israel kingdom under a Davidic reign and, indeed this reign must have been big and his leadership great because it mentions an element of expansion and the incorporation of adjacent towns. This leads to the question as to what was the actual political structure within the 10th century BCE. According to Mazar (1990) and Stager (1993), there is a traditional viewpoint that points to a single and centralized political authority that may have been based in Jerusalem which ruled upon the entire nation of Israel. Other scholars such as Finkelstein (1996) and Singer-Avitz and Herzog (2004) have made propositions of an autonomous localized organization of regions and towns. The massive witnessed construction structures at Khirbet Qeiyafa’s city wall with an estimated 200000 tons of stonework and the great eastern gate of that ancient city with two huge stones of 10 tons each, all proclaim authority and power of a central government with great political authority that can only be akin to the mentioned reign of David (Ganor & Garfinkel 91). The geopolitical situation in the Valley of Elah during the early 10th and late 11th centuries is very clear. The great city of Philistines known as Gath which was approximately 30 hectares by size was situated an approximate 12 kilometers downstream away from Khirbet Qeiyafa, and the region bore a hostile border line where the kingdoms of Jerusalem under David and Gath had a number of constant military conflicts. The epic story of Goliath and David is one among many similar warrior tales told in 2 Samuel 21:15-22 and 1 Chronicles 11:11-27. Even though most of these traditions sound for folkloristic in nature their geography and chronology hold historical memories (Coogan 89). As the 9th century BCE came to an end Gath city and its political power disappeared. The biblical literature, radiometric dates and the Khirbet Qeiyafa single phase city stand distinctly as important evidence that clearly indicates that the bible traditions do bear authentic geographical memories that relate to the 10th century BCE Valley of Elah. There is no ground for assuming that traditions and stories were developed in the late 7th century or during the Hellenistic period. Additionally, the inscription discovered in Khirbet Qeiyafa clearly shows that writing may have been practiced during this era and in this same region. Therefore, historical memory may have been passed down the generations, till finally it became summarized as biblical literature that clearly tells of the Davidic reign, therefore; there is a high likelihood that indeed the Kingdom of David and David as king may have actually existed. Thus the biblical literature and archaeological findings are the two most prominent and still standing examples of evidence that attest to the existence and greatness of the Kingdom of Israel and his reign (Coogan 71). In the year that the United States published the “God’s City” the making of a visitor’s center in the City of David began. Shortly after, workers on the site found a wealth of remains beneath the ground of the site. Immediately, the construction was stopped and excavations started which led to greater discoveries. Shukron Eli and Ronny Reich later found remains of a great fortressed structure build around David’s city main water supply known as the Gihon springs. The excavators proved that the great underground water system not including the tunnel build by Hezekiah, all pre-dated the reign of David. 2 Samuel 5:8 states that King David’s army conquered the Jebusite fort by sneaking in through a water tunnel, which may point to this discovered source-therefore once again the biblical stories get confirmed by archaeological evidence. Shortly after Shukron and Reich’s work in 1997 Eilat Mazar was caught by a biblical verse of 2 Samuel 5, which would later lead to another key archaeological discovery (Ariel & Shiloh 135). The book states that when David had conquered the Jebusite city, he began residing in the stronghold of the Jebusite fortress in the north end of the city. Further on the book of Samuel two 5:9 states that David started to build the area around the fortress from its supporting terraces inwards. Thus he was on a city expansion plan, with the first concentration being the royal palace. The biblical story says the palace of David was built in part by workers sent to David by the Phoenician king of Tyre (verse 11) and it later says in verse (10) that David went on and became great and the lord of the hosts was upon him. Close to the end of the construction of the palace the Philistine kingdom attacked David’s city and since the newly built palace would not withstand an assault as stated in verse 17, David moved down to the citadel to keep him safe till the conflict subsided. In view of this biblical literature Eilat Mazar theorized that this implied that David’s city was on a higher ground than the Jebusite fortress-this was published in the Biblical Archaeology Review in 1997 (Flurry 47). The article was titled “Excavate king David’s Palace” and recent works in excavation are on their way to prove the theory as authentic (Ariel & Shiloh 48). Conclusion In conclusion, this large number of ties in biblical literature and archaeological evidence imply that indeed there is great evidence that points to the existence of David and his kingly reign. This is mainly ascertained by proves that archaeology as offered biblical literature. Therefore, the stories of expansionism in the Davidic reign may be true after all and the fact that some form of writing in form of inscriptions was already available in the kingdom. Moreover, other nearing cities, the evidence from archaeological evidence such as the stele may after all show that indeed David and his reign were both as great as stated in literature. Works Cited Ariel, T. D. and Shiloh, Y. Excavations at the City of David, Volume 1, the University of Michigan. 2008. Print Athas, G. The Tel Dan Inscription: A Reappraisal and a New Interpretation, Continuum International Publishing Group. 2006. Print Coogan, D. M. The Old Testament: a historical and literary introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, Oxford University Press. 2006. Print Flurry, S. (2008),. Defending Eilat Mazar-and the biblical record, retrieved on 26th November 2011 fromhttp://www.thetrumpet.com/?q=4948.3210.0.0 Ganor, S. and Garfinkel, Y. Khirbet Qeiyafa, Volume 1, Israel Exploration Society. 2009. Print Ganor, S. and Garfinkel, Y. Khirbet Qeiyafa: Sha.’arayim. The Hebrew University: The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, volume 8, issue 22. Retrieved on 26th November 2011 from http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/Articles/article_99.pdf Huyck, D. W. The Christian Journey: The historical reality of King David, retrieved on 26th November 2011 fromhttp://thischristianjourney.com/ThisChristianJourney/GeneralPages/Historical_king_david.htm Killebrew, E. A. and Vaughn, G. A.. Jerusalem in Bible and archaeology: the First Temple period, Society of Biblical Literature. 2003. Print Read More