Saul Throws Spear at David" by George Tinworth
King Saul
Saul was the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin. According to the Book of Samuel, Saul was sent with a servant to look for his father's she-asses, who had strayed. Leaving his home at Gibeah, Saul and his servant wandered eventually to the district of Zuph, near Samuel's home at Ramah (9:5-10). At this point, Saul proposed to them to return from the three days' fruitless search, but his servant suggested that they should first consult the "seer."
The two met with Samuel, who secretly anointed Saul as king over Israel.After Saul returned home, Samuel summoned the people to an assembly at Mizpah. Lots were drawn to determine the new king, and Saul was confirmed before the people as king. Shortly thereafter, Saul led the army of Israel in battle against the invading Ammonites, whom he defeated at Jabesh-Gilead, thus confirming his status as king.
Then Saul and his son Jonathan made war against the Philistines. Saul was apparently somewhat impatient to go into battle against a vastly superior Philistine force at Michmash, leading to a curse from Samuel and the departure of the old judge. Shortly thereafter, while Saul still waited, Jonathan launched a surprise attack against the Philistines without his father's knowledge, leading to panic among the Philistine forces. Saul took advantage of the confusion to inflict a great defeat upon the Philistines.
Saul then went to war against the Amalekites. After routing the Amalekites, however, Saul refused to execute their king Agag and destroy their livestock, angering Samuel, who had instructed that the Amalekites be utterly "consecrated" (eradicated). According to the Book of Samuel, this omission led to the kingship anointing being taken from Saul and given to another, David, and led Samuel to cease to give Saul guidance. Saul effectively remained as king, however
.It is at this point that David, a young shepherd from the tribe of Judah, enters the story. David was sent for as a harp player to soothe Saul, troubled by an evil spirit after losing the anointing. Three years later when the Philistines again invaded, David came to Saul's attention when he killed the Philistine giant Goliath of Gath with a slingshot in single combat, leading to another Philistine defeat.
Saul soon began to become jealous of David, who had managed to secure Saul's daughter Michal for his wife, as well as the close friendship of Saul's own son, Jonathan. Saul, however, plotted to kill his popular young rival, and David fled into the hills where he became an outlaw.
Soon after this Saul gathered the Israelites against the Philistines again, at Gilboa. Before the battle, Saul went to consult the witch of Endor, but was mysteriously confronted by Samuel, who told him that he would be defeated. True to his word, the Israelites were indeed defeated, and Saul and three of his sons, including Jonathan, were killed. According to the Bible, Saul took his own life as the battle turned against him.
Michelangelo's David
The successor to King Saul, who was the first official king of a united Kingdom of Israel, David's forty-year reign lasted from roughly 1005 BCE to 965 BCE. The account of his life and rule are recorded in the Old Testament Books of Samuel and the first of the two Books of Chronicles.
Despite the fact that he displeased God on a few occasions, he is regarded by the Bible - and most Jews and Christians - as having been the most righteous of all the ancient kings of Israel. He is also unusual in that he was an acclaimed warrior, monarch, musician and poet; David is traditionally credited with the authorship of many of the psalms recorded in the Old Testament book of Psalms.
The Bible states that God was ultimately so pleased with David, that He promised that the Davidic line would endure forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16). Judaism believes that the Jewish Messiah will be a direct descendant of King David, and Christianity traces the lineage of Jesus back to him.
David was the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man of humble life. His mother's name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Samuel 17:25. As to his personal appearance, he is described as being ruddy and handsome (1 Samuel 16:12; 17:42).
His early occupation was that of tending his father's sheep on the uplands of Judah. From what we know of his later story, doubtless he frequently spent his time, when watching sheep, with his shepherd's musical instruments (flute and harp), while he drank in the many lessons taught him by the varied scenes spread around him. His first recorded exploits were his encounters with the wild beasts. He mentions that with his own unaided hand he slew a lion and also a bear, when they came out against his flock, beating them to death, in open conflict, with his club (1 Samuel 17:34,35).
While David was thus engaged with his flocks, Samuel paid an unexpected visit to Bethlehem. There he offered up sacrifice, and called the elders of Israel and Jesse's family to the sacrificial meal. Among all who appeared before him he failed to discover the one he sought. David was sent for, and the prophet immediately recognized him as the chosen of God, chosen to succeed King Saul, who was now departing from the ways of God, on the throne of the kingdom. He accordingly poured on his head the anointing oil. David went back again to his shepherd life, but "the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward," and "the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul" (1 Sam. 16:13, 14).
Not long after this David was sent for to soothe with his harp the troubled spirit of King Saul, who suffered from a strange melancholy dejection. He played his harp before the king so skillfully that Saul was greatly cheered, and began to entertain great affection for the young shepherd. After this he went home to Bethlehem. But he soon again came into prominence. The armies of the Philistines and of Israel were in battle array in the valley of Elah, some 16 miles south-west of Bethlehem; and David was sent by his father with provisions for his three brothers, who were then fighting on the side of the king.
On his arrival in the camp of Israel, David, now a youth (1 Sam. 17:42), was made aware of the state of matters when the champion of the Philistines, Goliath of Gath, came forth to defy Israel. David swore to fight the Philistine champion, and Saul offered David his own kingly armor to do so, but David refused to wear it, as he was unused to armor and felt it restricted him. David took only his sling, and with a well-trained aim threw a stone "out of the brook," which struck the giant's forehead, so that he fell senseless to the ground. David then ran to cut off Goliath's head with Goliath's own sword (1 Sam. 17). The result was a great victory for the Israelites, who pursued the Philistines to the gates of Gath and Ekron. 2 Samuel credits Elhanan with Goliath's brothers death.
David's popularity following this heroic exploit awakened Saul's jealousy (1 Sam. 18:6-16), which he showed in various ways. He conceived a bitter hatred toward him, and by various stratagems sought his death (1 Sam. 18:29). The deep-laid plots of the enraged king, who could not fail to observe that David "prospered exceedingly," all proved futile, and only endeared the young hero the more to the people, and very specially to Jonathan, Saul's son, who shared a deep, lifelong friendship with David.
During the period of his persecution by Saul, David lived as an exile and accepted the city of Ziklag as a fief from the Philistine king Achish of Gath (1 Sam 27:2-6). Until Saul's death at Gilboa, David worked as a mercenary general for the Philistines, and may have adopted iron technology (as opposed to bronze) from them at this time.
David returned to Israel at God's command (2 Sam. 2) after Saul and Jonathan's deaths and the mourning period. He went to Hebron, where the people of his native tribe, the tribe of Judah, anointed him as king over the tribe. The northern tribes, however, did not recognize David, and instead followed Saul's son, Ish-Bosheth.
There followed a bitter civil war between Judah (supporting David) and the northern tribes (supporting Ish-Bosheth). Eventually, Abner, Saul's army commander and advisor, grew dissatisfied with Ish-Bosheth and went over to David's side. The war was ended when Ish-Bosheth was assassinated.
David reigned over the United Monarchy. The leaders of all the tribes came to David and declared him king by popular assent. He reigned over Israel for a while longer in Hebron, but eventually decided on conquering the Jebusite fortress of Jerusalem as his capital. One of the strongest cities in Israel, the Israelites had been unable to capture the fortress despite having lived around it for centuries. Nevertheless, we are told in the Bible, David captured the city.
David made Jerusalem the capital, and bought Mount Moriah. He then brought the Ark of the Covenant to Mount Moriah and intended to build a temple, but God did not allow him to do so. One reason cited was that the Temple is supposed to be a peaceful and reverent place, but David had fought too many wars, becoming, according to the Biblical text, a "man of blood."
David had 8 wives.
2. The second was Ahinoam of Jezreel.
3. The third was Abigail, previously wife of the evil Nabal.
4. The fourth was Maachah.
5. The fifth was Haggith.
6. The sixth was Avital.
7. The seventh was Eglah.
8. The eighth was Bathsheba the mother of King Solomon
The third King of Israel, Shelomoh, (meaning "one whose peace is his" in Hebrew) or "Solomon" in English, is portrayed as a wise leader in the Torah. Solomon constructed the First Temple in Jerusalem. His reign was a time of peace for Israel.
Following Solomon's death, tensions between the northern part of Israel, containing the ten northern tribes, and the southern section, dominated by Jerusalem and the southern tribes, increased, and around 920 BCE, Israel split into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south.
Soon after the death of Solomon, the prophecy of Ahijah (1 Kings 11:31-35) was fulfilled with the division of the kingdom. Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, was scarcely seated on his throne when the old jealousies between Judah and the other tribes broke out anew, and Jeroboam was sent for from Egypt by the malcontents (12:2,3).
Rehoboam insolently refused to lighten the burdensome taxation and services that his father had imposed on his subjects (12:4), and the rebellion became complete. The Tribe of Ephraim and all Israel raised the old cry, "Every man to his tents, O Israel" (2 Samuel 20:1). Rehoboam fled to Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:1-18; 2 Chronicles 10), and Jeroboam was proclaimed king over all Israel at Shechem, with the Tribe of Judah and the Tribe of Benjamin remaining faithful to Rehoboam. War continued, with varying success, between the two kingdoms for about sixty years, until Jehoshaphat allied himself with the house of Ahab through marriage. Later, his son and successor Jehoram of Judah married Ahab's daughter Athaliah, cementing the alliance. The sons of Ahab were slaughtered by Jehu following his Coup d'état (though this is disputed by the Dan Stele).
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ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF ALL FILES