50 Facts About David

David was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the third king of the United Kingdom of Israel.

David becomes a favourite of Saul, the first king of Israel; he forges a notably close friendship with Jonathan, a son of Saul.

However, under the paranoia that David is seeking to usurp the throne, Saul attempts to kill David, forcing the latter to go into hiding and effectively operate as a fugitive for several years.

David rules as king of the Israelites until his death at age 70, prior to which he chooses Solomon—a son born to him and Bathsheba—as his successor instead of Adonijah, his eldest surviving son with Haggith.

Apart from this, all that is known of David comes from biblical literature, the historicity of which has been extensively challenged, and there is little detail about David that is concrete and undisputed.

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David is richly represented in post-biblical Jewish written and oral tradition, and is discussed in the New Testament.

The early Christians interpreted the life of Jesus of Nazareth in light of references to the Hebrew Messiah and to David; Jesus is described as being directly descended from David in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke.

The biblical David has inspired many interpretations in art and literature over the centuries.

David is described as cementing his relations with various political and national groups through marriage.

Later, David wanted Michal back and Abner, Ish-bosheth's army commander, delivered her to David, causing her husband great grief.

In Hebron, David had six sons: Amnon, by Ahinoam; Daniel, by Abigail; Absalom, by Maachah; Adonijah, by Haggith; Shephatiah, by Abital; and Ithream, by Eglah.

David's sons born in Jerusalem of his other wives included Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama and Eliada.

David fails to bring Amnon to justice for his violation of Tamar, because he is his firstborn and he loves him, and so, Absalom murders Amnon to avenge Tamar.

David, sent by his father to bring provisions to his brothers serving in Saul's army, declares that he can defeat Goliath.

David goes first to Nob, where he is fed by the priest Ahimelech and given Goliath's sword, and then to Gath, the Philistine city of Goliath, intending to seek refuge with King Achish there.

David goes next to the cave of Adullam, where his family joins him.

David realises he has an opportunity to kill Saul, but this is not his intention: he secretly cuts off a corner of Saul's robe, and when Saul has left the cave he comes out to pay homage to Saul as the king and to demonstrate, using the piece of robe, that he holds no malice towards Saul.

Similar passage occurs in 1 Samuel 26, when David is able to infiltrate Saul's camp on the hill of Hachilah and remove his spear and a jug of water from his side while he and his guards lie asleep.

David brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city, intending to build a temple for God, but the prophet Nathan forbids it, prophesying that the temple would be built by one of David's sons.

David calls her husband, Uriah the Hittite, back from the battle to rest, hoping that he will go home to his wife and the child will be presumed to be his.

When David is old and bedridden, Adonijah, his eldest surviving son and natural heir, declares himself king.

Bathsheba and Nathan go to David and obtain his agreement to crown Bathsheba's son Solomon as king, according to David's earlier promise, and the revolt of Adonijah is put down.

David dies at the age of 70 after reigning for 40 years, and on his deathbed counsels Solomon to walk in the ways of God and to take revenge on his enemies.

David is an important figure in Rabbinic Judaism, with many legends around him.

However, in tractate Sanhedrin, David expressed remorse over his transgressions and sought forgiveness.

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Also, according to the Talmud Yerushalmi, David was born and died on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot .

David's piety was said to be so great that his prayers could bring down things from Heaven.

Originally an earthly king ruling by divine appointment, the "son of David" became in the last two centuries BCE the apocalyptic and heavenly one who would deliver Israel and usher in a new kingdom.

David is commemorated on the Sunday after the Nativity, together with Joseph and James, the Brother of the Lord.

In European Christian culture of the Middle Ages, David was made a member of the Nine Worthies, a group of heroes encapsulating all the ideal qualities of chivalry.

David's life was thus proposed as a valuable subject for study by those aspiring to chivalric status.

David was considered as a model ruler and a symbol of divinely-ordained monarchy throughout medieval Western Europe and Eastern Christendom.

David was perceived as the biblical predecessor to Christian Roman and Byzantine emperors and the name "New David" was used as an honorific reference to these rulers.

David is an important figure in Islam as one of the major prophets sent by God to guide the Israelites.

David is mentioned several times in the Quran with the Arabic name ????, Dawud or Da'ud, often with his son Solomon.

When David killed Goliath, God granted him kingship and wisdom and enforced it .

David was made God's "vicegerent on earth" and God further gave David sound judgment as well as the Psalms, regarded as books of divine wisdom .

Together with Solomon, David gave judgment in a case of damage to the fields and David judged the matter between two disputants in his prayer chamber .

Since there is no mention in the Quran of the wrong David did to Uriah nor any reference to Bathsheba, Muslims reject this narrative.

David's voice is described as having had a captivating power, weaving its influence not only over man but over all beasts and nature, who would unite with him to praise God.

The instance in the Book of Jashar, excerpted in Samuel 2, where David "proclaims that Jonathan's love was sweeter to him than the love of a women", has been compared to Achilles' comparison of Patroclus to a girl and Gilgamesh's love for Enkidu "as a woman".

Jacob L Wright has written that the most popular legends about David, including his killing of Goliath, his affair with Bathsheba, and his ruling of a United Kingdom of Israel rather than just Judah, are the creation of those who lived generations after him, in particular those living in the late Persian or Hellenistic periods.

Besides the two steles, Bible scholar and Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen suggests that David's name appears in a relief of Pharaoh Shoshenq, who is usually identified with Shishak in the Bible.

The relief claims that Shoshenq raided places in Palestine in 925 BCE, and Kitchen interprets one place as "Heights of David", which was in Southern Judah and the Negev where the Bible says David took refuge from Saul.

The evidence suggested that David ruled only as a chieftain over an area which cannot be described as a state or as a kingdom, but more as a chiefdom, much smaller and always overshadowed by the older and more powerful kingdom of Israel to the north.

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David has compared David to Labaya, a Caananite warlord living during the time of Pharaoh Akhenaten.

David has been depicted several times in films; these are some of the best-known:.

King David playing the harp, ceiling fresco from Monheim Town Hall, home of a wealthy Jewish merchant.

King David, stained glass windows from the Romanesque Augsburg Cathedral, late 11th century.

Arnold Zadikow, 1930: The Young David displayed in the entrance of Berlin's Jewish Museum from 1933 until its loss during the Second World War.