Beyond a Flannelgraph Understanding of the OT: David

Last semester I took a class which included a study of the history books in the Old Testament. This gave me another opportunity to study the life of David. I have always been fascinated by the accounts of King David, a man who has continued to be a pivotal character in the Bible, a foundational character for Jews, and the messianic heir of the Messiah for Christians. His theological significance is hard to fathom. And yet, as I read the accounts of David again, I was struck not by the theology which surrounds his history but by the man himself as his life unfolded in the raw uncertainty which characterizes everyone's lives.

It is easy for you and I to think back to Sunday School and picture a flannelgraph David with a late Medieval European gold crown on his head and a purple toga. He is always standing in the same nondescript flannelgraph throne room in which Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus are later featured. And yet these kings can hardly be compared. David was no king of a vast empire. He could barely hold the allegiance of the twelve tribes. David was a young peasant shepherd in a relatively small hill tribe. He rose to prominence through a daring military stunt. He was then drafted into the small united tribal army which was fighting for its life. He was a local hero of sorts (and for that reason a natural army officer). He had some military successes which ended up drawing the jealousy of his king. As the present king weakened and failed to establish his son on the throne, David became king of his one small hill tribe. His tribe was only one among many tribes, which, even once united, barely stood a chance against outside invaders. He then basically politicked his way to become leader of all of the tribes. As a strong military hero-type king he was able to maintain control. His palace was not glorious by any means (probably more akin to a viking lodge than a Buckingham Palace). And his capital city was a hilltop town by today's standards.

The picture above is from the ESV Study Bible (an excellent achievement). It shows what some scholars think David's Jerusalem might have looked like. For some perspective on how small it was, the hill behind David's city is mount Moriah where the current temple mount is. David's little hill (Zion) is only a tiny fraction of the modern city.

If this stuff intrigues you at all and you're incredibly visual like me, you have to check out cityofdavid.org. It is a beautiful site and gives great info on the current archeological work being done in Jerusalem.