A. ( Budde. ,1) IS 16I»-M1S5. 2«-»(,«-8i''-» 20.22. •23l-"«->«-l»2.'.2-'* ■24. 27, 28'. ' 29. 80. 2s*-26 8], 2 S ]i~*.l'-2i 0, 8*. '^-3" 4, 51-3. i7_:o (^y21llsJ2'23»-»») 6i>->2 6. S"',V.i-i» s'«-i» = 20M-M9--Jn, 1 K 1 2
B. (Hudde, E) 1 8 17. Ib'-» i»-") '-'» lu'-" 21'-» 2.S'«i^'8i'' 26, 2 S !»-■«.
Det.iched narratives of various dotes : — 2 S 21'-" 24, 1 9 IC-" 19"«-" 21"'-">, 2 S 7. 22. 231-'.
Editorial additions, based in part on older material ; — 2 9 S*-"", 1 K '2(1-12).
No account is taken here of minor interpolations and editorial additions.
Of these different outhorities the oldest and most voluable is the family history of D. referred to above (2 9 9-20, 1 K 1. 2); its det.iiled descriptions and graphic touclies do not indeed prove the writer to have been a contemporar,v of the events , but be clearly possessed trustworthy sources oflnformation, and must he placed not very long after D.'s time. The remaining jtortions of .\ are not so detailed, and are apparently of some- what later date. B is still later, and in several points less reliable than A ; while of the shorter sections some are shown by their contents, and by the hleas there expressed, to be of high antiquity (2 S 21. '24), others are certainly later than B, ami in part dependent on B. All, however, are earlier than the lime of .losiah ; and only in 2 S 7 (pre-exilici, in the Songs (2 S 22. 281-") and the editorial additions, can we trace the influence of Deuteronomy.
David was the youngest .son of Jesse, a Judajan of Bethlehem, who seems to have belonged to one of the principal families of his native town (yet cf. 1 S 18'*). No particulars as to the ancestry of Jesse are given in 1 Sam. (contrast the case of Saul, 1 SO'); but in the (later) genealogy in Kuth he is called the son of Obed, and grandson of Boaz, and his descent is traced back to the familv of Perez (Ru 4"'-2- ; see also 1 Ch 2»-"). The name of D.'s mother is nowhere given ; his three elder brothers were called Eliab ('.' Kliliu, 1 Ch 27i»), Abinadab, and Shammah (Shimeah, 2 S \S^ ; -Shimei, 2 S2r-i), see 1 S !(>''-'■> 17i». 1 S Kii'f- and I7i- .speak of eight sons of Jesse, and in 1 Ch 21-'-"' three more names are given, Nethanel the 4th, Haddai the oth, and Ozem the (!th, D. being there termed the 7th. The si.sters of I)., Zeruiah (the mother of Joab, Abishai, and Asahel) and Abigail (the mother of Ainasa), were probably half-sister.s, for in 2 S IT^ Abigail is called daughter of Nahash and sister to Zeruiah ; cf. 1 Ch 2i«- ").
We first hear of D. when he was introduced to the court of Saul. The king had been attacked with morliid melancholy, called by the histiu'ian 'an evil spirit from J".' His servants suggested that a skilful player ui)on the harp should bo brought to soothe the king with his music, and 1)., tlie son of Jes.se, was chosen for this ollice. The narrative (1 .S Ki'''-'') is probably to be ci'ii- nected with tlie statement of H''-, that Saul gathered round liim every valiant warrior in Israel ; and in like manner I)., who is described as 'a mighty man of valour and a man of war,' was summoned to the court. In addition to being a skilful iimsician, he was prudent in sjieecli (or business), a comely j)er.sun, and one who enjoyed the favour of J". The young minstrel won the
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DAVID
favour of the king, who made him his armour- hearer (of. 1 S 14iff- 31<-«, 2 S 18'5 23"), and kept him in attendance upon his person.
From another source, however, we have a dif- ferent account of D.'s first introduction to Saul, in the beautiful and familiar story of the encounter with Goliath (ch. 17^-18*). Here David is represented as a mere lad, a goodly youth of fair countenance, inexperienced in war (17^- *'^), wlio used to tend his father's sheep. During a war with the Philistines, I), was sent by his father with a present to liis tliree brothers, who were serving in Saul's army in the Valley of Elah. On reaching the camp he heard the defiant words of the giant, Goliath of Gath, and, undeterred by his eldest brother's reproaches, he inquired among the soldiers concerning the king's reward promised to any man who would overcome the Philistine champion. When brought before the king, the youth at once offered to go out against the Philis- tine, relating how he had protected his father's sheep from the lions and bears which had attacked them (tenses in 17*'"- frequentative, see Driver, Text of Sam.). Putting aside the armour offered by the king, he advanced to meet the giant. He brought his opponent to the ground by a stone slung against his forehead, and then cut off his liead with his own sword. The fall of their champion was followed by the rout of the Philis- tine army. So far was D. at this time unknown to Saul, that the king instructed his chief com- mander, Abner, to inquire concerning the 'strip- ling's' parentage, — a question which D. answered for himself as he returned from the fray with the giant's head in his hand. From this time forward D. was kept at the court of Saul, while a close friendship sprang up at once between him and the king's son Jonathan.