King David

[[File:David_SM_Maggiore.jpg|rightt|thumb|165px|It's entirely possible he looked like this]]
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'''King David''' was the third king of [[Israel]] and Judah, most famous for killing [[Goliath]], although he wasn't king when he did that. David was a bit of a jerk, paying for one of his wives in Philistine foreskins,<ref group=note>He was only required to bring 100 foreskins, but he gathered 200, because you can never have enough foreskins. The whole thing was a plot by Saul to kill David, though, so he gets a pass here.</ref> sending some dude to be killed so he could bang his wife, and the most heinous of crimes: ''conducting a census'' at the behest of [[Satan]].<ref>{{bible|1 Chronicles|21|1}}</ref> Or maybe not.<ref>{{bible|2 Samuel|24|1}}</ref> He is also traditionally credited as author of many of the [[Psalms]], although there is no evidence to tie any of them specifically to him,<ref>{{wpa|David}}</ref> but it's nice to imagine that he was both a warrior and a poet, a fighter and a lover.

[[Jesus]] is supposedly descended from David, though there is the problem of being the "son of [[God]]", as it is [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]] who was the descendant of David, and if he were [[Virgin birth|born of a virgin]], then he wasn't the son of Joseph and therefore wasn't a descendant of David. Though Jewish custom at the time held that you are considered the son of your adoptive father, with no distinction made with biological children.{{fact}}

==Was he real?==
The source for almost everything we know about David is the Bible. David is traditionally placed around 1000 BCE, and this is a time period with few historical sources, particularly for Israel: Egypt and Mesopotamia were both weak and their records only cover their immediate area, while the Bible is essentially the only record of what happened in Israel.<ref name=mckenzie>[https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/m/mckenzie-david.html?_r=2 Was There a King David?], from ''King David: A Biography'', Steven L McKenzie, 2000; excerpted in New York Times</ref> There are a few possible extra-biblical sources, such as the Tel Dan Stele. This Aramean victory stele contains the phrase '''ביתדוד'''  which translates to "House of the beloved", "House of the uncle", or "House of David".<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=eprY1Qd0veAC&pg=PA110&lpg=PA110&dq=there+are+currently+three+extant+fragments+of+the+Tel+Dan+stele&f=false#v=onepage&q=there%20are%20currently%20three%20extant%20fragments%20of%20the%20Tel%20Dan%20stele&f=false Mykytiuk, Lawrence J. (2004). "Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200-539 B.C.E." Atlanta, Ga.: Society of Biblical Literature. See pp. 110-132 and 265-277]</ref> As the stele describes a victory over [[Israel]] and an unspecified allied kingdom, it isn't unreasonable to suppose they refer to Judah and its David. However, the "city of David" section of Jerusalem lacks convincing evidence for a circa 1000 [[BCE]] city, though the ruins are difficult to date accurately.<ref>"Solomon's Jerusalem: The Text and the Facts on the Ground," in: A.G. Vaughn and A.E. Killebrew (eds.), Jerusalem in Bible and Archaeology: The First Temple Period, (Society of Biblical Literature, Symposium Series, No. 18), Atlanta, 2003, pp. 103-115. See also Cahill, J., "David's Jerusalem, Fiction or Reality? The Archaeological Evidence Proves It," and Steiner, M., "David's Jerusalem, Fiction or Reality? It's Not There: Archeology Proves a Negative," both in Biblical Archeology Review 24 (July/August 1998).</ref>

Most scholars hold the position that the Histories (Nevi'im) describe real people in a fictionalized account. Therefore, it's likely that King David existed, and he was, for Judah, the most powerful or important king, but since no one else mentions him, he's probably not a major player in the greater [[Middle East]] region of the time.<ref>[http://www.archaeology.org/0601/reviews/kings.html Archeology Magazine]</ref>

However, there is considerable debate over whether David was real: there was a particularly passionate scholarly debate in the 1990s which involved [[Snarl word|abuse]] like "fundamentalist" and "anti-Zionist".<ref name=mckenzie/> It is also debated whether David was actually born Jewish, as accounts of the names of his bodyguard indicate a different ethnic origin.<ref name=miles>[https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/00/06/18/reviews/000618.18milest.html A Sling and a Prayer], Jack Miles, New York Times, June 18, 2000</ref> Steven L McKenzie, author of ''King David: A Biography'', cast doubt on much of the traditional account based on close analysis of the Bible, including a claim that the Israelite king Saul was killed because David and the Philistines teamed up on him.<ref name=miles/>

==See also==
*[[Solomon]], his son

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Ancient history]]
[[Category:Biblical figures]]
[[Category:Monarchs]]
[[Category:Old Testament]]

Categories: Ancient history, Biblical figures, Monarchs, Old Testament