KÖNIG DAVID – EIN ANDÄCHTIG-KRITISCHES PORTRÄT
KING DAVID – A REVERENT-CRITICAL PORTRAIT

Summary/Abstract: The biblical portrait of David is not at all onesided but multifaceted and colourful. He is, particularly in the Books of Samuel, depicted as a venerable man and king on the one side and as a fallible and deterrent monarch on the other side. His best qualities are: he is a master of music and poetry, his rise from a nobody to a powerful king is admirable, he is able to avoid violence and to spare human life, and he became the founder of a powerful and longstanding dynasty. The dark sides of David are: he seems to be a classical usurper, he has been a man of violence and war, he made himself guilty of horrifying crimes, he was unable to manage a peaceful life within his family and a fruitful transition from his rule to his son and successor Solomon. The superscription of his biblical portrait could be: «ecce rex» and «ecce homo».

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