This page was migrated in July 2022 from my older website, biblicalambiguities.net. As such, it is subject to the biblicalambiguities-general-disclaimer and the biblicalambiguities-general-disclaimer.
22 July 2022
David is an important character in the Hebrew Bible, held up as an examplar of the godly king and the founder of the long-lasting dynasty of the Kingdom of Judah. There is dispute about how much of the David material in the Hebrew Bible is historically reliable, although it is generally agreed that a ruler by that name did exist.
One particular question concerns whether David did in fact rule anything approaching the combined "Israel" described in the biblical texts, or whether he ruled a smaller domain. The majority opinion, if I understand it correctly, is that the extent of his kingdom is exaggerated in the biblical accounts, but the exact size of his kingdom remains a matter of dispute.
David is not mentioned in any contemporary historical sources, but his name does appear in the expression "house of David" on an inscription written perhaps two hundred years after he is supposed to have lived: the Tel Dan Stele.
According to the Bible, after his death the kingdom fell into the hands of his son Solomon.
As with other pages migrated from biblicalambiguities.net, this page may contain material paraphrased or even outright copied without direct attribution from the KJV, RV, ASV, JPS (1917), WEB, NHEB, Kittel's BH, the pre-1923 volumes of the ICC series, or the commentaries on Genesis of Dillmann, Skinner, and Driver. More details on this policy can be found here: biblicalambiguities-general-disclaimer and biblicalambiguities-translation-disclaimer.
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