David was born 446 years after the Jewish people entered the Land of Israel. He was only ten generations removed from Jacob’s fourth son, Judah, whom Jacob blessed with kingship.
Within the tribe of Judah, David belonged to the royal family of Peretz, which gave the Jewish people princes and leaders. One of David’s early ancestors, Nachshon the son of Aminadav, won fame at the crossing of the Sea of Reeds. He was the first to jump into the sea, whereupon the sea was split for the Jewish people.
David’s great-grandfather, Boaz, was the tenth judge of Israel. Boaz married Ruth, a member of the Moabite royal family, who converted to Judaism at great personal sacrifice and merited to have six great descendants: David, Mashiach, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. She was the great-grandmother of King David and lived long enough to see the reigns of King David and his son Solomon. (Her very name, Ruth, alludes to the fact that she would merit a descendant who would delight God with songs and praises.)
Throughout the years, the great traditions of the royal family, going back to Judah and Jacob, were maintained by the House of Jesse, David’s father—a house of scholarship, piety, kindness, generosity, and wealth. The most noble traits of all his great and famous ancestors were bestowed upon David.
The Scorned Stone
David was born on Shavuot to his parents, Jesse and Nitzevet. Jesse appointed David to be a shepherd, a vocation that prepared David for his role as shepherd of Israel. The Midrash describes the sensitive care that David provided for the sheep, which he would later show in his leadership of the Jewish people.
God sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse, instructing the prophet to anoint one of Jesse’s children as king. Samuel was impressed with the oldest, but God warned him not to judge by appearances. Jesse brought all of his sons before Samuel, one by one. Yet God informed him that the right son had not yet been called. Samuel said, “Are there no other lads?” Jesse responded that there was another lad, the youngest, out in the field. Jesse was certain that David was unfit for kingship and therefore had not brought him before Samuel. “Summon him,” said the prophet.
The lad that was brought before Samuel was of ruddy complexion and attractive eyes. Samuel misread David’s redness as a sign of bloodshed, like that of Esau. But God informed him that unlike Esau, who spilled the blood of innocents, David would fight wars with the guidance of the Sanhedrin, to protect and strengthen the Jewish people.
“Arise and anoint him,” God told Samuel, “for this is the one.” Samuel anointed David with oil, whereupon the spirit of God came upon him and never left. David would later say of this event: The stone that the builders scorned has become the chief cornerstone.
(The misperception and lack of appreciation for David and his profound connection to God would be a recurring theme in David’s life, only to be resolved after his death, with the building of the Temple by Solomon, as explained below.
In this way, as in others, David’s life mirrors the mischaracterization and maligning of the Jewish people throughout the Exile.)
Mighty in Courage
Although Samuel had anointed David as a king of Israel, occupying the throne at the time was Saul, the first king of Israel. Soon after David’s anointment, King Saul was overcome with melancholy. His servants suggested that a harpist be found to play for the king. One of Saul’s attendants, a man named Doeg, spoke up. Doeg is a tragic figure—a man filled with knowledge but empty of virtue. He is David’s nemesis, the subject of several psalms. Yet it is he who provides a concise and beautiful description of David:
Behold, I have seen a son to Jesse of Bethlehem—he knows how to play (the harp); mighty in courage; , a warrior; , perceptive; , of good appearance; , and God is with him.
The Talmud explains that wherever David went, the Divine presence went with him.
David plays played the harp for Saul and the king’s melancholy is was lifted. Soon afterward, the famous battle between David and Goliath occurs occurred, where David demonstrates demonstrated that he is was indeed mighty in courage and that God is with him. It is worth reviewing this story, since it conveys an essential element of David’s personality: his absolute faith in God.
Goliath had been taunting the Jewish people, calling for a duel between him and any Jewish warrior. But Saul and all of his subjects were frozen with fear. For forty days, the mighty giant appeared on the hill each morning and evening to repeat his challenge. When he would get no reply, Goliath would proceed to mock and jeer the Jews and their God. “Your God is a ‘man of war’—let Him come and do battle with me!” was his favorite sneer, and the whole valley echoed with the thunderous laughter of the Philistines.
Only David had the courage to take on the giant: “No man can defile God’s name and get away with it,” David replied. “I trust in God to fight the battle for me.”
“God has never forsaken me in the time of need…. Surely, God, who protected me when I went to save a lamb from a lion and a bear, He will protect me when I go to save the dignity of my people, in a fight with a vicious heathen who dares to profane God’s holy name!”
He took his staff and sling with five smooth little pebbles, and went to meet the giant.
When Goliath saw his adversary, he said in disdain, “Am I a dog that you have come to beat me with a cane? Look at my armor: My helmet is of solid brass; my brass coat of mail weighs five thousand shekels; the shaft of my spear is like a weaver’s beam; and my spear’s head is made of six hundred shekels of iron! Yet you come with a cane!”
David replied: “You come with your sword, spear, and shield, but I come in the name of Almighty God, whom Whom you have defied. You will soon lie defeated at my feet, and all the world will know that there is a God in Israel!”
David let a stone fly from his sling and the next moment, the giant’s huge body lay prostrate upon the ground, his forehead crushed by the sharp little stone that struck it and pierced his head.
When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. Saul’s armies, regaining their confidence and courage, pursued them. Having secured a great and lasting victory for his people, David became a great national hero.
–Based on chapter 17 of I Samuel,
as adapted in Our People
David is not motivated by glory or by the prospect of a challenge. He simply cannot countenance a situation where in which the people of God are being taunted by a brute. He views this as a taunt of God Himself. And David is completely unfazed by what petrifiesterrifies everyone else. What appears impossible to Saul and the rest of the nation—defeating the giant—appears inevitable to David. God must win. Goliath must lose. David sees himself as nothing more than the servant, the vessel, through which God’s salvation is wrought. Hence the absence of any gloating or chest-pounding on David’s part; he does the deed and moves on. When he defeats his enemies, he rejoices not in his own accomplishment but in the fact that a challenge to God’s reign had been dismissed.
David and Saul
For defeating Goliath, David receives received the hand of the princess, Michal, in marriage. In his brother-in-law, Jonathan, David finds found a kindred spirit and they are were bound by a profound friendship and love. But David’s success ignites ignited an implacable envy in Saul, stoked by Doeg and Achitophel. David’s woes begin began in earnest. Saul knows knew that David will would be king, replacing Saul him and his descendants. David is was forced to flee for his life and spends spent much of his time in hiding. David has had the opportunity to kill Saul but doesn’tdidn’t. He respects respected Saul and considers considered him God’s anointed. Even so, Saul continues continued to hound David. Only after Saul is was killed in battle can could David return and serve as king.
Saul is was a righteous and extraordinary person. Yet, in comparison to David, he falls fell short. He is was noble and wise but lacks lacked the absolute, simple faith in God that David has had. He therefore fails failed to completely destroy Amalek as Samuel had commanded him. This lapse costs him the kingship, which leads led to his melancholy and envious pursuit of David.
This difference between Saul and David becomes evident in another episode:
The Dancing King
One of the joyous moments in David’s life was bringing the Ark to the City of David. During the event, David danced with joyous abandon. His righteous wife, Michal, looked down from the window with a critical eye. She felt that David had humiliated himself in front of the commoners:
…Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and she said, “How honored was today the king of Israel, who exposed himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the idlers would expose himself.” David said to Michal: “Before God, who chose me above your father, and above all his house, to appoint me prince over the people of God, over Israel; therefore I have made merry before God. I will hold myself even more lightly esteemed than this and be humble in my eyes….”
David’s dancing with abandon and his exchange with Michal conveys the critical difference between him and his father-in-law. This was not just a stylistic difference between the monarchs—it cut to the essence of why God chose one over the other. Saul’s worship of God was constrained by his intellect. He therefore left the Amalekite animals alive, reasoning that they could be used as sacrifices. And it was for this that he lost the throne, which was then given to David, God’s servant, who worshipped Him with absolute selflessness. His dancing with abandon was a symptom of his manner of worship—the very quality for which God chose him as king and by which he would continue to be king.
~Model of Joy~
When Maimonides seeks a model for how to rejoice in the performance of a mitzvah, he turns to David:
The joy that a person should experience in the fulfillment of the mitzvot and the love of God who commanded them is a significant act of worship….
Whoever regards himself arrogantly, honors himself, and acts haughtily in such situations is a sinner and a fool. Concerning this, Solomon warned (Proverbs 28:10): Do not seek glory before the King.
Anyone who humbles himself and thinks lightly of his person in these situations—he is the great one, worthy of honor, the one who serves God out of love. Thus did David, King of Israel, declare (II Samuel 6:22): “I will hold myself even more lightly esteemed than this and be humble in my eyes.”
There is no greatness or honor other than celebrating before God, as it is written: (II Samuel 6:16): King David was dancing wildly and singing praise before God.
God is with Him
The difference between Saul and David is also expressed in the Talmud’s comments regarding the last of Doeg’s six praises of David—and God is with him: Whenever he takes took a position in a debate over Jewish law, God is with him—the law accords accorded with his rulings. Saul, on the other hand, wise as he might have been, fails failed to reach the correct halachic conclusion.
If the Torah was nothing more than a document, the interpretation of the smartest person in the room would most likely get to the truth. But the Torah is a Divine entity that transcends human intellect. So it is the person who is in a state of awe before God—the one of whom it is said, “God is with him”—who reaches the correct conclusion.
As the spiritual successor to the prophet Samuel, King David perpetuated the traditional study of the Torah. He surrounded himself with a group of prophets and scholars and together they studied the Torah. He thought nothing of the comforts that his royal palace could offer him, and unlike other kings, he would rise before the sundawn to pray and chant psalms of praise to God.
Kingship
During his reign, David successfully expanded and secured Israel’s borders, but was beset by a series of revolts and personal tribulations. He became king at the age of thirty and his reign lasted for forty years. During the first seven years, he reigned in Hebron over the tribe of Judah. For the remaining thirty-three years, he reigned in Jerusalem over the entire nation. (For six months, however, he was in exile during the revolt of his son Absalom.)
David yearned to build the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. But God told him that this would only be done by his son, Solomon. David’s hands had been bloodied through war, which precluded him from building the Temple. The Temple is a place of peace, the opposite of war, even a moral war such as those fought by David. This principle lies behind the Torah’s mandate (Exodus 20:22) that the stones of the altar could not be cut with metal, since metal is used to make weaponry.
Still, David did all he could to prepare for the Temple’s construction. He worked hardtoiled to identify the place God had chosen for the Temple and eventually God revealed it to him. David purchased the site, arranged funds and materials for its construction, and showed Solomon how to build it.
Posthumous Exoneration
Throughout his reign, there were those who rejected David. They claimed that his sin with Bathsheba disqualified him from being king and that God would certainly reject him. Because of his profound repentance, David was forgiven by God. David wanted more than forgiveness; he wanted God to demonstrate to all that he had been forgiven. God told him that He would do so, but only after David’s death.
This occurred when Solomon finally built the Temple and was ready to inaugurate it. When it came time to bring the Ark into its new home, the doors to the Temple refused to open. They prayed for help in the merit of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, but to no avail. Finally, when Solomon invoked the merit of his father, David, the doors opened and the Ark was brought in.
On that day, say our Sages, the faces of David’s enemies darkened, since their entire lives of rejecting God’s anointed one was shown to be a farce. Despite their Torah knowledge, they had allowed their own coarseness to distort their perception of David. David speaks prophetically of this event in Psalm 30.