Product Description

David, King of the Jews, possessed every flaw and failing of which a mortal is capable, yet men and women adored him, and God showered him with many blessings. A charismatic leader, exalted as “a man after God’s own heart,” he was also capable of deep cunning and bloodthirsty violence. Weaving together biblical texts with centuries of interpretation and commentary, as well as the startling discoveries of modern biblical archaeology and scholarship, bestselling author Jonathan Kirsch brings King David to life with extraordinary freshness, intimacy, and vividness of detail, revealing him in all his glory and fallibility. At the center of this taut, dramatic narrative stands a hero of flesh and blood–a man as vibrant and compelling today as he has been for millennia.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #451763 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-28
• Released on: 2001-08-28
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 8.18" h x .82" w x 5.46" l, .98 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From Amazon.co.uk
The difficulty of bringing into perspective figures who are larger than life is well known to Jonathan Kirsch, author of a life of Moses and of the provocative Biblical study The Harlot by the Side of the Road. In his well-researched narrative Kirsch brings King David, arguably the most important figure in the entire Jewish Bible, into relief. In searching for the "real" King David, Kirsch does not claim to bring new information to his study. he is more journalist than Biblical scholar, and clearly acknowledges when he is speculating (as, for example, in his reconstruction of the scene in which David first glimpses the beautiful Bathsheba). Rather, he chooses to remind his readers that David is not myth but flesh and blood--and is, astonishingly, presented this way in the biblical texts themselves. Kirsch's David is real, human, both heroic and flawed.

Following much of modern religious scholarship which sees the Bible as "a patchwork of ancient texts that were composed and compiled by countless authors and editors," this study may not appeal to more fundamentalist readers; butit is not intended for scholars. It should, however, satisfy many readers who wish to explore more deeply the pertinent and picaresque life of a very real man, a charismatic leader who, as one historian puts it, "played exquisitely, fought heroically and loved titanically." --Doug Thorpe

From Publishers Weekly
In this biography/commentary hybrid, Kirsch sheds light on biblical characters and gives readers a refresher course on Israel's monarchic period, from 1025 to 925 BCE. Arguing that the Old Testament may have originated as David's royal biography, Kirsch cites dozens of Bible scholars in his attempt to separate history from myth. The two myths he examines most closely are those cultivated by a "Court Historian" who embellished David's exploits to make him seem more kingly than he was, and those written by the "Deuteronomistic Historian," who revised the ancient texts about David to downplay his bad behavior and emphasize the sovereignty of Yahweh. Kirsch's citation of experts is dutiful but frustrating; only rarely does he mention the schools of thought to which his sources belong, which excludes readers from a crucial dimension of any intellectual debate. Kirsch's agenda is murky as well; it is never entirely clear whether he wishes to find the truth about David and extrapolate didactic messages or simply make a sport of listing the various and contradictory readings of his life. It may be that Kirsch eschews these complicated questions in the service of accessibility, and for that he can be forgiven, since secular books about the Bible are often inaccessible to all but a handful of scholars. This book, on the other hand, welcomes a wide audience to a scandalous, violent and surprisingly familiar ancient Israel, and both educates and entertains. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Kirsch (The Harlot by the Side of the Road) adds to his sensational books on biblical personalities with this expos? of the life of King David and his God. He fully accepts the historicity of David and the United Kingdom but argues that the record we have is the product of court propagandists followed by other court editors and then "spin doctors" who attempted to sanitize David. This is an old approach followed by many critical scholars; however, the only characteristics that Kirsch adopts from the text for David are thoroughly Machiavellian. He portrays David as a "bloodthirsty fiend of hell" who combined a strong political savvy with a ruthless suppression of all opposition. One must recognize that, even if we do not judge him by modern mores, as Kirsch does, David's life and reign was full of actions that provided abundant opportunities for his famous readiness to repent. Kirsch is a master of the storyteller's art, but his propensity to be disparaging is unsettling if quite skillful. In fact, his tone is much like that a lawyer might use in a summation to a jury (with appropriate facial expressions and tone of voice not available to print). Much more reliable assessments of David can be found in such major series as Abingdon's Interpreter's Bible, Doubleday's Anchor Bible, and Word's Biblical Commentary. Nonetheless, this muckraking account in the modern style will no doubt receive circulation in public libraries.
-AEugene O. Bowser, Univ. of Northern Colorado, Greeley
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.