"A masterpiece of contemporary Bible translation and commentary."—Los Angeles Times Book Review, Best Books of 1999 Acclaimed for its masterful new translation and insightful commentary, The David Story is a fresh, vivid rendition of one of the great works in Western literature. Robert Alter's brilliant translation gives us David, the beautiful, musical hero who slays Goliath and, through his struggles with Saul, advances to the kingship of Israel. But this David is also fully human: an ambitious, calculating man who navigates his life's course with a flawed moral vision. The consequences for him, his family, and his nation are tragic and bloody. Historical personage and full-blooded imagining, David is the creation of a literary artist comparable to the Shakespeare of the history plays.

David, King of the Jews, possessed every flaw and failing a mortal is capable of, yet men and women adored him and God showered him with many more blessings than he did Abraham or Moses. His sexual appetite and prowess were matched only by his violence, both on the battlefield and in the bedroom. A charismatic leader, exalted as "a man after God's own heart," he was also capable of deep cunning, deceit, and betrayal. Now, in King David: The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel, bestselling author Jonathan Kirsch reveals this commanding individual in all his glory and fallibility. In a taut, dramatic narrative, Kirsch brings new depth and psychological complexity to the familiar events of David's life--his slaying of the giant Goliath and his swift challenge to the weak rule of Saul, the first Jewish king; his tragic relationship with Saul's son Jonathan, David's cherished friend (and possibly lover); his celebrated reign in Jerusalem, where his dynasty would hold sway for generations. Yet for all his greatness, David was also a man in thrall to his passions--a voracious lover who secured the favors of his beautiful mistress Bathsheba by secretly arranging the death of her innocent husband; a merciless warrior who triumphed through cruelty; a troubled father who failed to protect his daughter from rape and whose beloved son Absalom rose against him in armed insurrection. Weaving together biblical texts with centuries of interpretation and commentary, Jonathan Kirsch brings King David to life in these pages with extraordinary freshness, intimacy, and vividness of detail. At the center of this inspiring narrative stands a hero of flesh and blood--not the cartoon giant-slayer of sermons and Sunday school stories or the immaculate ruler of legend and art but a magnetic, disturbingly familiar man--a man as vibrant and compelling today as he has been for millennia.

David's story, writes McKenzie, "reads like a modern soap opera, with plenty of sex, violence, and struggles for power.""--BOOK JACKET.

From award-winning comedian, director, writer, and producer David Steinberg comes the totally original, utterly blasphemous, and hysterically funny memoir of a young man who emerged from a traditional Jewish childhood to become an international star—all because, it seems, he kept God in stitches. David Steinberg was raised in Winnipeg, Canada, by parents who expected little from him. And no wonder. Instead of studying Talmud in order to become a rabbi, he chose to major in Martin and Lewis with a minor in basketball. As David imagines the story of his life (since his success otherwise makes no sense), God one day spotted him on the playground and decided that this young man with no ambition could go far with His help. Sure enough, God soon had David on network TV and Broadway, and selling out nightclubs across the country—as well as being pursued by hot starlets. The Book of David is David Steinberg's hilarious trip down memory lane, assuming that the lane has a biblical address. This wild riff on the Old Testament is guaranteed laughter.

Probably one of the most well- known characters in the Bible is David. He grew up a shepherd boy and defeated a giant named Goliath and then went on to be King of Israel. While king, David made some serious mistakes. However, David didn't try to place the blame on other people. He took responsibility and shouldered the blame himself. By doing this, he was described by God as a "man after His own heart." In this book, you will learn that God has a good plan for every individual. But sometimes you can thwart that plan by your own desire to fulfill certain desires and dreams but God's grace can bring you back to the plan that God has for you. Even though David made some mistakes and even cost people their lives, he repented and was able to turn the direction of those mistakes to want to serve the Lord. God's grace is evident through the entire life of David. Rather than having to go through your own hard knocks, the author encourages the reader to learn from these life lessons from David

The biblical story of King David has been interpreted in many different ways, arising from the variety of methods used in and the intended objectives of the studies: Does the narrative contain insight into and information about the early history of the Judean monarchy, or is it merely a legendary tale about a distant past? Can we identify the story’s literary genre, it sociohistorical setting, and the intention of its author(s)? Is an appreciation for the wonderful literary qualities of the story compatible with a literary-critical investigation of the narrative’s compositional and text-critical history? Van Seters reviews past scholarship on the David story and in the course of doing so unravels the history of these questions and then presents an extended appraisal of the debate about the social and historical context of the biblical story. From this critical foundation, Van Seters proceeds to offering a detailed literary analysis of the story of David from his rise to power under Saul to his ultimate succession by Solomon.

The life of King David has captivated people throughout history. He's the epitome of rags to riches, the sprightly underdog, a simple man in extraordinary circumstances. Then there's the dark side of David - his awful affair with a married woman and the subsequent murder of her husband. But no one ever takes it too hard on David. It's probably because he's not much different than us. We see ourselves in him. This is a literary dynamic journey of David's life, from his early days as an unknown nobody to overnight celebrity, and his latter days as a champion of the people to a royal sinner. Each chapter is wrapped in theology, philosophy, application, and the genre thrill of narrative. It's David's life as you've never heard it before. We'll find not only the depth of our own vices and value, but the God who is at the center of this drama, beckoning us home to be the people we were meant to be. It's David's story. It is our story.

David begins the book as a scruffy Dennis-the-Menace like kid and ends the book as a vain, hunky womanizer.

The words in the title, You Are the Man, convicted a deeply guilty King David of the heinous crimes he had committed against Uriah the Hittite, Bathsheba's husband. Yet, in many remarkable ways, David was God's man, chosen and blessed for greatness. This book tells a story of David's life from the Bible read as literally true. The flowing, easy-to-read narrative observes him progress from shepherd to king to his death. Walking with David through tragedy and triumph makes it easier to see the actual person behind this larger-than-life Bible character. "A fresh approach to the life of David." Pastor Tim Murdoch While David's sins and difficulties are not ignored, King David: You Are the Man highlights several positive events, including some lesser-known ones found only I Chronicles. King David was the man - whom God chose to be ancient Israel's second king, - who established daily praise and worship of God in Israel, - to whom God revealed eternal purposes for His Son and His kingdom, - who led Israel to an exalted place among the nations, - to whom God revealed the details of the temple Solomon would build, and - who organized the priests and Levites in their ministries of worship at that temple. "I feel as if I am getting to know David, and more than that, his faith. As a woman of faith, it sings to my heart .... I feel as if I am getting to know God better too " Halin I Soaring Included in this narration of David's life are - a history of the Ark of the Covenant, - a possible timeline of David's life, - a probe into the disastrous census that David ordered to be taken, (When considering the difficult questions posed by II Samuel 24:1 and I Chronicles 21:1, Pastor Mike Green expressed this credible idea: "I think God was angry with Israel because the tabernacle was in Gibeon.") - a history of the Levites and their development as God's special servants, and - several specific life disciplines that made David a man after God's own heart.

Gunn sets out his aim in this book to foster a fresh understanding of the narrative about David in 2 Samuel and 1 Kings, commonly known as the 'Succession Narrative,' by arguing for its fuller appreciation of its nature as a story. Gunn reviews the different hypotheses on the genre of the so-called Court History/Succession Narrative and concludes that the purpose of this story is to entertain. The work is to be considered primarily artistic and literary, and the rhetorical devices in the story are reliant on traditional motifs and devices.