The Historical David: The Real Life of an Invented Hero

by Joel Baden

Overview

An Old Testament scholar offers a controversial look at the history of King David, the founder of the nation of Israel whose bloodline leads to Jesus.

Challenging prevailing popular beliefs about the king’s legend in The Historical David: The Real Life of an Invented Hero, Joel Baden makes clear that the biblical account of David is an attempt to shape the events of his life politically and theologically. Going beyond the biblical bias, he explores the events that lie behind the David story, events that are grounded in the context of the ancient Near East and continue to inform modern Israel.

Exposing an ambitious, ruthless, flesh-and-blood man who achieved power by any means necessary, including murder, theft, bribery, sex, deceit, and treason, Baden makes clear that the historical David stands in opposition not only to the virtuous and heroic legends, but to our very own self-definition as David’s national and religious descendants.

Provocative and enlightening, The Historical David provides the lost truth about David and poses a challenge to us: how do we come to terms with the reality of a celebrated hero who was, in fact, similar to the ambitious power-players of his day?

“An invigoratingly grown-up reading of the Bible. . . . Baden’s scholarly analysis leaves the usurper-king as one of the most crucial shapers of world history in the last three millennia.” —New York Times bestselling author Diarmaid MacCulloch

“Baden succeeds positively, powerfully, and persuasively in locating Israel’s once and future king as an actual historical figure.” —John Dominic Crossan, national bestselling author of The Historical Jesus

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062188335
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/21/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	325
Sales rank:	239,416
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Joel S. Baden is Professor of Old Testament at Yale Divinity School and the author of several works on the Hebrew Bible, including The Composition of the Pentateuch and The Promise to the Patriarchs. Baden's articles have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, CNN's Belief Blog, and The Huffington Post. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 David's Youth: The Mythical Origins of the Psalmist and Giant-Slayer 17

2 David in Saul's Service: Revealing a Biblical Cover-Up 43

3 David in the Wilderness: From Israelite Soldier to Philistine Vassal 83

4 David Becomes King: A Series of Timely Deaths 117

5 David's Kingdom: The Myth of National and Religious Origins 157

6 David Under Attack: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures 187

7 David in Decline: What Goes Around Comes Around 221

Conclusion 253

Acknowledgments 267

Notes 269

Scripture Index 303

Subject Index 305

Editorial Reviews

10/07/2013
With a Jewish sensibility and a critical scholar’s eye, Yale Divinity School Professor Baden sifts out the myth and political spin from the biblical evidence that shows that King David was a subjugating usurper who unseated the popular and able King Saul. After explaining the traditions underlying David’s idealized character (e.g., the attribution of Psalms to David’s hand, the tendency of later works to tidy his record), Baden opens up the text to the lay reader. He presents the plausible historical events leading to David’s claiming of the throne, the nature of his reign, and, somewhat speculatively, the significance of Solomon’s succession. That the biblical account of David’s rise to power is a political apology—an answer to the contemporary charges against him, which included implication in murders and regicide—is not news to those familiar with critical Bible scholarship. Baden’s offering, however, is notable as part of a recent trend, even in traditional circles, to view critical scholarship as essential to general Jewish religious self-understanding, rather than as an academic or potentially subversive exercise. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Reading between and behind the lines of the biblical text and its silences, Baden gives an engaging reconstruction of who the true David may have been. This is a brilliant synthesis, with some unexpected and even daring twists of interpretation. A tour de force!” — Michael Coogan, Harvard Divinity School lecturer, Director of Publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum and editor of The New Oxford Annotated Bible

“This revisionist take on King David—as brilliant politician but despicable human being—combines the best of historical study and literary imagination. Baden’s challenge to traditional understandings of Israel’s king is always provocative, often compelling, and completely fascinating.” — Amy-Jill Levine, Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt University and author of The Misunderstood Jew

“An invigoratingly grown-up reading of the Bible, taking it seriously but not literally.... David emerges no longer as the author of the Psalms or the slayer of Goliath, yet Baden’s scholarly analysis leaves the usurper-King as one of the most crucial shapers of world history.” — Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford, author of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years

“[Baden] succeeds positively, powerfully, and persuasively in locating Israel’s once and future king as an actual historical figure. The multiple layers of fact and fiction, history and theology are cleanly and clearly distinguished but without either modern apologetics or contemporary polemics.” — John Dominic Crossan, author of The Historical Jesus

“Lively.…This is a provocative book that raises questions about the nature of biblical narrative and also about the historical continuity of the Davidic line.” — John J. Collins, Holmes Professor of Old Testament, Yale University

“All praise be—again—to those biblical studies scholars who can make ancient history matter and can shed light on long–held beliefs. In clear prose and with a documented command of what others have said before him, Baden offers a provocative reinterpretation of one of Western culture’s heroes.” — Publishers Weekly

“For readers open to debating this beloved biblical figure, The Historical David will make compelling reading.” — Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Utterly fascinating and written with sublime lucidity. — Booklist, starred review

From the Publisher

Utterly fascinating and written with sublime lucidity.

starred review Booklist

For readers open to debating this beloved biblical figure, The Historical David will make compelling reading.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

This revisionist take on King David—as brilliant politician but despicable human being—combines the best of historical study and literary imagination. Baden’s challenge to traditional understandings of Israel’s king is always provocative, often compelling, and completely fascinating.

Amy-Jill Levine

Lively.…This is a provocative book that raises questions about the nature of biblical narrative and also about the historical continuity of the Davidic line.

John J. Collins

An invigoratingly grown-up reading of the Bible, taking it seriously but not literally.... David emerges no longer as the author of the Psalms or the slayer of Goliath, yet Baden’s scholarly analysis leaves the usurper-King as one of the most crucial shapers of world history.

Diarmaid MacCulloch

[Baden] succeeds positively, powerfully, and persuasively in locating Israel’s once and future king as an actual historical figure. The multiple layers of fact and fiction, history and theology are cleanly and clearly distinguished but without either modern apologetics or contemporary polemics.

John Dominic Crossan

Reading between and behind the lines of the biblical text and its silences, Baden gives an engaging reconstruction of who the true David may have been. This is a brilliant synthesis, with some unexpected and even daring twists of interpretation. A tour de force!

Michael Coogan

An invigoratingly grown-up reading of the Bible, taking it seriously but not literally.... David emerges no longer as the author of the Psalms or the slayer of Goliath, yet Baden’s scholarly analysis leaves the usurper-King as one of the most crucial shapers of world history.

Di armaid MacCullochProfessor of the History of the Church

10/01/2013
In a work reminiscent of the quest for the historical Jesus, Baden (Old Testament, Yale Divinity Sch.; The Composition of the Pentateuch: Renewing the Documentary Hypothesis) attempts a biography of the real King David. He extrapolates from Old Testament authors, analyzing their agendas, to find the David of history. This biography is at odds with biblical stories and the popular imagination, replacing the psalmist and giant-slaying youth with an ambitious and morally suspect aspirant to the throne of Israel. While Baden uses the biblical text as his primary source, he acknowledges that the Bible is not history but, rather, theology and national epic. Comparing two separate accounts of the Goliath story, for instance, he determines that the giant was slayed not by David but by one of his warriors. Rather than dismiss the David story in its entirety as metaphor or myth, Baden argues that the authors' "pro-David" agenda points to the ancient king's existence, a thesis that, in the absence of genuine historical data regarding David's existence, is unconvincing. While Baden's highly speculative arguments are provocative, the real value of his book lies in its understanding of the David story as revisionist "spin." VERDICT Laypeople will find in this accessible volume a sense of who the historical David might have been, while scholars of history and religion will find value in Baden's description of the biblical authors' motivations. Recommended.—Matt Rice, Philadelphia

Library Journal

2013-09-15
Following the lead of other scholars seeking to recreate history as portrayed in the Bible, Baden (Old Testament/Yale Divinity School; The Promise to the Patriarchs, 2013, etc.) sets out to thoroughly upend the story of King David. The author asserts that the entirety of the biblical account about David was written for the sole purpose of legitimizing and glorifying a man who was, in fact, a thug, murderer and usurper. Baden begins by rejecting fundamental tales about David's youth--e.g., that he played music for King Saul, slew Goliath and was anointed by the Prophet Samuel. He then theorizes that David was a minor officer in Saul's army who decided to overthrow the king, a coup that completely failed. Forced to live on the run, David nonetheless managed to gain a following and become a leader of the opposing Philistines, eventually bringing about Saul's downfall. Baden portrays David as ruthless and cunning, willing to kill anyone who got in his way, his own children included. As a final twist to the story, the author declares the story of David and Bathsheba, as it has been known for centuries, to be almost entirely fictional. He declares that Solomon was not David's son and in fact took the kingship from David against his will as David was dying. Solomon's own partisans made up the lurid story of David and Bathsheba to make Solomon appear to be a legitimate king by birth. Though certain theories, taken individually, have credence, Baden's front-to-back rewriting of David's life as a lurid soap opera will leave many readers mystified. Baden views the Bible as one rambling piece of propaganda: "Not a word of the David story--and perhaps the entire Bible--is intended solely to describe things as they truly were." Baden ensures readers will see things his way by declaring anything that refutes his thesis to be "unverifiable." And, no surprise, there's a lot of that. This unflattering portrait of King David is a hard pill to swallow.

Kirkus Reviews