Searching for the Historical David: The Human Reality behind the Traditional Stories

David Barnard

President, University of Regina
11 January 2005

The Bible is a diverse collection of material from different genres, authors, editors and historical periods. The text assumed its current form as a result of apparently complex processes that involved oral tradition, writing, editing and re-editing over an extended period of time. The narrative portions of the Bible are particularly intriguing: the tightly constructed texts omit many details that might be of interest to readers, yet even in this economical form there is considerable uncertainty about the intent of the authors and editors of the material. There is more narrative material about David (and poetry attributed to David) than there is about any other figure in the Hebrew Bible. Some of the stories are familiar and apparently straightforward, while others are much more difficult. There is a rich literature about the historical period in which David lived and developed a nation and kingdom, the development of the texts dealing with his life, the hermeneutics and exegesis appropriate for these texts, and poetic and fictional elaborations of the material. The talk described the research behind the book, With Skilful Hand: The Story of King David, which is in the tradition of Jewish midrash readings of the Hebrew Bible.