Second King of the United Kingdom of Israel
The Hebrew Bible records that David was a shepherd boy of Bethlehem, known for his harp-playing, his poetry, and for slaying the Philistine giant Goliath with a sling in his youth; anointed king by the prophet Samuel, he built the height of the united kingdom of Israel and made Jerusalem his capital. Many of the Psalms are traditionally ascribed to him. Judaism and Christianity both see "the line of David" as an important thread in the promise of the Messiah — the New Testament traces the genealogy of Jesus back to David.
The Philistine giant Goliath repeatedly challenged the army of Israel, and none dared answer, until the boy David volunteered — without armor, with only a shepherd’s sling — and slung a single stone that struck Goliath in the forehead and felled him, then cut off the giant’s head. "David and Goliath" has been a byword ever since for "the weak overcoming the strong," widely cited in sports, business, and even political commentary.
Looking out from his palace, David saw Bathsheba bathing and lusted after her, summoned her, made her pregnant, and then contrived the death of her husband Uriah at the front, afterward taking Bathsheba as wife. The prophet Nathan rebuked the evil to his face, and David repented — a record seen as the Bible’s most candid stroke of "no one is without flaw," refusing to gloss over even the sins of "a king after God’s own heart."
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
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