David in Medieval Jewish Thought

Abstract

King David is one of the most complex, rich, and ambivalent characters in the Hebrew Bible.1 He is described as a brave warrior and an efficient ruler, but also as a vassal of the Philistine king – a sort of a mercenary soldier – and a sinner, criticized in Scripture itself for his morally reprehensible dealings with Bathsheba. Notwithstanding this mixed legacy (or perhaps because of it), he became a central figure in all of the monotheistic traditions. Each of these traditions significantly reinterpreted him and his life story to the effect that, with time, he has become chiefly associated with the (albeit more imagined than real) idyllic past of the United Kingdom of Judah and Israel and with messianic hopes for ultimate redemption in the future. In addition, all these traditions rendered him the pious author of the entire book of Psalms, despite the fact that the Bible makes no such claim, and in fact overtly attributes some of the psalms to different authors. This last aspect of David’s character was of particular importance for the medieval Jewish poets who lived in the Iberian Peninsula and wished to revive the Hebrew language and to imitate its beauty in their own poetical oeuvre. One of them, Shmuel ha-Nagid, went so far as to see a new incarnation of David in himself.2