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King David: The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
by Jonathan Kirsch
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Ballantine Books (2001-08-28)
ISBN: 0345435052
EAN: 9780345435057
Dewy Decimal #: 200
Paperback: 400 pages
Release Date: 2001-08-28
Condition: Very Good
Comments: Appears to be unread. Text is unmarked. Binding is tight. Spine has no creases.
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Editorial Reviews
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Amazon.com Review
The difficulty of bringing into perspective figures that are larger than life is well known to Jonathan Kirsch, the author of a life of Moses and of the provocative biblical study The Harlot by the Side of the Road. In this well-researched narrative he attempts the same for King David, arguably the most important figure in the entire Jewish Bible. By searching for the real King David, Kirsch does not claim to bring new information to this study. He is more journalist than biblical scholar, and clearly acknowledges when he is speculating (as, for example, in his reconstruction of the scene when David first glimpses the beautiful Bathsheba). Rather, he wants to remind his readers that David is not myth but flesh and blood and is, astonishingly, presented this way in the biblical texts themselves. He is real, human, both heroic and flawed. Following much of modern scholarship in calling the Bible "a patchwork of ancient texts that were composed and compiled by countless authors and editors," this study is clearly not going to appeal to most fundamentalist readers. Neither is it intended for scholars. It should, however, satisfy many readers who wish to explore more deeply the fascinating and pivotal life of a very real man, a charismatic leader who, as one historian puts it, "played exquisitely, fought heroically, and loved titanically." --Doug Thorpe
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Product Description
David, King of the Jews, possessed every flaw and failing of which a mortal is capable, yet men and women adored him, and God showered him with many blessings. A charismatic leader, exalted as “a man after God’s own heart,” he was also capable of deep cunning and bloodthirsty violence. Weaving together biblical texts with centuries of interpretation and commentary, as well as the startling discoveries of modern biblical archaeology and scholarship, bestselling author Jonathan Kirsch brings King David to life with extraordinary freshness, intimacy, and vividness of detail, revealing him in all his glory and fallibility. At the center of this taut, dramatic narrative stands a hero of flesh and blood–a man as vibrant and compelling today as he has been for millennia.
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Customer Reviews
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David, la misma historia
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-07-26
A partir principalmente de los libros de Samuel, se hace una recreación lineal de la vida de David con inclusiones esporádicas de ciertos relatos contenidos en estos. Básicamente tenemos aquí los libros de Samuel explicados. No tiene, como el título sugiere, ningún aporte de alguna otra fuente o de algún hallazgo contemporáneo, solo la narración de quien se estudió estos libros.
No obstante lo anterior, el libro es muy ameno y sirve para lo que los libros deben servir: entretener y enseñar. Y el autor evita a toda costa ofender a los lectores y mas bien intenta explicar las contradicciones encontradas a lo largo de la narración original
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Newsweek Covers David
Rating  (1)
Date: 2007-02-12
5 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
"Wanna read a bad book?" my friend asked. I wished I had had the foresight to answer "no." Unfortunately, I didn't, and I read all of Jonathan Kirsch's King David. This book is worse than bad, it's an embarrassment. If there's an original idea in the book, Kirsch does an incredible job of hiding it among his numerous quotations or, I should say, "adaptations" from Samuel. The scholarship is paper thin; Kirsch slavishly relies upon the work of others and offers nothing new himself. Basically, Kirsch takes the magnificent KJV translation of the story in I and II Samuel and "punches it up" with Newsweek style. Kirsch appears to pride himself on reading the stories skeptically, as one would hope of any modern journalist reading Samuel, and peppers his comments with phrases such as "as the biblical authors wished to remember him [David]," "so it would seem," and "theological spin." However, except for questions raised by others, Kirsch is one of the most credulous readers of this story I've ever met. He buys almost everything the author tells us about David and the others in this story. As just one example, Kirsch dutifully reports the description in I Samuel 13:3 of Amnon's cousin, Jonadab, as "a very subtle man." And what incredibly subtle advice to Jonadab give his cousin? That Amnon should rape his half-sister Tamar in his own bedroom after setting up the meeting in such a way that all the royal family would know what was going on. If this is "subtlety," then Micky Spillane is John LeCarre! Now of course, it is subtle if Jonadab were in cahoots with someone else in order to destroy Amnon, but Kirsch hasn't the imagination to explore that possibility - or even the possibility that the rape never occurred but its report was concocted for other reasons. On the other hand, if Jonadab was actually trying to help Amnon, then to buy Samuel's description of him as "subtle" is the apex of naivete. Indeed, you'd think Kirsch would ask: is the author being ironic? But no, that would be to expect too much from Kirsch.
Rather than waste your time on this book, let me suggest two others. If you want to accompany a masterful literary scholar reading the story of David, buy Robert Alter's illuminating The David Story. If you want to examine the story of David from the perspective of a modern, secular historian at the top of his craft, buy Baruch Halpern's David's Secret Demons. These are two very different books, and many who like one of them won't like the other. But happy is the reader who can appreciate both. If you choose to read neither Alter nor Halpern, don't waste your time on Kirsch. Just go get a copy of the KJV at your local motel and read Samuel for yourself.
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Entertaining and Educational - To a point
Rating  (3)
Date: 2006-09-14
8 out of 9 customers found this reveiw helpful
I listened to this book on tape as read by the author himself.
This is one of what appears to be a significantly developing genre of books in the area of theology and Biblical History, designed to be read by the general populace to put in their hands what modern scholarship is saying.
This book does this reasonably well for anyone who is unfamiliar with such terms as Modern Bibical Criticism, J theory, Court Historian etc.
What is not so clear to the average listener is that the primary sources drawn from such as Howard Bloom, Wellhausen and company are considerably from the more liberal and secular camps and that there exists a large body of more conservative material that deals with thses issues with somewhat different conclusions.
There's nothing wrong with that in and of itself. What I find distrubing in these types of Historical Overviews - turned novel is that the hybrid product, while purporting to be factual, uses the change in genre to present the material as somehow more certain or less controversial than is really the case. What's wrong with being a little more deliberate in making the source literature drawn upon a little more diverse and truly allowing the reader to enter into the dialogue and interact with the issues, rather than being led to believe that things are as neat and tidy as a reading of this book would seem to indicate to a reader otherwise unfamiliar with the field?
Those concerns expressed, I did find this to be an interesting and worthwhile listen (read). Old Testament history has been a weakness for me and this did help to fill in some gaps in terms of the what some of the modern scholarship has been giving. In addition, it did present David in terms that helped to place him historically and, as much as the author's approach could allow for with all of its provisos and doubts, somewhat personally.
Listen critically to this work. It seeks, in my opinion, to gloss over some of the ommissions in terms of conflicting material, by making the format flow like a historical novel and a reader can be carried away with that and walk away feeling they have a strong grasp on all that is available in this field. They will not.
Life of David by Arthur Pink would be a good contrast work to see some of the other camp and provide some balance.
Interesting read, but again, read criticically and ask yourself what you're not being told in the midst of it.
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Weaves A Biography That Leaves You Hungry For More!
Rating (5)
Date: 2005-06-05
4 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
"King David" introduces the reader to the most central figure of the Old Testament. Author Jonathan Kirsch does an excellent job of fleshing out this legendary figure from the sketchy stories recorded in the Bible. Kirsch follows the biblical writings very closely, unlike other tomes on Biblical subjects which tend to discount the Scriptural accounts. Kirsch starts out with the Scriptural texts and then explains them in light of scholarship concerning the identity and purpose of the various sources and how each may have influenced the final draft of the story. He talks often of the Court Historian, believed to be the primary author, along with later editors who may have supplemented or altered the original text.
This book does a good job at exploring how King David, with all his faults, could be "A man after God's own heart." It tries to part the mists of history to find the flesh and blood man behind the ancient legend. It weaves the scattered Biblical accounts together to form a biography. It explains how David is central to all Biblical characters who follow him.
One standard by which I measure a book is whether it wets my appetite to read more on the subject. I am now reading the David narratives in the Bible. By this measure it passes with flying colors.
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Another Quack on the loose!
Rating (1)
Date: 2004-08-01
7 out of 14 customers found this reveiw helpful
Kirsch's account of King David's life is highly questionable to say the least. The book is full of conjecture. The flaws in the author's reasoning are apparent on the face of every page. His perception of King David's relationship with God and country is severely unschooled and a danger to follow. Anyone interested in appreciating the true story of "The man after God's heart" would be better off reading the Biblical accounts. Don't waste your money on this quack historian who seems committed to justifying base persuits with the flaws of the great men and women of Biblical antiquity.
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