King David Report Book

This story is an alternative, satirical take on the Old Testament account of King David (I Samuel through I Kings, chapter 2).

Many decades ago, I earned an advanced degree in theology and Biblical studies. Before reading this book, I refreshed myself on the latest archaeology. As Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman observed in their scholarly work, David and Solomon: "we can now say' as we will argue in considerable detail throughout this book' that many of the famous episodes in the biblical story of David and Solomon are fictions, historically questionable, or highly exaggerated." Although, later in their book, they have to admit that the only actual archeological reference to David is to the "House of David" from a dig in 1993. That's it!? Not surprisingly, Protestant fundamentalists and Likud Zionists want to make much of this one reference than is justified.

Revisiting the Old Testament was a reminder of what a primitive document it is, full of fables and, more seriously, fostering violence in both ancient and modern Israel (kill "every man, woman and child" in the name of Yahweh) and paralyzing apocalyptic fantasies from Christian fundamentalists. I say paralyzing because if Jesus is to return any minute (as he has been expected to do so for two thousand years now) then why bother with the stewardship of the Earth or anything else long term?

The novel itself is a lot of fun. It's written in a mock-formal style. The author did his own research. The premise is that King Solomon assigns a scribe named Ethan to compile and write an account of Solomon's father, King David, in part to justify Solomon's own rule. Needless to say, Ethan comes up with a very different story than what's in in the Old Testament.

There is no ebook available for this volume, but it was relatively easy to find a used paperback copy at a reasonable price.