David: Biblical Portraits of Power (review)

Written for both specialists and nonspecialists, this well organized volume consists of three different portraits of David (1 and 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, and the Psalter). The preliminary material includes editor’s preface, acknowledgments, and list of abbrevia tions. Concluding matter contains notes, bibliography, and indexes. The main body of the work comprises five parts.

In Part 1 Steussy delineates three approaches to the biblical text—dogmatic, critical, and artistic—and their relationship to her methodology. She designates herself “an educated white clergywoman in an ecumenically oriented Protestant denomination” [i.e., dogmatic (?)], who speaks “out of the critical tradition.” Her “literary approach” “brings aesthetic [i.e., artistic] considerations into play (p. 8).” Accordingly elements of the three approaches are involved.

Part 2 explores the traditional David “as virtuous hero ‘after God’s own heart,’ then invites the reader to consider details of plot and phrasing that make problematic—without erasing—the impression of innocence” (inside jacket leaf). The biblical history from the Exodus to Samuel presents “a mixed and confusing picture.” Kingship creates “practical and religious difficulties,” but also offers “practical and religious advantages” (p. 38). Further, “Prophetic authority and kingly authority coexist in uneasy relationship.” Both entities receive divine sanction, yet allow “personal agendas [to] influence their public work” (p. 38). Even God does not seem to act “with impartial consistency,” as a comparison of his dealings with the houses of Samuel and Eli indicates (p. 39). A closer reading of the text challenges the traditional view of David—“an innocent and attractive hero, a man after God’s own heart, who falters only once and in that case contritely repents” (p. 40) and produces “a man more worldly, more fallible, and considerably less pious,” but a more believable character (p. 70), a much more “complex person whose motives are often suspect” (p. 82). In contrast to God’s dealings with Saul, “the Lord was with David” means “God helps David succeed” (p. 87). So David, “hardly a model of Sunday-school virtue” (p. 91), is embraced by God and becomes the standard for future rulers. God supports or rejects kings “according to whether they do right ‘as David did’” (p. 95).

Part 3 analyzes the Chronicler’s portrayal of David as head of the people. Written in the Persian period, the Chronicler mentions David as organizer of the temple and in geographical phrases and genealogical lists indicating a perception of David “as one among many Israelites—indeed, among many humans” (p. 105). Specifically, “Chron icles’ emphasis on David as Israelite par excellence helps Yehudite readers imagine themselves shoulder-to-shoulder with David,” presenting “him as an ideal for which they can aspire rather than a historical problem for them to ponder” (p. 108). David becomes “a quintessential Israelite in solidarity with all worthy Israelites” (p. 125).

Part 4 “begins with psalms speaking about David, then discusses the ruler as the commonly accepted speaker of the David psalms” (inside jacket leaf). Steussy “suggests that in the Psalter as a whole, David serves both as a model for individual spiritual development and as a symbol and spokesperson for Israel throughout history” (inside jacket leaf). The portrait of David in the Psalter “models the complexity of his characterization as a whole” (inside jacket leaf). The psalms which specifically mention David and the royal psalms “show less interest in his personal life than in his role as king, recipient of God’s promises and God’s protection” (p. 158). Those psalms “which speak about David or his royal role” and “those psalms which have traditionally been understood as spoken by David” (p. 160) produce a pattern that allows “David’s own words” to be read “as prayers of the community or prayers of an ordinary individual” (p. 165). The Psalter is “. . . a journey in personal spirituality. Its ‘David’ leads . . . from rather simplistic expectations . . . through crisis to a more humble but joyful spirituality, centered in Torah but cognizant of the wider congregation’s life. In the completed Psalter . . . David’s...