David: the divided heart

In this contribution to Yale's "Jewish Lives" series, Wolpe (rabbi, Sinai Temple, Los Angeles) crafts a poignant and provocative interpretive biography of David. Drawing on the Davidic narratives of (predominantly) 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 Kings, augmented by other biblical texts, Wolpe focuses on the roles of David as a means to his writing of David's biography. Thus, he considers the young David, David as lover/husband/fugitive/king/sinner/father/caretaker/Messianic forebear, and other such roles as poet, musician, and warrior. Yet his is more than a biography or a retelling of this classic biblical tale. Wolpe infuses his reading with varied rabbinic sources, text-critical details, parallels with world literature, and an occasional anecdote wherein Davidic deeds or thoughts are reflected in the contemporary world. With Wolpe's first statement about David-"Our first glimpse of David is his absence"-readers will recognize that this is no ordinary telling or text-critical analysis. At the culmination of this biography, readers are forced to consider the value of the "complexity" of David's character as a reflection of humanity in general and the significance of this complexity for David's role as the forerunner of the Messiah. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers. --Heidi M. Szpek, Central Washington University

Giant killer, warrior, home wrecker, murderer, and adulterer, Israel's King David—whose kingdom was looked upon as the "golden age" of Israel and who is portrayed as an ancestor of Jesus—remains perhaps the Bible's most colorful and enigmatic figure. After all, how can a man who murders his lover's husband in order to cover up an adulterous affair be fit to be king? While Wolpe (Making Loss Matter) treads familiar territory and covers little new ground in this biography, he gently and gracefully explores the many facets—king, sinner, father, lover, and husband, among others—that together create David's outsized personality. As the young man who slays the enemy Philistine giant Goliath, David is "someone who does not follow the normal paths but brings into being, conjuring solutions and possibilities from the void." As a leader, Wolpe points out, David's ability to listen is as crucial as his courage. In the end, the author observes, contemporary readers identify with David so well because he is full of contradictions, and he is great because of this complexity, not in spite of it. (Sept.)