Eventually, while David was out battling atribe called the Amalekites, Saul and Jonathanwere killed on Mt. Gilboa in a fightwith the Philistines. David mourned, andthen began a new stage in his life, as kingof Judah. He moved to Hebron, along withhis wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigailof Carmel, and his followers. The peopleof Judea were grateful to David for savingthem from desert raiders while he was inZiklag, and they appointed David king.Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner crownedIsh-Boshet son of Saul king over the tribesof Israel. The kingdoms of Judah and Israelfought, with David’s dynasty growingstronger as Saul’s grew weaker. Finally,after Abner had a fight with Ish-Boshet,Abner approached David and made a pactwith him, which allowed David to unitethe two kingdoms and rule over all of Israel.As Abner was leaving David, however,David’s advisor and army commander,Joab, killed Abner without David’s knowledge.Soon, Ish-Boshet was also killed andthe tribes of Israel anointed David as theirking. David was 30 years old at the time,and had ruled over Judah for seven yearsand six months. Over the years, he hadtaken more wives and had many children.He had also made pacts with kings of varioussurrounding countries.David’s first action as king was to capturewhat is now the City of David in Jerusalem,fortify it and build himself a palace.When the Philistines heard that David hadbeen anointed king and was threateningtheir hegemony over all of Palestine, theyattacked, spread out over the Valley ofRaphaim and captured Bethlehem. Davidretaliated and, in three battles, forced thePhilistines out of Israel.Once David had established the safetyof his kingdom, he brought the Holy Ark,which had been passed from city to city,to Jerusalem. He then wanted to build atemple to God and consulted Natan theprophet. Natan replied to David that Godwould always be with David, but it wouldbe up to David’s son to build the Templebecause David had been a warrior andshed blood.David then began fighting wars againstIsrael’s neighbors on the east bank ofthe Jordan. He defeated the Moabites,the Edomites, the Ammonites and theArameans. These wars began as defensivewars, but ended with the establishmentof a Davidic empire that extended overboth sides of the Jordan River, as far as theMediterranean Sea.David enforced justice in his empire andestablished civil and military administrationsin Jerusalem, modeled after those ofthe Canaanites and Egyptians. He dividedthe country into twelve districts, eachwith its own civil, military and religiousinstitutions. He also established Jerusalemas the secular and religious centerof the country. Each district paid taxes toJerusalem and the people began to makepilgrimages to Jerusalem each year on theholidays of Passover, Shavout and Sukkot.Despite this flawless reign on a nationallevel, David had many problems in his personallife. One day while the men were atwar, David spied a beautiful woman, Bathsheba,from his rooftop. He discoveredthat she was married to Uriah the Hittite,but this did not stop him from sendingfor her and getting her pregnant. He thenrecalled Uriah from battle and pretendedthat Uriah was the father of Bathsheba’sbaby. Uriah refused to go home to hiswife, so David sent Uriah to the front linesof battle, where he was killed. David thenmarried Bathsheba. When confronted byNatan the prophet, David admitted hissin. In punishment, Bathsheba’s child diedand David was cursed with the promiseof a rebellion from within his own house.Bathsheba and David soon conceived asecond son, Solomon.David’s personal strife continued whenhis son Amnon raped Tamar, Amnon’shalf-sister. Absalom, who was David’s sonand Tamar’s brother, then killed Amnon.Absalom fled, but David could not stopthinking about him. Finally, Joab convincedDavid to allow Absalom to return.Absalom was a handsome man andbecame popular with the people of Israel.Then, 40 years after Samuel had anointedDavid king, Absalom, along with 200 men,journeyed to Hebron with the intentionof rebelling against his father and takingover his kingdom. He had the support ofthe men of Hebron who were insulted bythe removal of the kingdom from Hebronto Jerusalem, the elders whose status wasundermined by parts of David’s policy andthe Benjamites who wanted to avengeSaul’s family.David feared that Absalom would returnand conquer Jerusalem, so he and all hisfollowers fled the city, leaving only 10concubines to guard the palace. Davidtold the priests Zadok and Abiathar toremain in the city along with his friendand now spy Hushai the Archite.Meanwhile, Absalom reached Jerusalem,took over the city and slept withDavid’s concubines. Hushai befriendedAbsalom, advised him, and told thepriests to send messengers informingDavid of Absalom’s plans. David gatheredhis troops and then killed 20,000of Absalom’s Israelite soldiers, includingAbsalom himself. David returned topower. A second revolt broke out at thehands of Sheba son of Bichri, but withthe help of Joab, David succeeded incrushing this rebellion as well, and inkilling Sheba.Eventually David grew old and hadto stop fighting. He constantly feltcold and could not get warm. At thispoint, Adonijah, David’s oldest son,declared himself king. David, however,had promised Bathsheba that her sonSolomon would be king, and publiclyanointed Solomon. Fearful of retributionAdonijah ran to the altar in Jerusalem,but Solomon pardoned him andsent him home.David delivered a last set of instructionsto his son, telling him to followthe words of God and to repay in kindspecific people that had either wrongedDavid or helped him. David then diedafter 40 years as king, 33 of those inJerusalem. He was buried in the City ofDavid.David was a poet and the rabbis believethat David wrote the Book of Psalms,or at least edited it. Throughout his life,David prepared for the construction oftheHoly Temple by setting aside the necessaryphysical materials, commandingthe Levites and others in their dutiesfor the Temple, and giving the plan forthe Temple to Solomon. It is then fittingthat according to tradition, the Messiah,who will build the third temple, will befrom the Davidic dynasty. Today, Jewspray daily for the coming of the “Messiah,son of David.”
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