David

David, the second King of Israel, succeeded Saul, and is considered to have lived about the 11th century B.C. Born at Bethlehem of the family of Jesse and the tribe of Judah, he was anointed by Samuel, and after a life of adventure he became first King of Judah at Hebron, and seven years after King of Israel, choosing for his capital Jerusalem, which he took from the Jebusites. He was the great Hebrew hero, endeared to the race by his virtues and, perhaps, not less by his very human failings. His history is detailed in the books of Samuel and in the Chronicles, and is furthermore so familiar to all that it is needless to do more than allude to his appearance in the household of Saul and his friendship with the king's son, Jonathan, to the danger he ran at the hands of the capricious and mad king, to his exile and training of a bandit troop, and to his lamentation over the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. For thirty-three years he reigned, making many conquests among the neighbouring people, and suffering much through his sons like Henry II. of England. He was succeeded by his favourite son, Solomon, son also of Bathsheba, whose seduction, followed by the murder of her ill-fated husband Uriah, forms the greatest blot upon King David's character. The majority of the Psalms are attributed to David by tradition, but recent critical research tends to increase the number of those assigned to a later -date.