Second Book of Samuel 1-20

The second book in the grand history of Hebrew warfare begins with David learning of the deaths of Jonathan and Saul.  The bearer of the news claims he killed Saul, which contradicts the ending of First Samuel.  Stupid mistake on his part, anyway.  David quickly has him put to death.  David goes on to produce a lament/poem about his fallen comrades, which includes the refrain, "how are the mighty fallen," which would be interesting if it's the origin of the phrase "how the mighty have fallen," since the two would have very different meanings.  David, as Second Samuel quickly makes very apparent, is very fond of both Saul and Jonathan in death.  The latter phrase is a common derogatory utterance for people you have not admired.

God is being used as a consultant these days.

The kingdom becomes divided rather than united under David.  Weird that this would be the case, since in a lot of ways David was supposed to be the epitome of the Jewish dream.  One of Saul's sons rules part of the kingdom, while David's divided reign lasts 7 years.  The in-fighting keeps evolving, and fittingly around the house of Saul and the house of David.  David's grows stronger.  It only figures.  It's Abner who flies the banner of Saul.  They eventually make peace.  And then Abner is assassinated.  It's funny, David maintains his tradition of lamenting the death of his enemy.  He knows true rivals when he sees them.  He respects them, and honors them in death.  He insists on the inherent goodness of both Saul and Abner, angry when those beneath him say their deaths were good for Israel.

David was 30 when his reign began, and in total it lasted 40 years, a telling (as in how many years Jesus lived) 33 years under the united crown.

David's city is variously reported as Zion or Jerusalem.

Unlike Jesus, David doesn't much care, usually, for the blind or the lame.  He makes an exception in the latter case for Jonathan's son.

He takes the fight back to the Philistines.  Cherubim are referenced for the first time.  This is theology evolving.  Some poor schlub touches the ark and is smited by God, a policy David seems to disagree with.  He finally brings the ark to a permanent home. Nathan is soon asking for what amounts to the first temple.  Michal, David's wife who is also Saul's daughter, is not pleased to see David return, probably upset at his surviving and her father not their conflict.  It's an attitude that's similar to David's brother's earlier, and may confirm my suspicion that dissent from the common opinion may stem from jealousy.

God makes a new covenant with David that's similar to what he made with Abraham, except instead of providing for a whole slew of descendants he speaks of making David's specific line very special.  The New Testament interprets this as indicating Jesus.  God includes the line, "I will be his father and he shall be my son," which in the Christian perspective is made very literal.  If it's meant to refer to Solomon, well...like (that) father like (that) son.

The Philistines are finally eliminated from their perennial threat, as David celebrates.  More enemies are eliminated.  As David continues to show extreme loyalty to the legacies of Saul and Jonathan, it may be seen as resembling God's devotion to his people, and the loyalty/forgiveness of it to the whole Judeo-Christian tradition from the fall of Adam onward.  We screw up and God (no matter how much he really wants to) never truly gives up on us.

So, enter Bathsheba, the famed bathing beauty.  David falls hard for her, starts thinking like Samson and Saul before him ways to get her husband out of the picture.  He eventually sends the poor guy into the front-lines of battle.  God is displeased.  Nathan has the occasion to deliver the first parable of the Bible.  God isn't upset so much because of the adultery of it (which was one of the big no-nos outlined in the books of Moses) but because David tried to keep it a secret.  He and David patch up their differences, and only Bathsheba's resulting child is punished. David grieves while it struggles toward death, and then to the confusion of everyone around the king, stops as soon as the child dies.

How is Bathsheba really important?  She's the mother of Solomon!

One of David's son rapes his own sister.  This is the start of a whole bloody affair.  The son quickly rejects the sister, and another son, Absalom, wreaks terrible vengeance.  It marks the first time he plots a conspiracy.  Like a regular Shakespeare character, or as Second Samuel increasingly seems, a Greek tragedy.

On the plus side, like his son Solomon later, David is spoken of as possessing great wisdom.  Absalom is described as uniquely handsome in the land, like Saul and David before him.  He seems to almost be a new Saul, like the predecessor so the successor goes.

David visits the Mount of Olives.  The New Testament looms.  The conspiracies of Absalom, in fact, start sounding a lot like Judas and Jesus.  There is even a betrayal with a kiss at one point.

The phrase, "long live the king!" is uttered.

David goes into hiding, "even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits," which evokes the much later Saddam Hussein and his rat hole.  I guess that was a thing a long time ago, too.  David in exile is like Moses after guiding the Hebrews out of Egypt.  Those with him complain of starving.

Absalom eventually ends up caught in a tree during the decisive battle with David.  Some debate (not involving David) follows as to what to do with him.  He ends up dead.  David, of course, still mourns him, even though he's just tried to usurp the kingdom, after all the weird twists that followed Absalom's murder of his brother.  David's men are jealous of this grief.  More tumult follows.  A place called Abel is referenced, with no reference to the son of Adam, although it certainly evokes the most famous circumstances of his life.  This time the troublemaker is Joab, who has replaced Absalom in every sense.  He's the guy who killed him, and then took on the rivalry with David, apparently just for the taste of power for finding himself all of a sudden significant.

If you didn't know all this was essential to a lot of people's faith, you could easily read this for no particular religious reason at all...