Court History of David
Encyclopedia
The Court History of David (more frequently simply the Court History) is one of the two hypothetical main source documents of the Books of Samuel
(the other being the Accession History). The text is believed to cover most of 2 Samuel except for the first few chapters and a few more minor parts. The Court History includes several stories with a distinctly negative attitude toward David
(e.g., the story of his adultery with Bathsheba
).
Richard Elliott Friedman
has recently suggested in his book The Hidden Book in the Bible that the Court History and the Accession History were originally part of a single historical epic by the Yahwist author covering the history of the Israelite world until the time of David
and Solomon
.
Friedman's thesis in The Hidden Book in the Bible is that the Yahwist author wrote many of the most familiar stories in the Hebrew Bible (including the stories of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, and David) as one unified text. The Hidden Book analyses the punctuation patterns, word choice, sentence structure and allusions used in the biblical stories; and reconstructs what Friedman says is the original, foundational text at the heart of the Bible.
Books of Samuel
The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...
(the other being the Accession History). The text is believed to cover most of 2 Samuel except for the first few chapters and a few more minor parts. The Court History includes several stories with a distinctly negative attitude toward David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
(e.g., the story of his adultery with Bathsheba
Bathsheba
According to the Hebrew Bible, Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. She is most known for the Bible story in which King David seduced her....
).
Richard Elliott Friedman
Richard Elliott Friedman
Richard Elliott Friedman is a biblical scholar and the Ann and Jay Davis Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia. He joined the faculty of the UGA Religion Department in 2006. Prior to his appointment there, he was the Katzin Professor of Jewish Civilization: Hebrew Bible; Near...
has recently suggested in his book The Hidden Book in the Bible that the Court History and the Accession History were originally part of a single historical epic by the Yahwist author covering the history of the Israelite world until the time of David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
and Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
.
Friedman's thesis in The Hidden Book in the Bible is that the Yahwist author wrote many of the most familiar stories in the Hebrew Bible (including the stories of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Moses, and David) as one unified text. The Hidden Book analyses the punctuation patterns, word choice, sentence structure and allusions used in the biblical stories; and reconstructs what Friedman says is the original, foundational text at the heart of the Bible.