Clifford A. Wilson
David is one of the most loved of all Bible characters. In the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews, Chapter 11 he is among those “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.”
Critics have had a field day with the accounts of David, as with most portions of the Biblical record. But as the results from archaeology have come forth in recent years, David has “waxed valiant in fight” and “turned to flight the armies of the aliens”.
David’s Eulogy of King Saul
At the time of the death of King Saul, David expressed his grief in a poem that has become famous as one of the most poignant eulogies ever written. It is found in 2 Samuel 1:
“The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!” (Verse 19).
“Tell it not in Gath [a capital of the Philistines, the people who killed Saul], publish it not in the streets of Askelon [another Philistine capital]; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph” (Verse 20).
Up to that point the eulogy was clear enough. David did not want the enemy to rejoice over the death of the Lord’s anointed. But then David prayed for some sort of a curse to be upon Mount Gilboa where Saul had died:
“Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings. . .” (Verse 21).
What did David mean? It did not make sense. Something was wrong with the Bible writer, it seemed. What connection did “fields of offerings” have with “no dew, no rain”?
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Two Canaanite tablets from Ras Shamra. Although the Canaanites used a cuneiform script, their language was very similar to Hebrew.
One of the most important archaeological finds of modern times was at Ras Shamra on the North Syrian coast (the site of ancient Ugarit). Thousands of tablets were recovered, and among the Canaanite psalms recovered was the expression that had been translated at 2 Samuel 1:21 as “fields of offerings”.
By a slight revision of the text, “fields of offerings” became “upsurgings of the deep” and all was clear. David was saying let nature itself mourn over the death of the mighty Saul. There would be no dew or rain on the mountain where he died. Not even moisture from the hidden springs of the earth, no “upsurgings of the deep”. The Bible was again right after all.
Expressions and Titles Authenticate Scripture
Another criticism leveled against David was that he didn’t write the Psalms. Up until only a generation ago, it was claimed that they were written in the times of the Maccabees, some 800 years later. Now it is recognized that the Psalms of David do indeed date to his time. Expressions used by David have been found in the Caanite writings from Ras Shamra. These expressions had gone out of use by the times of the Maccabees, but were very much in use during David’s day. The discoveries at Ras Shamra have caused scholars to reassess the date of David’s Psalms and to recognize their genuineness.
BSP 1:2 (Spring 1972) p. 53
Archaeology has also given us evidence that 2 Samuel comes from the time of David. Archaeology often throws light on words used, seemingly casually, in Scripture. In 2 Samuel 8:16 the Bible records the title given to one of David’s officers – “Jehoshaphat the Recorder”. The Hebrew word for recorder is mazkir. Its root meaning gives the idea of a man who calls or knows someone, or reminds about something, or reports an event. The exact equivalent of this word has been found in Egypt. There it is used in reference to an Egyptian official who is described as “the one who repeats, calls, announces”. In other words, he was the Pharaoh’s herald. He took charge of the palace ceremonies, and acted as a liaison officer between the king and other officials or the people. He was a sort of public relations officer and as such was the king’s official spokesman.
The next verse uses yet another title correctly. At 2 Samuel 8:17, we read of a man with the title “Scribe”. He was the king’s private secretary and was at the same time “Secretary of State”. He was responsible for palace correspondence and a similarity can be seen to the Egyptian title “Royal Scribe”. Excavations have uncovered inscriptions with this title dating to about 1570-1065 B.C. The excavations at Ras Shamra also revealed that the Canaanites had a similar office of scribe. Once again, the Bible background is beautifully authentic.
David the Sweet Psalmist
Not too long ago it was claimed that David, traditionally Israel’s “sweet psalmist”, could not have established guilds of temple musicians such as those referred to at 1 Chronicles 25. It was convincingly argued that the formal organization of temple musicians was not known until after the Exile in Babylon – over 400 years later than David’s time. Again the Bible has been vindicated, for from as early as 1570 B.C. there are references to Canaanite music in the tombs of Egypt. We now know that the Canaanites were famous in this realm. From the excavations at Ras Shamra, it has been shown that by 1400 B.C. singers were one of the groups associated with temple music. The Hebrew word used for singer is sharim. This is actually a Canaanite word, indicating that David used the local term by which these musicians were known.
The Bible states that native people were used in the musical guilds of the temple. For example, we read in the introductions to Psalms 88 and 89 of two different men who are known as Ezrahites. The word ezrah means native-born, and it seems that David actually used some of the Canaanite proselytes
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Members of a caravan entering Egypt, with one of the travelers carrying a lyre. From a tomb at Beni Hasan, Egypt.
in his musical guilds. There would be no Scriptural reason against such a usage, for other people could be adopted into the nation of Israel so long as they accepted the worship of the true God, Jehovah.
Another criticism against David was that stringed instruments were not known in his day. Then a tomb scene at Beni Hasan in Egypt was found. It dates to about 1900 B.C. and depicts a group of visiting Semites. One of these Semites is shown playing a lyre – 900 years before David!
In the Royal Death Pits at Ur there were several harps and lyres discovered alongside those who had died as attendants of departed royalty. The skeleton of a girl was found beside one of these harps. The strings had eroded away, but her fingers were still in position where the strings had been. Apparently she played for her queen until her last breath. These tombs date to before Abraham’s day, and it becomes obvious from this and similar evidence that David was indeed the sweet psalmist of Israel, as the Bible and Jewish tradition claim.
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