A Loyal but Overzealous Army Commander Abishai is the brother of Joab, commander of King David’s army. Scripture tells us that Abishai is one of David’s mighty warriors, a subcommander of his army, and credited with impressive military victories. He’s also zealous for David, perhaps too much so. Or maybe he has a thirst for […]
A Priest with Shifting Loyalties When Doeg the Edomite, under the order of King Saul, kills Ahimelek and eighty-five other priests, only Ahimelek’s son Abiathar escapes. Abiathar flees to David, who offers him sanctuary. Abiathar takes the ephod with him. This likely refers to the ephod Moses made for the priests to wear (Exodus 28). […]
Tamar (3) is the daughter of Absalom. She is most beautiful. That’s all we know about her. We can assume Absalom named her after her Aunt Tamar, her father’s sister whom her Uncle Amnon raped. This aunt was taken in by her dad, where she lived in desolation. By sharing her aunt’s name, Absalom’s daughter […]
His Lust Leads to His Ruin Amnon (1) is the oldest son of David. As the firstborn, we’d expect him to one day replace his father as king. Yet this is not to be. Though it may have been David’s intent to make Amnon king, the young man’s behavior and the consequences of what he […]
The Tragedy of a Beautiful Princess The story of Tamar (2) is tragic. She’s the beautiful daughter of King David and catches the eye of her half-brother, Amnon, who lusts for her. At the advice of his cousin, Amnon feigns illness and manipulates Tamar into his bedroom, duping David into innocently arranging the whole thing. […]
A Prophet Who Dares to Confront the King Nathan (2) is a prophet during the reign of King David. The Bible has two stories about Nathan. When David has established his kingdom and enjoys a time of peace, he shares an idea with Nathan. He wants to build a temple for the Lord. Nathan tells […]
Successful Military Leader with Character Flaws Joab serves as the commander of David’s army. He realizes much success as a military leader, but he has some severe character issues. Here are three stories about Joab. As we learned in the chapter about Abner, after he defects to David’s camp with a plan to bring all […]
A Weak King with a Short Reign Ish-Bosheth is the son of King Saul. After his father’s death—with the help of Abner, commander of Saul’s army—Ish-Bosheth assumes his father’s throne. He reigns for two years. There’s little remarkable about him or his rule. One story we have is when he confronts Abner for sleeping with […]
A Commander with Shifting Allegiances Abner is the commander of King Saul’s army. He’s also Saul’s first cousin. Abner serves Saul well. After the king’s death, Abner transfers his alliance to Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth, making him king over all Israel in his father’s place, with David ruling over Judah. A battle rages between Israel (led […]
A Man Willing to Kill the Innocent Doeg the Edomite appears in only one passage in Scripture. His story intertwines with Ahimelek’s. When King Saul orders the execution of Ahimelek for assisting in David’s escape, none of the king’s men are willing to kill the priest. They are wise to respect the function of the […]