David Means (born 1961) ^[1] is an American writer based in Nyack, New York. His short stories have appeared in many publications, including Esquire, The New Yorker, and Harper's. They are frequently set in the Midwest or the Rust Belt, or along the Hudson River in New York.

Biography[link]

Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Means graduated from Loy Norrix High School in 1980.^[2] He received his bachelor's degree in 1984 from the College of Wooster, where his I.S. was "Bullfighting in Boston and other Poems". ^[3] He went to graduate school at Columbia University, where he received an MFA in poetry. ^[4] He has been a part-time member of the English department at Vassar College since 2001. Means is married with two children.^[2]

Work[link]

Contemporary Authors writes: "With Means's second collection, Assorted Fire Events: Stories, he was compared favorably to such esteemed writers as Raymond Carver and Alice Munro and praised by critics for his sharp prose." ^[5] James Wood, in The London Review of Books notes that "Means' language offers an exquisitely precise and sensuous register of an often crazy American reality. Sentences gleaming with lustre are sewn through the stories. One will go a long way with a writer possessed of such skill. You can hear the influence of Flannery O'Connor in Means' prose: in the scintillating shiver of the beautiful imagery, in the lack of sentimentality, in the interest in grotesque violence, and gothic tricksterism." Eileen Battersby in The Irish Times has compared Means' work to that of Eudora Welty and John Cheever.^[6]

Bibliography[link]

Short Story Collections[link]

• A Quick Kiss of Redemption (1991) ISBN 0-688-09459-7
• Assorted Fire Events (2000) ISBN 1-893956-05-9
• The Secret Goldfish (2004) ISBN 0-00-716498-0
• The Spot (2010) ISBN 978-0-86547-912-8

Uncollected Stories[link]

• "Stories I Used to Write," The Paris Review, No. 137, Winter 1995
• "Disclaimer," The Paris Review, No. 143, Summer 1997.
• "Elective Mute," Esquire, February 2007
• "Wait for Walk," Abitare (Italy), May, 2008
• "The Knocking". The New Yorker 86 (4): 64–67. 15 March 2010. http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/03/15/100315fi_fiction_means. Retrieved 16 January 2011. 
• "Tree Line, Kansas," "The New Yorker", October 25, 2010
• "The Butler's Lament," "Zoetrope" Spring 2011
• "El Morro," "The New Yorker," August 29, 2011
• "The Chair," "The Paris Review," #200

Awards[link]

• Los Angeles Times Book Prize (2000) for Assorted Fire Events^[7]
• National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist, 2000) for Assorted Fire Events^[8]
• The Pushcart Prize (2001)^[2]
• O. Henry Prize (2006) for "Sault Ste. Marie"^[9]
• Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award (Shortlist, 2005) for The Secret Goldfish^[10]
• O. Henry Prize (2011) for "The Junction" ^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

• New York Times interview with David Means
• New Yorker interview with David Means
• The Guardian (London) review of The Spot
• Leonard Lopate Show radio interview with David Means
• Time Out review of The Spot
• Chicago Tribune review of The Spot
• Interview with David Means
• "Elective Mute" (Story) from Esquire
• Ponteri, Jay. "David Means and the Secret Mystery". Loggernaut, 2005. Long interview discussing the author's work.
• Radio interview in which David Means discusses his book Assorted Fire Events and reads his short story The Woodcutter
• Interview at Powells.com
• Short story "The Knocking" at The New Yorker
• 2010 Short story collection "The Spot"
• New York Times Review of The Secret Goldfish
• Essay about stories by David Means
• Artist George Condo on David Means
• David Means reads "Chef's House" by Raymond Carver/New Yorker/short interview

King David
King of Israel
Statue of David by Nicolas Cordier, in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome
Reign	over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC; over Judah and Israel c. 1003–970 BC
Born	c. 1040 BC
Birthplace	Bethlehem
Died	c. 970 BC
Place of death	Jerusalem
Predecessor	Saul (Judah), Ishbaal (Israel)
Successor	Solomon
Royal House	House of David (new house)
Father	Jesse
Mother	not named in the Bible; identified by the Talmud as Nitzevet, daughter of Adael

David (Hebrew: דָּוִד, דָּוִיד, Modern David Tiberian Dāwîḏ; ISO 259-3 Dawid; Strong's Daveed; beloved; Arabic: داوود‎ or داود‎ ^[a] Dāwūd) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and, according to the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke, an ancestor of Jesus. David is seen as a major Prophet in Islamic traditions. ^[1][2] His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040–970 BC, his reign over Judah c. 1010–1003 BC,^{[citation needed]} and his reign over the United Kingdom of Israel c. 1003–970 BC.^{[citation needed]} The Books of Samuel, 1 Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only sources of information on David, although the Tel Dan stele records "House of David", which some take as confirmation of the existence in the mid-9th century BC of a Judean royal dynasty called the "House of David".

David is very important to Jewish, Christian and Islamic doctrine and culture. In Judaism, David, or David HaMelekh, is the King of Israel, and the Jewish people. Jewish tradition maintains that a direct descendant of David will be the Messiah. In Islam, he is known as Dawud, considered to be a prophet and the king of a nation. He is depicted as a righteous king, though not without faults, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician, and poet, traditionally credited for composing many of the psalms contained in the Book of Psalms.

Historicity[link]

Archaeological evidence[link]

Tel Dan Stele and Mesha Stele[link]

The Tel Dan Stele.

A fragment of an Aramean victory stele discovered in 1993 at Tel Dan and dated c.850–835 BC contains the phrase ביתדוד (bytdwd). Because the ancient Aramaic script is written without vowels, different readings are possible. Scholars agree that the first part should be read בֵּית (beyt), meaning "house". However, the second part can be read as דּוֹד (dod), which means "uncle" or "beloved" or as דָּוִד (David). The phrase therefore can mean either "House of the beloved", "House of the uncle" or "House of David".^[3] Since the stele recounts the victory of an Aramean king over "the king of Israel",^[4] the translation of "ביתדוד" as "the House of David" is not illogical.^[5][6]

The Mesha Stele from Moab, dating from approximately the same period, may also contain the name David, in two places: in line 12, where the interpretation is uncertain, and בת[ד]וד in line 31, where one destroyed letter must be supplied (here it is bracketed in the middle).^[7] Kenneth Kitchen has proposed that an inscription of c. 945 BC by the Egyptian Pharaoh Shoshenq I mentions "the highlands of David."^[8] Although a reference to King David in this geographical name is not certain, some scholars suggest it is reasonable.^[9]

City of David and Judah, ca. 1000 BC onward[link]

Part of the Large Stone Structure thought by some archaeologists to be the remains of King David's Palace.

The Bronze and Iron Age remains of the City of David, the original urban core of Jerusalem identified with the reigns of David and Solomon, were investigated extensively in the 1970s and 1980s under the direction of Yigal Shiloh of the Hebrew University, but failed to discover significant evidence of occupation during the 10th century BC,^[10] In 2005, Eilat Mazar found a Large Stone Structure which she claimed was David's palace, but the archaeology is contaminated and impossible to date accurately.^[11][12] Finkelstein and Silberman feel the archaeological evidence from surface surveys indicates that Judah at the time of David was a small tribal kingdom, although both do accept that David and Solomon were likely historical figures in Judah about the 10th century BC. They describe the earliest tales of David as a "classical bandit tale".^[13]

The biblical account[link]

The biblical account about David comes from the book of Samuel and the book of Chronicles (each of which are divided into two books in Jewish and Christian traditions). While almost half of the Psalms are headed "A Psalm of David", the headings are later additions, and no psalm can be attributed to David with certainty.^[14] Chronicles merely retells Samuel from a different theological vantage point, and contains little if any information not available there, and the biblical evidence for David is therefore dependent almost exclusively on the material contained in the chapters from 1 Samuel 16 to 1 Kings 2.

Russian icon of St. David, the Prophet and King, 18th century (Iconostasis of Kizhi monastery, Karelia, Russia).

Since Martin Noth put forward his analysis of the Deuteronomistic History, biblical scholars have accepted that these two books form part of a continuous history of Israel, compiled no earlier than the late 7th century BC, but incorporating earlier works and fragments. Samuel's account of David "seems to have undergone two separate acts of editorial slanting." The original writers show a strong bias against Saul, and in favour of David and Solomon. Many years later the Deuteronomists edited the material in a manner that conveyed their religious message, inserting reports and anecdotes that strengthened their monotheistic doctrine. Some of the materials in Samuel I and II — notably the boundary, allotment and administrative lists — are believed to be very early, since they correspond closely to what we know of the territorial conditions of the late Davidic-early Solomonic period.^[15]

Beyond this, the full range of possible interpretations is available. The late John Bright, whose History of Israel, which went through four editions from 1959 to 2000, takes Samuel at face value, but Donald B. Redford thinks all reconstructions from Biblical sources for the United Monarchy period are examples of 'academic wishful thinking',^[16] and Thomas L. Thompson measures Samuel against the archaeological evidence and concludes that "an independent history of Judea during the Iron I [i.e., the period of David] and Iron II periods has little room for historicizing readings of the stories of I-II Samuel and I Kings."^[17] Some interesting studies of David have been written: Baruch Halpern has pictured David as a lifelong vassal of Achish, the Philistine king of Gath;^[18] Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman have identified as the oldest and most reliable section of Samuel those chapters which describe David as the charismatic leader of a band of outlaws who captures Jerusalem and makes it his capital.^[19] Steven McKenzie, Associate Professor of the Hebrew Bible at Rhodes College and author of King David: A Biography, states the belief that David actually came from a wealthy family, was "ambitious and ruthless" and a tyrant who murdered his opponents, including his own sons.^[14]

Biblical narrative[link]

Samuel anoints David, Dura Europos, Syria, Date: 3rd c. AD.

Chosen by God[link]

God withdraws his favour from Saul, king of Israel, "It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments."^[20] The prophet Samuel seeks a new king from the sons of Jesse of Bethlehem. Seven of Jesse's sons are led before Samuel, but Samuel says, "Yahweh has not chosen these." "And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he."^[21]

At the court of Saul[link]

God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul (1 Samuel 16:14) and his attendants suggest he send for David, a young warrior famed for his bravery and for his skill with the harp. Saul does so and makes David one of his armor-bearers and "whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him."

David and Goliath[link]

Young David holds the impaled head of the Philistine giant and marches in front of a general riding a white horse, most likely King Saul.

The Israelites, under King Saul, faced the Philistines in the Valley of Elah. He heard the Philistine giant Goliath challenge the Israelites to send their own champion to decide the outcome in single combat. David told Saul he was prepared to face Goliath and Saul allowed him to make the attempt. He was victorious, striking Goliath in the forehead with a stone from his sling. Goliath fell, and David killed him with his own sword and beheaded him; the Philistines fled in terror. Saul inquired about the name of the young champion, and David told him that he is the son of Jesse.^[22]

David and Jonathan[link]

Saul makes David a commander over his armies and offers him his daughter Michal in marriage for bringing more than 200 foreskins of the Philistines to him. David is successful in many battles, and his popularity awakes Saul's fears — "What more can he have but the kingdom?" By various stratagems the jealous king seeks his death, but the plots only endear David the more to the people, and especially to Saul's son Jonathan, who loves David (1 Samuel 18:1, 2 Samuel 1:25–26).^[23][24] Warned by Jonathan, David flees into the wilderness, where he gathers a band of followers and becomes the champion of the oppressed while evading the pursuit of Saul. He accepts the town of Ziklag from the Philistine king Achish of Gath, but continues secretly to champion the Israelites. Achish marches against Saul, but David is excused from the war on the accusation of the Philistine nobles that his loyalty to their cause cannot be trusted.

Anointed king[link]

Panorama of the Harod Valley below, part of the Jezreel- see Mount Gilboa.

Jonathan and Saul are killed in battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. David mourns their deaths, especially that of Jonathan, his friend. He goes up to Hebron, where he is anointed king over Judah. In the north, Saul's son Ish-Bosheth becomes king of the tribes of Israel. War ensues between Ish-Bosheth and David, until Ish-Bosheth is murdered. The assassins bring the head of Ish-Bosheth to David hoping for a reward, but David executes them for their crime against the Lord's anointed. Yet with the death of the son of Saul, the elders of Israel come to Hebron and David, who is 30 years old, is anointed King over Israel and Judah.^[25]

Jerusalem and the Davidic Covenant[link]

David conquers the Jebusite fortress of Jerusalem, and makes it his capital, and "Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house." David brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, intending to build a temple, but God, speaking to the prophet Nathan, is pleased, saying the temple will be built. God makes a covenant with David, promising that he will establish the house of David : "Your throne shall be established forever."

With God's help, David is victorious over his people's enemies. The Philistines are subdued, the Moabites to the east pay tribute, along with Hadadezer of Zobah, from whom David takes gold shields and bronze vessels.^[26]

Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite[link]

David commits adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.^[27] Bathsheba becomes pregnant. David sends for Uriah, who is with the Israelite army at the siege of Rabbah, so that he may lie with his wife and conceal the identity of the child's father. Uriah refuses to do so while his companions are in the field of battle and David sends him back to Joab, the commander, with a message instructing him to abandon Uriah on the battlefield, "that he may be struck down, and die." David marries Bathsheba and she bears his child, "but the thing that David had done displeased the Lord."^[28] The prophet Nathan confronts David, saying: "Why have you despised the word of God, to do what is evil in his sight? You have smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife." Nathan presents three punishments from God for this sin. First, that the "sword shall never depart from your house" (2 Samuel 12:10) second, that "Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel., (2 Samuel 12:12) and finally, that "the son born to you will die."2 Samuel 12:14 David repents, yet God "struck the [David's] child ... and it became sick ... [And] on the seventh day the child died." David leaves his lamentations, dresses himself, goes to the House of the Lord and worships, and then returns home to eat. His servants ask why he wept when the baby was alive, but ends his mourning when the child dies. David replies: "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.' But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."2 Samuel 12:22–23

David's son Absalom rebels[link]

David's son Absalom rebels against his father, and they come to battle in the Wood of Ephraim. Absalom is caught by his hair in the branches of an oak and David’s general Joab kills him as he hangs there.^[29] When the news of the victory is brought to David, he does not rejoice, but is instead shaken with grief: "O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!"^[30]

Old age[link]

When David has become old and bedridden, Adonijah, his eldest surviving son and natural heir, declares himself king and worthy to marry Abishag. Bathsheba, David's favorite wife, and Nathan the prophet, fearing that they will be killed by Adonijah, go to David and procure his agreement that Solomon, Bathsheba's son, should sit on the throne. And so the plans of Adonijah collapse, and Solomon becomes king.^[31] It is to Solomon that David gives his final instructions, including his promise that the line of Solomon and David will inherit the throne of Judah forever, and his request that Solomon kill his oldest enemies on his behalf.^[32] David dies and is buried in the City of David, having ruled forty years over Israel, seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem.

Religious view[link]

Judaism[link]

King David the Prophet
King David in Prayer, by Pieter de Grebber (c. 1640)
Holy Monarch, Prophet, Reformer, Spiritual Poet & Musician, Vicegerent of God, Psalm-Receiver
Born	c. 1040 B.C.E. Bethlehem
Died	c. 970 B.C.E. Jerusalem
Honored in	Judaism Christianity Islam
Attributes	Psalms, Harp, Head of Goliath

David is an important figure in Judaism. Historically, David's reign represented the formation of a coherent Jewish kingdom centered in Jerusalem. David is an important figure within the context of Jewish messianism. In the Hebrew Bible, it is written that a human descendant of David will occupy the throne of a restored kingdom and usher in a messianic age.

David is also viewed as a tragic figure; his acquisition of Bathsheba, and the loss of his son are viewed as his central tragedies.

Many legends have grown around the figure of David. According to one Rabbinic tradition, David was raised as the son of his father Jesse and spent his early years herding his father's sheep in the wilderness while his brothers were in school. Only at his anointing by Samuel – when the oil from Samuel's flask turned to diamonds and pearls – was his true identity as Jesse's son revealed.

David's adultery with Bathsheba was only an opportunity to demonstrate the power of repentance, and some Talmudic authors stated that it was not adultery at all, quoting a Jewish practice of divorce on the eve of battle. However, in tractate Sanhedrin, David's broken heart pleads and numerous actions for forgiveness are discussed, God ultimately forgives but would not remove his sins from Scripture.^[33]

Furthermore, according to David's apologists, the death of Uriah was not to be considered murder, on the basis that Uriah had committed a capital offence by refusing to obey a direct command from the King.^[34]

According to midrashim, Adam gave up 70 years of his life for the life of David.^[35] Also, according to the Talmud Yerushalmi, David was born and died on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot (Feast of Weeks). His piety was said to be so great that his prayers could bring down things from Heaven.

Christianity[link]

David and King Saul, by Rembrandt. David plays the lyre (depicted here as a harp) to the king "tormented by an evil spirit."

The concept of the Messiah is important in Christianity. Originally an earthly king ruling by divine appointment ("the anointed one", as the title Messiah had it), the "son of David" became in the last two pre-Christian centuries the apocalyptic and heavenly one who would deliver Israel and usher in a new kingdom. This was the background to the concept of Messiahship in early Christianity, which interpreted the career of Jesus "by means of the titles and functions assigned to David in the mysticism of the Zion cult, in which he served as priest-king and in which he was the mediator between God and man."^[36] The early Church believed that "the life of David [foreshadowed] the life of Christ; Bethlehem is the birthplace of both; the shepherd life of David points out Christ, the Good Shepherd; the five stones chosen to slay Goliath are typical of the five wounds; the betrayal by his trusted counsellor, Achitophel, and the passage over the Cedron remind us of Christ's Sacred Passion. Many of the Davidic Psalms, as we learn from the New Testament, are clearly typical of the future Messiah."^[37] In the Middle Ages, "Charlemagne thought of himself, and was viewed by his court scholars, as a 'new David'. [This was] not in itself a new idea, but [one whose] content and significance were greatly enlarged by him."^[38] The linking of David to earthly kingship was reflected in later Medieval cathedral windows all over Europe through the device of the Tree of Jesse, its branches demonstrating how divine kingship descended from Jesse, through his son David, to Jesus.

Western Rite churches (Roman Catholic, Lutheran) celebrate his feast day on 29 December, Eastern-rite on 19 December.^[39] The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches celebrate the feast day of the "Holy Righteous Prophet and King David" on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (two Sundays before the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord), when he is commemorated together with other ancestors of Jesus. He is also commemorated on the Sunday after the Nativity, together with Joseph and James, the Brother of the Lord.

Mormonism[link]

The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cites David as one directed by God to practice polygamy, but who sinned in committing adultery with Bathsheba and having Uriah killed.^[40]

Islam[link]

Main article Islamic view of David

David (Arabic داود, Dāwūd) is a highly important figure in Islam as one of the major prophets sent by God to guide the Israelites. David is mentioned several times in the Qur'an, often with his son Solomon. In the Qur'an: David killed Goliath (II: 251), Goliath was a powerful king who used to invade random kingdoms and villages. Goliath was spreading evil and corruption. When David killed Goliath, God granted him kingship and wisdom and enforces it (XXXVIII: 20). David is made God's "vicegerent on earth" (XXXVIII: 26) and God further gives David sound judgment (XXI: 78; XXXVII: 21–24, 26) as well as the Psalms, which are regarded as books of divine wisdom (IV: 163; XVII, 55). The birds and mountains unite with David in ushering praise to God (XXI: 79; XXXIV: 10; XXXVIII: 18), while God instructs David in the art of fashioning chain-mail out of iron (XXXIV: 10; XXI: 80). Together with Solomon, David gives judgment in a case of damage to the fields (XXI: 78) and David judges in the matter between two disputants in his prayer chamber (XXXVIII: 21–23). Since there is no mention in the Qur'an of the wrong David did to Uriah nor is there any reference to Bathsheba, Muslims reject this narrative.^[41]

Muslim tradition and the hadith stress David's zeal in daily prayer^[42] as well as in fasting. Qur'an commentators, historians and compilers of the numerous Stories of the Prophets elaborate upon David's concise Qur'anic narratives and specifically mention David's gift in singing his Psalms as well as his musical and vocal talents. His voice is described as having had a captivating power, weaving its influence not only over man but over all beasts and nature, who would unite with him to praise God.^[43]

Baha'i Faith[link]

David is described as a minor prophet who came in the shadow of the dispensation of Moses to develop and consolidate the process he set in motion.^[44]

Succession[link]

The oldest complete Tree of Jesse window is in Chartres Cathedral, 1145.

Genealogy[link]

According to Genesis 46:12 and Ruth 4:18–22, David is the eleventh^[45] generation from Judah, the fourth son of the patriarch Jacob (Israel). The genealogical line runs as follows: (1) Judah → (2) Pharez → (3) Hezron → (4) Ram → (5) Amminadab → (6) Nahshon → (7) Salmon → (8) Boaz (the husband of Ruth) → (9) Obed → (10) Jesse → (11) David.^[45]

Family[link]

David was born in Bethlehem, in the territory of the Tribe of Judah. His father was named Jesse. His mother is not named in the Bible, but the Talmud identifies her as Nitzevet daughter of Adael.^[46] David had seven brothers and was the youngest of them all. He had eight wives: Michal, the second daughter of King Saul; Ahinoam the Jezreelite; Abigail the Carmelite, previously wife of Nabal;^[47] Maachah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; Haggith; Abital; Eglah; and Bathsheba, previously the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

The Book of Chronicles lists David's sons by various wives and concubines. In Hebron he had six sons 1 Chronicles 3:1–3: Amnon, by Ahinoam; Daniel, by Abigail; Absalom, by Maachah; Adonijah, by Haggith; Shephatiah, by Abital; and Ithream, by Eglah. By Bathsheba, his sons were: Shammua; Shobab; Nathan; and Solomon. His sons born in Jerusalem by other wives included: Ibhar; Elishua; Eliphelet; Nogah; Nepheg; Japhia; Elishama; and Eliada. 2 Samuel 5:14–16 According to 2 Chronicles 11:18, Jerimoth, who is not mentioned in any of the genealogies, is mentioned as another of David's sons. According to 2 Samuel 9:11, David adopted Jonathan's son Mephibosheth as his own.

David also had at least one daughter, Tamar by Maachah, who was raped by Amnon, her half-brother. Her rape leads to Amnon's death. 2 Samuel 13:1–29 Absalom, Amnon's half-brother and Tamar's full-brother, waits two years, then avenges his sister by sending his servants to kill Amnon at a feast to which he had invited all the king's sons. 2 Samuel 13

Legend and legacy[link]

In European Christian culture of the Middle Ages, David was made a member of the Nine Worthies, a group of heroes encapsulating all the ideal qualities of chivalry. His life was thus proposed as a valuable subject for study by those aspiring to chivalric status. This aspect of David in the Nine Worthies was popularised firstly through literature, and was thereafter adopted as a frequent subject for painters and sculptors.

The musician[link]

"David Playing the Harp" by Jan de Bray, 1670.

In various biblical passages, David is referred to as “the favorite of the songs of Israel,”^[48] the one who soothed Saul with music,^[49] and the founder of Temple singing.^[50][51] A Psalms scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QPs^a) attributes 3600 tehilim (songs of praise) plus other compositions to David.^[52] Seventy-three of the 150 Psalms in the Bible are attributed to David.^[53] The supreme kingship of Yahweh is the most pervasive theological concept in the book of Psalms,^[54][55] and many psalms attributed to David are directed to Yahweh by name,^[56] whether in praise or petition, suggesting a relationship.^[57] According to the Midrash Tehillim, King David was prompted to the Psalms by the Holy Spirit that rested upon him.^[58]

In addition to ascribing authorship to David, several Psalms are identified with specific events in David’s life.^[59] Psalm 34 is attributed to David on the occasion of his escape from the Abimelech (king) Achish by pretending to be insane.^[60] According to the narrative in 1 Samuel 21, instead of killing the man who had exacted so many casualties from him, Abimelech allows David to depart, exclaiming, “Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?"^[61] Psalm 34 is one of seven acrostic Psalms in the original Hebrew; most English translations do not retain the acrostic form.^[62] The first part of Psalm 34 is directed toward Yahweh in complete and humble gratitude (David does not even mention his own royal status); the second part confidently directs others to Yahweh.^[63]

This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them … Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

— Psalm 34:6–7,11 (ESV)

In contrast, Psalm 18 is not related to a specific incident but rather to God’s faithful deliverance from “all of his enemies and from the hand of Saul.”^[64][65] The text of this Psalm was thought to date to the 10th century BC even before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls^[66] and is very similar to that of 2 Samuel 22.^[67] In this Psalm, David recalls being in deadly situations: “The cords of death entangled me, the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.”^[68] He cries out to God for help, and God rescues David.

I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.

— Psalm 18:1–3 (NIV)

The Scottish theologian Samuel Rutherford (1600–1661) notes that crying out to God is mentioned in many Psalms attributed to David.^[69] He comments, “Fervour is a heavenly ingredient in prayer. An arrow drawn with full strength hath a speedier issue.” ^[70] The Midrash Tehillim teaches from Psalm 4 “that the mere mechanical application to the Throne of Mercy is not efficacious is plainly seen from the words of King David, who says God is nigh to all that call upon Him, and … he adds the important words, 'to those who call upon Him in truth.'”^[71]

According to Psalm 40, David’s cries to God were heartfelt though not necessarily impatient; the poignant combination of a cry for help with a confident expression of faith echo today in the song “40” by the rock group U2 and that encapsulates David’s experience with his God:

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

— Psalm 40:1–3 (NIV)

Representation in art and literature[link]

Art[link]

Famous sculptures of David include (in chronological order) those by:

• Donatello (c. 1430 – 1440), David (Donatello)
• Andrea del Verrocchio (1476), David (Verrocchio)
• Michelangelo (1504), David (Michelangelo)
• Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1624), David (Bernini)
• Antonin Mercié (1873)

Literature[link]

• Dryden's long poem Absalom and Achitophel is an allegory that uses the story of the rebellion of Absalom against King David as the basis for his satire of the contemporary political situation, including events such as the Monmouth Rebellion (1685), the Popish Plot (1678) and the Exclusion Crisis.
• Elmer Davis's novel Giant Killer (1928, The John Day company) retells and embellishes the Biblical story of David, casting David as primarily a poet who managed always to find others to do the "dirty work" of heroism and kingship. In the novel, Elhanan in fact killed Goliath but David claimed the credit; and Joab, David's cousin and general, took it upon himself to make many of the difficult decisions of war and statecraft when David vacillated or wrote poetry instead.
• Gladys Schmitt wrote a novel titled "David the King" (1946, Doubleday Books) which proceeds as a richly embellished biography of David's entire life. The book took a risk, especially for its time, in portraying David's relationship with Jonathan as overtly homoerotic, but was ultimately panned by critics as a bland rendition of the title character.
• In Thomas Burnett Swann's Biblical fantasy novel How are the Mighty Fallen (1974, DAW), David and Jonathan are explicitly stated to be lovers. Moreover, Jonathan is a member of a winged semi-human race (possibly nephilim), one of several such races co-existing with humanity but often persecuted by it.
• Joseph Heller wrote a novel based on David, God Knows (1984, Simon & Schuster). Told from the perspective of an aging David, the humanity — rather than the heroism — of various biblical characters is emphasized. The portrayal of David as a man of flaws such as greed, lust, selfishness, and his alienation from God, the falling apart of his family is a distinctly 20th century interpretation of the events told in the Bible.
• Juan Bosch, Dominican political leader and writer, wrote "David: Biography of a King" (1966, Hawthorn, NY) a realistic approach to David's life and political career.
• Allan Massie wrote "King David" (1996, Sceptre), a novel about David's career which portrays the king's relationship to Jonathan and others as openly homosexual.
• Madeleine L'Engle's novel Certain Women (1993, HarperOne) explores family, the Christian faith, and the nature of God through the story of King David's family and an analogous modern family's saga.
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle used the story of David and Bathsheba as the main structure for the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Crooked Man. The betrayal of the Crooked Man is paralleled with David's betrayal of Uriah the Hittite, carried out in order to win Bathsheba.
• Stefan Heym's "The King David Report" (1998, Northwestern University Press) is a fiction depicting the writings of the Bible historian Ethan, upon King Solomon's orders, of a true and authoritative report on the life of David, Son of Jesse.
• Malachi Martin's 1980 factional novel King of Kings: A Novel of the Life of David relates the life of David, Adonai's champion in his battle with the Philistine deity Dagon.
• William Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!"(1936) refers to the story of Absalom, David's son; his rebellion against his father and his death at the hands of David's general, Joab. In addition it parallels Absalom's vengeance for the rape of his sister Tamar by his half-brother, Amnon.
• Dan Jacobson's The Rape of Tamar (1970) is an imagined account, by one of David's courtiers Yonadab, of the rape of Tamar by Amnon.

Film[link]

• Gregory Peck played King David in the 1951 film David and Bathsheba, directed by Henry King. Susan Hayward played Bathsheba and Raymond Massey played the prophet Nathan.
• Jeff Chandler played David in the 1960 film A Story of David
• Finlay Currie played an aged King David in the 1959 film Solomon and Sheba, directed by King Vidor. Yul Brynner played Solomon and Gina Lollobrigida played the Queen of Sheba.
• Richard Gere portrayed King David in the 1985 film King David directed by Bruce Beresford.

Music[link]

• Josquin des Prez's Planxit autem David is a polyphonic setting of 2 Samuel Chapter I verses 17–27, David's lamentation for the dead Saul and Jonathan. His Absalon fili mi is a polyphonic lamentation from David's perspective on the death of his son.
• George Frideric Handel's oratorio Saul features David as one of its main characters
• Arthur Honegger's oratorio Le Roi David ('King David'), with a libretto by Rene Morax, was composed in 1921 and instantly became a staple of the choral repertoire; it is still widely performed.
• Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" has references to David ("there was a secret chord that David played and it pleased the Lord", "The baffled king composing Hallelujah") and Bathsheba ("you saw her bathing on the roof") in its opening verses.
• "Mad About You", a song on Sting's 1991 album The Soul Cages, explores David's obsession with Bathsheba from David's perspective.
• Dead by the Pixies is a retelling of David's adultery and repentance.
• Herbert Howells (1892–1983) composed an artsong for voice and piano called "King David".
• Eric Whitacre composed a choral piece, "When David Heard," chronicling the death of Absalom and David's grief over losing his son.

Musical theater[link]

• King David, a modern oratorio, with a book and lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Alan Menken.

Television[link]

• Nathaniel Parker portrayed King David in the 1997 TV film David, with Leonard Nimoy as Samuel and Jonathan Pryce as Saul.
• Max von Sydow portrayed an older King David in the TV film Solomon, a sequel to David above, with Ben Cross as Solomon.
• In 2009, NBC introduced the series Kings, which was explicitly designed as a modern retelling of the David story.
• In the PBS television series Wishbone the episode "Little Big Dog" recounts the story of David, his favor with Saul, and his triumphant battle over Goliath.
• The season two episode of Xena: Warrior Princess "Giant Killer" features David and his killing of Goliath.

Trivia[link]

For a considerable period, starting in the 15th century and continuing until the 19th, French playing card manufacturers assigned to each of the court cards names taken from history or mythology.^[72][73] In this context, the King of Spades was often known as "David".

See also[link]

Saints portal

• David and Jonathan
• King David's Palace site
• King David's Tomb
• Midrash Shmuel (aggadah)
• Passover songs
• Tel Arad

Notes[link]

References[link]

Translations of 1 and 2 Samuel[link]

• Samuel 1 and 2 at Bible Gateway
• Kirsch, Jonathan (2000) King David: the real life of the man who ruled Israel. Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-43275-4.
• See also the entry "David" in Easton's Bible Dictionary.
• Dever, William G. (2001) What did the Bible writers know and when did they know it? William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., Cambridge UK.
• Thiele, E.R. (1983). The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Wx4GsZH3dzAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Mysterious+Numbers+of+the+Hebrew+Kings&hl=en&ei=QaveTrDtNuOeiAfcycCqBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Mysterious%20Numbers%20of%20the%20Hebrew%20Kings&f=false. 

Commentaries on Samuel[link]

• Auld, Graeme (2003). "1 & 2 Samuel". In James D. G. Dunn and John William Rogerson. Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=2Vo-11umIZQC&pg=PA213&lpg=PA213&dq=There+are+two+common+types+of+strategy+for+reading+the+books+of+Samuel#v=onepage&q=There%20are%20two%20common%20types%20of%20strategy%20for%20reading%20the%20books%20of%20Samuel&f=false. 
• Bergen, David T. (1996). 1, 2 Samuel. B&H Publishing Group. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=eGT6fWsajqcC&pg=PA49&dq=I+%26+II+Samuel:+a+commentary+Gordon&cad=3#v=onepage&q=I%20%26%20II%20Samuel%3A%20a%20commentary%20Gordon&f=false. 
• Gordon, Robert (1986). I & II Samuel, A Commentary. Paternoster Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=JMJ1ZAnswuUC&pg=PA338&lpg=PA338&dq=I+%26+II+Samuel:+a+commentary+Gordon#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Hertzberg, Hans Wilhelm (1964, trans. from German 2nd edition 1960). I & II Samuel, A Commentary. Westminster John Knox Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=friNN7IdjOIC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=I+%26+II+Samuel:+a+commentary+Hans+Wilhelm+Hertzberg#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Tsumura, Hans Wilhelm (2007). The First book of Samuel. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=iLKAlhLDkMwC&pg=PA103&lpg=PA103&dq=The+First+book+of+Samuel+Tsumura#v=onepage&q&f=false. 

General[link]

• Breytenbach, Andries (2000). "Who Is Behind The Samuel Narrative?". In Johannes Cornelis de Moor and H.F. Van Rooy. Past, present, future: the Deuteronomistic history and the prophets. Brill. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uP22QHpnKq8C&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=Breytenbach+Who+is+behind+the+Samuel+narrative#v=onepage&q=Breytenbach%20Who%20is%20behind%20the%20Samuel%20narrative&f=false. 
• Coogan, Michael D. (2009) A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: the Hebrew Bible in its Context Oxford University Press
• Dick, Michael B (2004). "The History of "David's Rise to Power" and the Neo-Babylonian Succession Apologies". In Bernard Frank Batto and Kathryn L. Roberts. David and Zion: biblical studies in honor of J.J.M. Roberts. Eisenbrauns. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Vlkb0cSBGlIC&pg=PA373&lpg=PA373&dq=David+and+Zion:+biblical+studies+in+honor+of+J.J.M.+Roberts#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Eynikel, Erik (2000). "The Relation Between the Eli Narrative and the Ark Narratives". In Johannes Cornelis de Moor and H.F. Van Rooy. Past, present, future: the Deuteronomistic history and the prophets. Brill. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uP22QHpnKq8C&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=Breytenbach+Who+is+behind+the+Samuel+narrative#v=onepage&q=Breytenbach%20Who%20is%20behind%20the%20Samuel%20narrative&f=false. 
• Halpern, Baruch (2001). David's secret demons: messiah, murderer, traitor, king. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com/books?id=tn8PG4XfuBAC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=David's+secret#v=onepage&q=lahmi+bethlehemite&f=false. 
• Jones, Gwilym H (2001). "1 and 2 Samuel". In John Barton and John Muddiman. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford University Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=wCRYl9Ikk6EC&pg=PA196&lpg=PA196&dq=Gwilym+Jones+1+and+2+Samuel#v=onepage&q=Gwilym%20Jones%201%20and%202%20Samuel&f=false. 
• Klein, R.W. (2003). "Samuel, books of". In Bromiley, Geoffrey W. The international standard Bible encyclopedia. Eerdmans. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=6OJvO2jMCr8C&pg=PA314&lpg=PA314&dq=narrative+sources+books+of+samuel#v=onepage&q=narrative%20sources%20books%20of%20samuel&f=false. 
• Knight, Douglas A (1995). "Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomists". In James Luther Mays, David L. Petersen and Kent Harold Richards. Old Testament Interpretation. T&T Clark. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=SNLN1nEEys0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Old+Testament+Interpretation+Mays+Peterson+Richards#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Knight, Douglas A (1991). "Sources". In Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard. Mercer Dictionary of the Bible. Mercer University Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=goq0VWw9rGIC&dq=Mercer+Bible+Dictionary&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Schleffer, Eben (2000). "Saving Saul from the Deuteronomist". In Johannes Cornelis de Moor and H.F. Van Rooy. Past, present, future: the Deuteronomistic history and the prophets. Brill. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=uP22QHpnKq8C&pg=PA50&lpg=PA50&dq=Breytenbach+Who+is+behind+the+Samuel+narrative#v=onepage&q=Breytenbach%20Who%20is%20behind%20the%20Samuel%20narrative&f=false. 
• Soggin, Alberto (1987). Introduction to the Old Testament. Westminster John Knox Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=mqSNsKXnHQgC&pg=PA112&lpg=PA112&dq=Soggin+Introduction+to+the+Old+Testament#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Spieckerman, Hermann (2001). "The Deuteronomistic History". In Leo G. Perdue. The Blackwell companion to the Hebrew Bible. Blackwell. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=41_0okLzQJkC&pg=PA337&lpg=PA337&dq=The+Deuteronomistic+History+Hermann+Spieckermann#v=onepage&q=The%20Deuteronomistic%20History%20Hermann%20Spieckermann&f=false. 
• Van Seters, John (1997). In search of history: historiography in the ancient world and the origins of biblical history. Eisenbrauns. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=0-skPdXtewwC&pg=PA406&lpg=PA406&dq=Van+Seters+In+Search+of+History#v=onepage&q=Samuel&f=false. 
• Walton, John H (2009). "The Deuteronomistic History". In Andrew E. Hill, John H. Walton. A Survey of the Old Testament. Zondervan. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=41_0okLzQJkC&pg=PA337&lpg=PA337&dq=The+Deuteronomistic+History+Hermann+Spieckermann#v=onepage&q=The%20Deuteronomistic%20History%20Hermann%20Spieckermann&f=false. 

Further reading[link]

• Alexander, David; Alexander, Pat, eds. (1983). Eerdmans' handbook to the Bible ([New, rev.]. ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-3486-8. 
• Bright, John (1981). A history of Israel (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: Westminster Press. ISBN 0-664-21381-2. 
• Bruce, F. F. (1963). Israel and the Nations. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 
• Harrison, R.K. (1969). An Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 
• Kidner, Derek (1973). The Psalms. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN 0-87784-868-8. 
• Noll, K. L. (1997). The faces of David. Sheffield: Sheffield Acad. Press. ISBN 1-85075-659-7. 
• Thompson, J.A. (1986). Handbook of life in Bible times. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN 0-87784-949-8. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: David

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: David

• Complete Bible Genealogy David's family tree
• Double Identity: Orpheus as David. Orpheus as Christ? Biblical Archaeology Review

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (November 2010)

David Ray Wilkerson (May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011^[1]) was an American Christian evangelist, best known for his book The Cross and the Switchblade. He was the founder of the addiction recovery program Teen Challenge, and founding pastor of the non-denominational Times Square Church in New York.

Wilkerson's widely distributed sermons, such as "A Call to Anguish," are known for being direct and frank. He emphasized such Christian beliefs as God's holiness and righteousness, God's love toward humans and especially Christian views of Jesus. Wilkerson tried to avoid categorizing Christians into distinct groups according to the denomination to which they belong.^{[citation needed]}

Wilkerson was killed in a car crash in Texas on April 27, 2011.^[1]

Ministry[link]

Wilkerson served as a pastor in small churches in Scottdale and Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, until he saw a photograph in Life Magazine in 1958 of seven New York City teenagers charged with murder.^[2] He later wrote that as he felt the Holy Spirit move him with compassion, he was drawn to go to New York in February 1958. It was then that he began a street ministry to young drug addicts and gang members, which he continued into the 1960s.^[2] Later in 1958, he founded Teen Challenge,^[3] an evangelical Christian addiction recovery program affiliated with the Assemblies of God, with a network of Christian social and evangelizing work centers.^[4]

Wilkerson gained national recognition after he co-authored the book The Cross and the Switchblade in 1963 with John and Elizabeth Sherrill about his street ministry. The book became a best-seller, with over 50 million copies in over thirty languages, and is included in Christianity Today's "Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals".^[5] In the book, Wilkerson tells of the conversion of gang member Nicky Cruz, who later became an evangelist himself and wrote the autobiographical Run Baby Run. In 1970, The Cross and the Switchblade was turned into a Hollywood movie starring Pat Boone as Wilkerson and Erik Estrada as Cruz.

In 1967, Wilkerson began Youth Crusades, an evangelistic ministry aimed at teenagers whom Wilkerson called "goodniks"—middle-class youth who were restless and bored. His goal was to prevent them from becoming heavily involved with drugs, alcohol, or violence. Through this ministry, the CURE Corps (Collegiate Urban Renewal Effort) was founded. It was intended to be something of a Christian version of the Peace Corps and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA).^{[citation needed]}

In 1971, Wilkerson moved his ministry headquarters to Lindale, Texas, where he founded World Challenge, an organization whose mission is to promote and spread the Gospel throughout the world.^{[citation needed]}

Wilkerson believed that in 1986, while walking down 42nd Street in New York City at midnight, the Holy Spirit called him to return to New York City and to raise up a ministry in Times Square. He founded and became the pastor of Times Square Church,^[1] which opened its doors in October 1987. The church first occupied rented auditoriums in Times Square (Town Hall and the Nederlander Theater), later moving to the historic Mark Hellinger Theatre, which the ministry purchased in 1989 and in which it has operated ever since.^{[citation needed]}

From the 1990s, Wilkerson focused his efforts to encourage pastors and their families throughout the world to "renew their passion for Christ". In his own words:

"I've been an evangelist for 50 years, but I didn't want to preach to pastors until I had gray hair, until I'd pastored. Now after 15 years of pastoring, sharing the hurts, pains, and difficulties of the ministry as a pastor, I felt the Lord finally release me, that I might have something to say."^{[citation needed]}

Wilkerson and his wife Gwen moved to New York City at the inception of Times Square Church in 1987, and in 2006 began splitting their time between New York and Texas. They have four children and eleven grandchildren.^{[citation needed]}

Prophecies[link]

Wilkerson claimed to have received a vision in 1973 regarding the future of the United States, subsequently published in a book called The Vision. Some of the subject areas of this reputed prophecy were: "Worldwide recession caused by economic confusion"; "Nature having labor pains"; "A flood of filth and a baptism of dirt in America"; "Rebellion in the home"; and "A persecution madness against truly Spirit filled Christians who love Jesus Christ".

Death[link]

On April 27, 2011, while driving east on US Route 175 in Texas, Wilkerson crossed into the westbound lane and collided head-on with a tractor trailer. He was pronounced dead on the scene. His wife was injured.^[6]

Rev. Wilkerson's last blog post stated the following: "To those going through the valley and shadow of death, hear this word: Weeping will last through some dark, awful nights," he wrote, "and in that darkness you will soon hear the Father whisper, `I am with you. I cannot tell you why right now, but one day it will all make sense. You will see it was all part of my plan. It was no accident."'^[7]

Bibliography[link]

This article lacks ISBNs for the books listed in it. Please make it easier to conduct research by listing ISBNs. If the {{Cite book}} or {{citation}} templates are in use, you may add ISBNs automatically, or discuss this issue on the talk page. (April 2011)

• The Cross and the Switchblade (with John and Elizabeth Sherrill) . Jove. 1962. ^[2] , ISBN 0-5150-9025-5
• America's Last Call, On the Brink of a Financial Holocaust ^[8] (1998), ISBN 0-8836-8617-1
• Beyond The Cross and the Switchblade (1974), ISBN 0-8912-9151-2
• Born Old (1966) original title The Little People, ISBN 0-5510-1076-2
• David Wilkerson Exhorts the Church (1991) ISBN 9780829703962
• David Wilkerson Speaks Out (1973), ISBN 978-0871230911
• Dearly Beloved ^[9] (2009), ISBN 0-9712187-4-9
• End Times New Testament ISBN 978-0912376110
• Get Your Hands Off My Throat (1971), ISBN 978-8472281332
• God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression ^[10] (1998), ISBN 978-0883686164
• Hallowed Be Thy Names ^[11] (May 2001) ISBN 0-9709326-0-X
• Have You Felt Like Giving Up Lately?^[12] (1980) ISBN 0-8007-8481-2
• Hey, Preach . . . You're Comin' Through! (1968) ISBN 978-0891290643
• Hungry For More of Jesus ^[13] (February 1992) ISBN 978-0800792008
• I'm Not Mad at God (1967), ISBN 978-0871232458
• I've Given Up On Parents (1969), ISBN 978-0340108291
• Jesus Christ Solid Rock: The Return Of Christ (with Kathryn Kuhlman, Hal Lindsey and W. A. Criswell) (1973), ISBN B0006CB6QO
• Jesus Person Maturity Manual, ISBN B0006VUOTU
• Jesus Person Pocket Promise Book (1972), ISBN B001YQF2ZM
• The Jesus walk: Selected " why's " and " how-to's " for a closer walk with Christ (A Regal Jesus Person Maturity book) (1972), ISBN 978-0830701711
• Life on the Edge of Time (1972) ISBN 978-0800705534
• Man, Have I Got Problems (1969) ISBN 978-0515046687
• My Bible Speaks to Me
• The New Covenant Unveiled ^[14] (April 2000), ISBN 978-0966317237
• One Way To Where? (1972), ISBN 978-0830701698
• Parents on Trial (1967), ISBN B00005WKI6
• Pocket Promise Book (1972), ISBN 0-8307-0191-5
• Pocket Proverbs (1983), ISBN 0-8307-0893-6
• Promises To Live By, ISBN 978-0830718870
• Purple Violet Squish (1969), ISBN 978-0551000483
• Racing Toward Judgment (1976), ISBN 978-0800782764
• Rebel's Bible (1970), ISBN 978-0551007512
• Revival on Broadway ^[15] (September 1996), ISBN 978-0966317206
• Rock Bottom (pamphlet) (1981), ISBN B00071PA5C
• Set the Trumpet to thy Mouth (1985), ISBN 978-0883686409
• Sipping Saints ^[16] (1978), ISBN 0-8007-8339-5
• Suicide (1978), ISBN 978-0800786434
• This Is Loving? (1972), ISBN 978-0830701704
• Triumph Through Tragedy ^[17] (2001), ISBN 978-0800793562
• Twelve Angels from Hell (1965), ISBN 978-0551004238
• The Untapped Generation (with Don Wilkerson) (1971), ISBN 978-1135577704
• Victory Over Sin and Self (1980) Originally titled Two of Me, ISBN 978-0800784348
• The Vision (1973), ISBN 0-515-03286-7.
• What Every Teenager Should Know About Drugs (1971), ISBN 978-0551050679
• When In Doubt, Faith It! (1972), ISBN 978-0830701681

See also[link]

• Nicky Cruz
• Teen Challenge
• Times Square Church

References[link]

External links[link]

• Wilkerson's blog
• Wilkerson's website
• Times Square Church
• Report of his death

David Lanz
Born	(1950-06-28) June 28, 1950 (age 61) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Genres	New Age
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1964–present
Labels	Narada (1982–)
Website	DavidLanz.com

David Lanz (born June 28, 1950 in Seattle, Washington) is a Grammy-nominated New Age pianist. His most popular album, Cristofori's Dream, topped the New Age charts in 1988, which was No. 1 on Billboard's first adult alternative/New Age chart for 27 weeks and eventually sold platinum. Natural States peaked at No. 125 on the Billboard 200.^[1]

Early years[link]

Lanz attributes his interest in the piano to experiences during his childhood in the Pacific Northwest. He said, "As children, the piano is one of the first 'machines' we come in contact with, and one of the first we are allowed to explore."

One of the other reasons that he enjoyed the piano was his mother.^[2] His mother played songs by Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole on the piano, and became David's first musical mentor.

Lanz started his performing career as a teenager during the 1960s. In 1971, Lanz recorded one album for Mercury Records with Canadian group- Brahman. He played keyboards on the Terry Jacks' hit, "Seasons in the Sun". In the late 1970s, Lanz was musical director of the Seattle band, The Sweep, with Ken McCann as front man singer, Peter Pendras on lead guitar, Glenn Ayers on drums, and Hugh Gerrard on bass. Saxophonist Robbie Jordan was added to the group after a gig in Boise, Idaho. A childhood friend of Lanz', Jeff Simmons, at one time or another played with or filled in for Sweep personnel since Simmons is a multi-instrumentalist.

Later, Lanz shifted to playing solo acts in local clubs. At a nightclub in Seattle, Lanz began to perform his own compositions. "It was the world's first new age piano bar," said Lanz. It was during this time that he began his transition from rock to other more reserved music genres, such as jazz and blues.

Recording career[link]

The 1980s saw the birth of a new type of musical talent in Lanz. During this time, with the help of a friend, he began composing what would now be considered New Age music. From the 1980s onward, he has released a steady stream of albums, including his ground-breaking album Heartsounds, his first solo album, which boosted the popularity of his record label, Narada.^{[citation needed]}

Style[link]

Lanz's goal is to have his music create an atmosphere of enlightenment. In an interview with Barnes & Noble, Lanz stated that he wanted to create an atmosphere similar to that of Steven Halpern's music, but with a "more popular hook in it".^[3]

Lanz has said, "[The piano] is the most divinely inspired instrument on the planet. It presents a great attraction to our left-right brain relationship. My goal is to create entertainment that also provides enlightenment."

In the front of his Musicbook, The David Lanz Collection, he writes: "At the piano, I'm able to communicate in a way that is very intimate and direct. My approach at music is a bit like talking to a friend. You don't have to be very complicated when you speak. If you say what's in your heart, it's usually very simple."

Lanz's style spans the popular songbook as well. His recent release, "Liverpool", made with Xiao flute master Gary Stroutsos pays homage to the music of The Beatles.

Discography[link]

(For track listings, see: http://www.davidlanz.com/cdsonglist.html)

• 1983 — Heartsounds
• 1984 — Nightfall
• 1985 — Natural States with Paul Speer
• 1985 — Solstice with Michael Jones
• 1987 — Woodlands with Eric Tingstand & Nancy Rumbel
• 1987 — Desert Vision with Paul Speer
• 1988 — Cristofori's Dream
• 1990 — Skyline Firedance (The Orchestral Works/The Solo Works 2 CD set)
• 1991 — Return to the Heart
• 1993 — Bridge of Dreams with Paul Speer
• 1994 — Christmas Eve
• 1995 — Beloved (Collection with unreleased piano solo)
• 1996 — Sacred Road
• 1996 — Convergence with David Arkenstone (Collection of Lanz, Arkenstone)
• 1998 — Songs from an English Garden
• 1999 — An Evening with David Lanz (Live Concert recording)
• 1999 — Cristofori's Dream (remastered with additional track)
• 1999 — The Christmas Album (Collection with several unreleased tracks)
• 2000 — East of the Moon (Grammy Nomination - Best New Age Recording)
• 2000 — Angel in My Stocking - Limited Edition
• 2001 — Love Songs (Collection/additional unreleased track)
• 2002 — Finding Paradise
• 2002 — Romantic: The Ultimate David Lanz Collection (2 CD set)
• 2003 — A Cup of Moonlight (Limited Website Edition)
• 2003 — The Symphonic Sessions (Collection with several unreleased tracks)
• 2003 — Heartsounds/Nightfall (Re-released/re-mastered 2 CD set)
• 2004 — The Good Life
• 2005 — Spirit Romance with Gary Stroutsos
• 2005 — The Best of David Lanz
• 2006 — Sacred Road Revisited
• 2007 — A Cup of Moonlight (Revised Official Release/additional tracks)
• 2008 — Living Temples with Gary Stroutsos
• 2008 — Painting the Sun
• 2009 — Liverpool:Re-imagining the Beatles featuring Larry Knechtel and Gary Stroutsos
• 2010 — Liverpool Trio: Live in Seoul (Live Concert recording)
• 2011 — Here Comes the Sun featuring Gary Stroutsos, Walter Gray and Keith Lowe
• 2011 — Here Comes the Sun SOLO Piano Version

Compilation appearances[link]

• 20 Years of Narada Piano
• Grand Piano (Narada Anniversary Collection)
• Narada Smooth Jazz
• Narada Film and Television Music Sampler

Sources[link]

David Lanz, "Solos for New Age Piano" copyright 1991 NARADA Music Inc. pp. 2–3

1. ^ Biography of David Lanz
2. ^ David Lanz Biography
3. ^ Barnes & Noble.com Music - New Age Interview

External links[link]

• Official website

David Graeber
Born	(1961-02-12) February 12, 1961 (age 51)
Residence	London, United Kingdom
Citizenship	United States
Fields	anthropology
Institutions	Yale University Goldsmiths, University of London
Alma mater	State University of New York at Purchase University of Chicago
Influences	Edmund Leach, Marshall Sahlins
Influenced	Occupy movement

David Rolfe Graeber (born 12 February 1961) is an American anthropologist and anarchist who is Reader in Social Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London.^[1] He was an associate professor of anthropology at Yale University, although Yale controversially declined to rehire him,^[2] and his term there ended in June 2007. Graeber has been involved in social and political activism, including the protests against the World Economic Forum in New York City in 2002 and Occupy Wall Street. He is a member of the labor union Industrial Workers of the World and of the Interim Committee for the emerging International Organization for a Participatory Society.^[3]

Early life[link]

Graeber's parents, who were in their forties when Graeber was born, were self-taught working-class intellectuals. Graeber's mother, Ruth Rubenstein, had been a garment worker, and played the lead role in the 1930s musical comedy revue Pins & Needles, staged by the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union.^[4] Graeber's father Kenneth, who was affiliated with the Youth Communist League, participated in the Spanish Revolution in Barcelona and fought in the Spanish Civil War.^[5] He later worked as a plate stripper on offset printers. Graeber grew up in New York, in a cooperative apartment building described by Business Week magazine as "suffused with radical politics."^[6] Graeber has been an anarchist since the age of 16, according to an interview he gave to The Village Voice in 2005.^[7]

Graeber graduated from Phillips Academy Andover in 1978 and received his B.A. from the State University of New York at Purchase in 1984. He gained his Masters degree and Doctorate at the University of Chicago, where he won a Fulbright fellowship and completed his Ph.D. thesis on magic, slavery, and politics in Madagascar.^[2]

Academic career[link]

Graeber in January 2002

In 1998, two years after completing his PhD, Graeber joined Yale University as an assistant professor.^[2] In May 2005, the Yale anthropology department decided not to renew Graeber's contract, preventing him from coming up for consideration for tenure as he would otherwise have been scheduled to do in 2008. Pointing to Graeber's highly regarded anthropological scholarship, his supporters (including fellow anthropologists, former students, and activists) accused the decision of being politically motivated. More than 4,500 people signed petitions supporting him, and well-known British anthropologist Maurice Bloch called for Yale to rescind its decision.^[2] Bloch, who had been a professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics and the Collège de France, and world renowned scholar on Madagascar, made the following statement about Graeber in a letter to the university:

"His writings on anthropological theory are outstanding. I consider him the best anthropological theorist of his generation from anywhere in the world."^[8]

The Yale administration argued that Graeber's dismissal was in keeping with Yale's policy of granting tenure to few junior faculty and Yale gave no formal explanation for its actions. Graeber has suggested that his support of a student of his who was targeted for expulsion because of her membership in GESO, Yale's graduate student union, may have played a role in the university's decision.^{[9][2][10][11]}

In December 2005, Graeber agreed to leave the university after a one-year paid sabbatical. That spring he taught two final classes: an introduction to cultural anthropology (attended by over 200 students) and a course entitled “Direct Action and Radical Social Theory” – the only explicitly radical-themed course at Yale he ever taught.

On 25 May 2006, Graeber was invited to give the Malinowski Lecture at the London School of Economics; his address was entitled "Beyond Power/Knowledge: an exploration of the relation of power, ignorance and stupidity".^[12] The anthropology department at the university honors an anthropologist at a relatively early stage of their career to give the Malinowski Lecture each year, and only invite those who are considered to have made a significant contribution to anthropological theory. That same year, Graeber was asked to present the keynote address in the 100th anniversary Diamond Jubilee meetings of the Association of Social Anthropologists.^[13] In April 2011 he presented the anthropology department's annual Distinguished Lecture at Berkeley.^[14]

Authorship[link]

David Graeber is the author of Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology and Towards an Anthropological Theory of Value: The False Coin of Our Own Dreams. He has done extensive anthropological work in Madagascar, writing his doctoral thesis (The Disastrous Ordeal of 1987: Memory and Violence in Rural Madagascar) on the continuing social division between the descendants of nobles and the descendants of former slaves. A book based on his dissertation, Lost People: Magic and the Legacy of Slavery in Madagascar appeared from Indiana University Press in September 2007. A book of collected essays, Possibilities: Essays on Hierarchy, Rebellion, and Desire was published by AK Press in November 2007 and Direct Action: An Ethnography appeared from the same press in August 2009, as well as a collection of essays co-edited with Stevphen Shukaitis called “Constituent Imagination: Militant Investigations//Collective Theorization” (AK Press, May 2007). These were followed by a major historical monograph, Debt: the First Five Thousand Years (Melville House), which appeared in July 2011.^[15] As of December 2011^[update], Graeber is working on a book for Random House connecting "the story of the Occupy movement to an exploration of the past and future of direct action, participatory democracy, and political transformation", and another for Melville House combining two essays on bureaucracy (one of which he delivered as the Malinowski Lecture in 2006).^[16]

Activism[link]

Graeber (left) at a rally for immigrant rights at Union Square, New York City in May 2007

In addition to his academic work, Graeber has a history of both direct and indirect involvement in political activism, including membership in the labor union Industrial Workers of the World, a role in protests against the World Economic Forum in New York City in 2002, support for the 2010 UK student protests,^[17] and an early role in the Occupy Wall Street movement. He is co-founder of the Anti-Capitalist Convergence.^[18] In November 2011, Rolling Stone magazine credited Graeber with giving the Occupy Wall Street movement its theme: "We are the 99 percent." Rolling Stone says Graeber helped create the first New York City General Assembly, with only 60 participants, on August 2.^[19] He spent the next six weeks involved with the burgeoning movement, including facilitating general assemblies, attending working group meetings, and organizing legal and medical training and classes on nonviolent resistance. A few days after the encampment of Zuccotti Park began, he left New York for Austin, Texas.^[6]

Graeber has argued that the Occupy Wall Street movement's lack of recognition of the legitimacy of either existing political institutions or the legal structure, its embrace of non-hierarchical consensus decision-making and of prefigurative politics make it a fundamentally anarchist project.^[20] Comparing it to the Arab Spring, Graeber has claimed that Occupy Wall Street and other contemporary grassroots protests represent "the opening salvo in a wave of negotiations over the dissolution of the American Empire."^[21]

Publications[link]

Books[link]

• — (2001). Toward an anthropological theory of value: the false coin of our own dreams. New York: Palgrave. ISBN 978-0-312-24044-8. OCLC 46822270. 
• — (2004). Fragments of an anarchist anthropology. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press (distributed by University of Chicago Press). ISBN 978-0-9728196-4-0. OCLC 55221090. 
• — (2007). Lost people: magic and the legacy of slavery in Madagascar. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34910-1. OCLC 82367869. 
• — (2007). Possibilities: essays on hierarchy, rebellion, and desire. Oakland, CA: AK Press. ISBN 978-1-904859-66-6. OCLC 154704091. 
• — (2009). Direct action: an ethnography. Edinburgh Oakland: AK Press. ISBN 978-1-904859-79-6. OCLC 182529207. 
• — (2011). Debt: the first 5,000 years. Brooklyn, N.Y: Melville House. ISBN 978-1-933633-86-2. OCLC 426794447. 
• — (2011). Revolutions in reverse. London New York: Minor Compositions. ISBN 978-1-57027-243-1. OCLC 759171790. 

As co-editor

• — (2007). Constituent imagination: militant investigations/collective theorization. Oakland, CA: AK Press. ISBN 978-1-904859-35-2. OCLC 141193537. 

Articles[link]

• — (December 27, 1998). "Rebel Without A God". In These Times. http://penseenoir.wordpress.com/2008/11/26/rebel-without-a-god-the-anti-authoritarian-attributes-of-buffy-the-vampire-slayer/. Retrieved February 15, 2012.  A meditation on the anti-authoritarian elements of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• — (August 21, 2000). "Give it Away". In These Times 24, (19). http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/24/19/graeber2419.html. Retrieved February 15, 2012.  An article about the French intellectual Marcel Mauss
• — (January-February 2002). "The New Anarchists". New Left Review (13). Archived from the original on January 30, 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20100130062023/http://newleftreview.org/A2368. Retrieved February 15, 2012. 
• — (June 1, 2003). "The Twilight of Vanguardism". Indymedia DC. http://dc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/71522/index.php. Retrieved February 15, 2012.  An essay originally delivered as a keynote address during the "History Matters: Social Movements Past, Present, and Future" conference at the New School for Social Research on May 3rd, 2003
• — (January 06, 2004). "Anarchism in the 21st Century". Z Magazine. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=41&ItemID=4796. Retrieved February 15, 2011.  Co-authored with Andrej Grubacic
• — (December 6, 2005). On the phenomenology of giant puppets: broken windows, imaginary jars of urine, and the cosmological role of the police in American culture. http://www.libcom.org/files/puppets.pdf. Retrieved February 15, 2012.  Originally an address to Anthropology, Art and Activism Seminar Series at Brown University's Watson Institute, December 6, 2005
• — (March 2006). "Transformation of Slavery Turning Modes of Production Inside Out: Or, Why Capitalism is a Transformation of Slavery". Critique of Anthropology 26 (1): 61–85. DOI:10.1177/0308275X06061484. http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/dcrawford/graeber_2006a.pdf. Retrieved February 15, 2012. 
• — (January 2007). "Army of Altruists". Harper's. http://harpers.org/archive/2007/01/0081344. Retrieved February 15, 2012.  An attempt to solve the riddle of why so many working class Americans vote right-wing
• — (October 12, 2007). "The Shock of Victory". Infoshop News. http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=2007graeber-victory. Retrieved February 15, 2012. 
• — (October 16, 2007). "Revolution in Reverse". Infoshop News. http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=2007graeber-revolution-reverse. Retrieved February 15, 2012. 
• — (April 1, 2008). "The Sadness of Post-Workerism, or, "Art and Immaterial Labour" Conference: a Sort of Review". The Commoner. http://www.commoner.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/graeber_sadness.pdf. Retrieved February 15, 2012.  An assessment of recent trendy autonomist theory (à la Negri, Lazzarato, etc.), with some comments on the relation of art, value, scams, and the fate of The Future
• — (November 17, 2008). Hope in Common. Autonomedia.org. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. http://web.archive.org/web/20090210032906/http://slash.autonomedia.org/node/11569. Retrieved February 15, 2012. 
• — (February 10, 2009). "Debt: The First Five Thousand Years". Mute Magazine 2 (12). http://www.metamute.org/en/content/debt_the_first_five_thousand_years. Retrieved February 15, 2012. 
• — (November 2010). "Against Kamikaze Capitalism: Oil, Climate Change and the French refinery blockades". Shift. http://shiftmag.co.uk/?p=389. Retrieved February 15, 2012. 
• — (December 7, 2010). "To Have is to Owe". Triple Canopy (10). http://www.canopycanopycanopy.com/10/to_have_is_to_owe. Retrieved February 15, 2011.  An illustrated essay on the history of debt, containing excerpts from Debt: the first 5,000 years (2011)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Sutton, David (September 2004). "Anthropology's Value(s): A Review of David Graeber's Toward an Anthropological Theory of Value". Anthropological Theory 4 (3): 373–379. DOI:10.1177/1463499604042818. 
• Guyer, Jane I. (December 2009). "On 'possibility': A response to ‘How Is Anthropology Going?’". Anthropological Theory 9 (4): 355–370. DOI:10.1177/1463499609358143. 

External links[link]

• Academic profile at Goldsmiths, University of London
• Interview to Mark Thwaite (for Ready Steady Book)
• Works by or about David Graeber in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• David Graeber at the Internet Movie Database
• In Conversation: World of Debt: David Graeber with Spencer Woodman, The Brooklyn Rail