footsteps of king david

     IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF KING DAVID, BY YOSEF GARFINKEL, SAAR GANOR, AND MICHAEL G. HASEL                                                                                                                                                  

  Most scholars didn't believe David and Solomon existed until 1993 when the Tel Dan inscription was discovered. The inscription mentions several kings from the "House of David" which was the first time David's name was read outside the Bible. "In 2007 a fortified city from the time of king David was discovered at Khirbet Qeiyafa. The site was dated to king David's time by archaeologists from accurate radiometric measurements. The fortress was located in the Elah valley where biblical tradition places the combat between David and Goliath. The fortress sits on the ancient border between Israelite and Philistine territory. This area was only important militarily in the 10th and 9th centuries B.C, after which the border shifted further south to the city of Lachish. This shows that the writers of the books of first and second Chronicles were using accurate historical information." (1) The discovery of this fortress challenges the ideas of earlier scholars who didn't believe the biblical record. July 21, 1993, when the inscription was found at Tel Dan in northern Israel, this inscription proved beyond doubt that a king named David founded a dynasty in Israel. (2) "Archaeologists also concluded that the fortress at Khirbet Queyafa was inhabited by the people of Judah. In 2012 an inscription with the name Esbaal was found at the site. In the Bible Esbaal was a son of Saul and a rival of David. In the 10th century the name Esbaal was common in Israel but disappears in the following centuries. (3) Scholars have identified this area as 'Pas-Dammim' which in Hebrew means 'border of blood' mentioned in I Chronicles 11:13. (4) Archeologists have proposed the name of the site as 'Shaaraim' which is mentioned in the Bible three times in Joshua 15:35-36, 1 Samuel 17:52, and 1 Chronicles 4:31-32. (5) Shaaraim in Hebrew means two gates and indeed the fortress has two gates. The site shows evidence of a strong centralized state, and a large number of weapons were found there. (6) This evidence shows that in the 10th century a kingdom was founded that ruled over the hill country of Judah just exactly as the Bible says." 

      Some scholars make light of the description of the bronze armor that Goliath wore in 1st Samuel 17:5, saying that the passage describes a Greek warrior centuries later and such armor didn't exist in David's time. However, Goliath's name has been found on a piece of pottery at the city of Gath, the city where the Bible says he was from, and also, the bronze breastplate shown was found in a tomb 700 miles north of Greece in 2023. This extremely rare chest armor unearthed in the Czech Republic is the second time bronze armor has been found in that country and the site is kept secret to protect it from the public. This breastplate is dated to three centuries before David's birth. Experts say this armor must have belonged to an elite warrior, and it was thought that armor was much more primitive at that time. (7)

     NOTES: Yosef Garfinkle, Saar Ganor, Michael G. Hasel, In the Footsteps of King David, Revelations from an Ancient Biblical City, (1) p20, (2) p26, (3) P124-125, (4) p20, (5) p165, (6) p202-203; (7) Archaeology News, Archaeologymag.com.

      DAVID AND THE PHILISTINES

     Amos 9:7... "Declares the Lord, did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt and the Philistines from Caphtor?" Caphtor has long thought to be the island of Crete and has now been confirmed by DNA evidence. "A key study in a 2019 paper from Science Advances by researchers from the Max Plank Institute and others they analyzed genome-wide DNA from 10 individuals buried at Ashkelon (a major Philistine city on the southern coast of Israel.) These samples support a migration from the Aegean area or broader European gene pools with the strongest from the island of Crete." So basically, the Philistines were early Greeks. David was a mercenary of the Philistines for over a year when he was being hunted by King Saul, according 1 Samuel 27:2. "So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch King of Gath." "The Ekron inscription written by a Philistine King called Achish confirms Achish was a royal Philistine name. This discovery makes the Philistine King of Gath plausible rather than invented." David living among the Philistines would have learned their strengths and weaknesses enabling him to defeat them when he became king. His connections with the Philistines would also lead him to have a royal bodyguard of men from Crete and Philistia when he became king. In 2 Samual 8:18 and 2023, David placed his officers over the "Cherethites and Pelethites." When his own Israelites solders wavered during a rebellion with David's son Absalom in 2 Samuel 15:18 and 2 Samuel 20:7, these Philistine warriors remained fiercely Loyal to him. Grok AI.

     DAVID'S NORTHERN WARS

    2 Samuel 8-3, Then David Defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as he went to restore his rule to the river (Euphrates). (4) David captured 1,700 horsemen and 20,000-foot solders...(5) And when the Arameans came to help to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed 22,000 Arameans... (9-11) Now when Toi King of Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer, Toi sent Joram his son to greet David and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had been at war with Toi. And Joram brought him articles of silver, gold and bronze. David also dedicated these to the LORD... In a probable inscription of Toi on a temple in Aleppo, he calls himself " Taita the Hero" and records temple dedications and rules to worship a Hittite Storm God. "More of his inscriptions are found in the Aleppo-Hamath region of Syria. The Kingdom of Hamath is well-attested in the Assyrian period. Scholars such as Charles Steitler (2010) and Greshon Galil have proposed this identification based on onomastic (name) similarities, historical context (a kingdom encompassing Hamath and the political situation involving conflicts with Aramean powers like Zobah."

       "The mention of Assur (Assyria) as an enemy in Psalm 83:8 (a Psalm attributed to Asaph, a contemporary of David): Assyria also has joined with them, they have become an arm for the children of Lot (supporting Moab and Ammon). The Psalm describes a coalition of neighboring peoples (Edom, Moab, Ammon, the Philistines and Tyre) plotting against Israel. This fits the pattern of David's wars against Aramean (Syrian) coalitions, Ammonite, and others. Assyria also could have loosely allied with Aramean groups in upper Mesopotamia." Grok AI.