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freeing the monarchs from the tragic dilemmas that plagued Israel
in Judges 11 and 21 (1 Sam. 14).
2.Outlawing necromancy. This act is recorded (1 Sam. 28:9–10) as an
introduction to Saul’s séance.2.1.3.2 David
While he was an outlaw and would-be king, David decreed that
the share of soldiers who stayed behind should be equal to those
who stay and fight, and it “made a statute and custom to this day”
(1 Sam. 30:23–5). He also established the principle that the monarch
was sacrosanct. Saul twice fell asleep while David was near. The
first time (1 Sam. 24), David cut a piece of Saul’s robe as proof that
he could have killed Saul, but did not because God’s anointed must
be sacrosanct (1 Sam. 24:11), a sentiment he repeated on the sec-
ond occasion (1 Sam. 26:9–11). As king, David established basic con-
tours of monarchy:- The people will accept what ever David chooses to do (2 Sam.
6:21–22). - The king must be subordinate to divine rules and to the prophets
who declare them (2 Sam. 12). Thus the king is not above the law. - The king does not have an absolute right to kill. Abigail convinced
the outlaw David not to slaughter her husband’s household, as God
would not allow a man guilty of bloodguilt to become king (1 Sam.
25). The prophet Nathan told King David that killing Uriah with
the “sword of Ammon” was an offense, for which the child of
Uriah’s wife died and David’s other children suffered turmoil and
death in the following stories (2 Sam. 12). Thereafter, David made
sure that he had justification for execution, first adjuring people not
to do something on pain of death, and executing them when they
did it. - The king is judge. David gave judgment to his people (2 Sam.
8:15). Nathan presented a legal case, which David judged before
knowing it was a parable. The wise woman of Tekoa, disguised as
a poor woman, said “Save O King!” and asked not to give over
to the family’s blood avenger her son, who had killed his only
brother. Weighing execution of murderers against continuing a man’s
lineage, David spared the surviving son (2 Sam. 14). The king’s
ability to solve cases made him like an “angel of god” to know
what is right, a term of flattery used by those petitioning the king
(2 Sam. 14:17, 20; 19:27). The technical term “Crying out to the
king,” liz'oq "el hammelekfirst appeared when Mephibosheth told
David that he had no reason to petition the king (2 Sam. 19:29). - Absalom built support for a coup d’état by telling people on their
way for judgment that they would not get a hearing from David,
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