Stories of Kings (David, Solomon, etc.)
Basic Info
1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, and scattered throughout the books of the Prophets
After Moses, Joshua was the leader of the People of Israel. After Joshua, Israel was ruled by a series of wise people known as Judges. But the people grew uneasy. All of the other peoples had kings. The Isrealites wanted a king too.
Samuel was the chief prophet at the time. He didn’t like the idea. A king is someone to compete with God; God was the only king the People of Israel needed. But God relented and said they could have a king. The first King was Saul, but he disobeyed God, so God sent Samuel to find someone else who could be anointed to be the next king. Samuel found David, son of Jesse, a shepherd boy. He anointed David, but Saul was still king for a long time. At first Saul liked David, but that turned to hate. Saul tried to have David killed but did not succeed.
King Saul united the Twelve Tribes of Israel under one king (ca. 1000 BC); this was their first time under one ruler since Joshua. David succeeded Saul. After David, his son Solomon took over as king. King Solomon kept the Twelve Tribes in one kingdom, but after him the kingdom split in two, a southern kingdom of Judah and a northern kingdom of Israel (ca. 922 BC). These kingdoms were ruled by some good guys and some bad guys over the next few hundred years until the northern kingdom was taken over by the Assyrians in 721 BE, and the southern kingdom was taken over by the Babylonians in 587 BC. Israel didn’t regain self-rule until modern times.
David and Solomon are the most likely of the kings to appear in the art tradition. Even in the Bible, when later kings are in power, David and Solomon are often favored in the writing of the era, as a way of saying that all kings are striving to be good like them. The same trends can be found in the art. If a king is in power, the art that is made—especially the art that the king commissions—depicts the good and wise kings, David and Solomon. When the government is not based on kingship, or when the king is criticized by the Christian leaders, sometimes the people paying to have artworks made commissioned an artwork to depict bad biblical kings as a way of saying that kingship is bad in general or that the current king is like this bad biblical king rather than like good kings, David and Solomon.
What to Look For
- Physical appearance and attitude of the king and his court (handsome and strong, noble and upstanding, oppressive and conniving, for the people, for himself, with God, etc.)
- Other people depicted (commoners, other nobles, prophets, armies, other kings, etc.)
- Symbols representing God’s presence (Ark of the Covenant, Star of David, cross, etc.)
Questions to Focus a General Interpretation
Is the king depicted in this artwork closer to being good, for the poor, and with God, or is he closer to the other end of the spectrum?
Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation
A democratically elected president or prime minister is kept in check by legislative bodies and judiciary systems. That was not the case with kings, emperors, and other totalitarian rulers. Yet there may still be a parallel between the king depicted and some aspect of government in our day. What does the king in this artwork say about how good government should or shouldn’t be?
Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation
Was there a king in the artist’s time and place? How might the character and personality of that king have influenced which of the Israelite kings is depicted here?
What was the relationship between Christianity and the king in the artist’s time and place? How might this have influenced which king is depicted and how he is depicted?
Deeper dives into a few subtopics are available at these links:
