DAUGHTER-IN-LAW ( I leb. kal-law' Gr. veliov, unenn'jtv), denotes, lit erally, a bride, and has reference to :1 son's wife. DAVID (dVvid), Web. Chron.
(law-veer!' ; New Test. tia111/5, dah-teeett. The word probably means beloved (Gesenius). The reign of David is the great critical era in the history of the llebrews.
1. Critical Era. It decided that they were to have for nearly five centuries a national mon archy a fixed line of priesthood, and a solemn re ligious worship by music and psalms of exquisite beauty: it finally separated Israel from the sur rounding heathen, and gave room for producing those noble monuments of sacred writ, to the in (Thence of which over the whole world no end can be seen. His predecessor, Saul, had many successes against the Philistines, but it is clear that he made little impression on their real power, for he died fighting against them, not on their own border, but at the opposite side of his kingdom, in Mount Gilboa. As tor all the other 'enemies on every side'—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites and the kings of Zobah—however much he may have 'vexed them' (t Sam. xiv :47), they, as well as the Amalckites, remained unsubdued, if weakened. The real work of establishing Israel as lord over the whole soil of Canaan was left for David.
2. Authors of Biography. \\'e learn from 1 Chron. xxix :29 that the life of David was written by Samuel, Nathan and Gad; alto (from 2 Sam. i:18) it may be probably inferred that other in formation concerning him was contained in the poems of Jasper. one of these works are before us in their original form. Materials from them have, however, been worked up by a later hand which, it would seem, has sometimes adopted whole passages from them, sometimes has modi fied them and added connecting parts and ex planations. Such, at least, is the conclusion w which everyone will find himself strongly pressed by a close critici•m of the whole narrative. The change of name from /shut to Isabosheth ( t Sam. xiv :49. and 2 Sam. ii :8, etc.). appears to indicate that compositions by different hands have been pot together.
That a duplicate account is found of the origin of the proverb, 'Is Saul also among the prophets?' seems undeniable (I Sam. x A-12, and xix :20 24) ; and if a single clear case of this sort is ad mitted to exist, various others must probably fall under the same head. On this ground, doubtless, it is that the Vatican Septuagint has omitted chap.
xviii:10-11, since this attack of Saul on David's life 'on the morrow' is hard to reconcile with all that follows, and the verses appear to be a dupli cate of chap. xix :9, to Less certain duplicates, and yet not free from difficulty, are the following: The men of Ziph twice betray David to Saul (chap. xxiii :t9, and xxvi it ) ; David twice spares Saul's life under circumstances highly unlikely to recur (chap. xxiv and xxvi), and on each occa sion Saul is melted into tenderness. The former event ends with an oath of David to Saul, which appears like a final termination of hostility, while the opening of chap. xxvii embarrasses us by its extreme abruptness, when the very opposite result might have been expected from that which im mediately precedes. Comparing also chap. xxi: to-15 with chap. xxvii, it may seem that David's sojourn at Gath has been told twice over, for though each pair of events separately might with out physical impossibility happen twice, yet, viewed collectively, the repetition of so many pairs surpasses all human probabilities. It has been necessary to preinke so much, to show why we are disposed to be satisfied with rough results from the accounts of David's earlier life, which. as happens with all celebrated men who rise from a humble station, can hardly have been chronicled with the same precautions as those of his reign.
3. Life of David. The life of David nat urally divides itself into three portions: (t) The time which he lived under Saul. (2) llis reign over Judah in Ilebron. (3) His reign over all Israel (1) In th© Relgn of Saul. In the first period we may trace the origin of all his greatness. His susceptible temperament, joined to his devotional tendencies, must, at a very early age, have made him a favorite pupil of the prophets, whose pe culiar mark was the harp and the psalm (i Sam. x :I-12, and xix :2o-24 ; see also -2 Kings iii :t5). His hospitable reception, when in distress, by Ahimelech the priest, and the atrocious massa cre innocently brought by him on Nob, the city of the priests (i Sam. xxi and xxii :9-19), must have deeply affected his generous nature, and laid the foundation of his cordial affection for the whole priestly order, whose ministrations he him self helped to elevate by his devotional melodies.