ABSTRACT
Invited to reflect on my writing on David over the past two decades, I find myself reading what I have not read in years. The Story of King David1 grew out of several pieces I had written on oral tradition and the books of Samuel, together with a literary critical essay which Robert Culley invited me to write for one of the first issues of Semeia2 and which was spurred on by some essays on David coming from Walter Bruggemann. 3 A critique of consensus views, especially since Leonhard Rost's influential work,4 of the genre, purpose and boundaries of the so-called 'Succession Narrative' or 'Court History' (2 Samuel 9-20 and 1 Kings 1-2) and a detailed source-critical argument for including in its extent at least 2 Samuel2-4 (with 5.1-3 and parts of ch. 6) rounded out the book. This was a literary-critical enterprise built squarely on an historical-critical base. I have never attempted (or wanted) to undertake such a project again. Let me expand that comment a little.
