"A masterpiece of contemporary Bible translation and commentary."—Los Angeles Times Book Review, Best Books of 1999 Acclaimed for its masterful new translation and insightful commentary, The David Story is a fresh, vivid rendition of one of the great works in Western literature. Robert Alter's brilliant translation gives us David, the beautiful, musical hero who slays Goliath and, through his struggles with Saul, advances to the kingship of Israel. But this David is also fully human: an ambitious, calculating man who navigates his life's course with a flawed moral vision. The consequences for him, his family, and his nation are tragic and bloody. Historical personage and full-blooded imagining, David is the creation of a literary artist comparable to the Shakespeare of the history plays.

In this new addition to the Old Testament Library series, Graeme Auld writes, "This book is about David." The author demonstrates how all the other personalities in First and Second Samuel--including Samuel, for whom the books were named--are present so that we may see and know David better. These fascinating stories detail the lives of David, his predecessors, and their families. Auld explains that though we read these books from beginning to end, we need to understand that they were composed from end to beginning. By reconstructing what must have gone before, the story of David sets up and explains the succeeding story of monarchy in Israel.

Second Samuel includes some of the most well-known and theologically layered episodes in the Old Testament, such as the Lord's establishment of an eternal covenant with David, David's sin with Bathsheba, and the subsequent account of Absalom's rebellion. In this second part of an ambitious two-volume commentary on the books of Samuel, David Toshio Tsumura elucidates the rich text of 2 Samuel with special attention to literary and textual issues. Tsumura interprets the book in light of the meaning of the original composition, and he provides a fresh new translation based on careful analysis of the Hebrew text.

2 Samuel is the story of the rise, fall, and rise of King David, Israel's greatest King. It is also the story of the rule, forgiveness and promise of Israel's God. And as we look at David, we see shadows of Israel's greatest King, his descendant, Christ Jesus. These six studies will bring this part of the Old Testament alive for small groups, showing them the joy of living under the loving rule of the ultimate Shepherd King.

Born out of the experiences of hundreds of thousands of women who Raechel and Amanda have walked alongside as they walk with the Lord, She Reads Truth is the message that will help you understand the place of God's Word in your life.

The power of story as God's word to the community of faith is never more clear than in the books of Samuel. Emotion, drama, complexity of character, and mystery fill the pages of these two biblical books. Eugene Peterson's commentary emphasizes the resonance and interplay between these stories of kings and prophets and the social and cultural issues that concern us today. Books in the Westminster Bible Companion series assist laity in their study of the Bible as a guide to Christian faith and practice. Each volume explains the biblical book in its original historical context and explores its significance for faithful living today. These books are ideal for individual study and for Bible study classes and groups.

This commentary deserves to be widely read and in particular by clergy and teachers. As they use it. they will find the historical background and literary qualities of the narratives made clear. but much more will they find their attention directed to the theological significance of Samuel, Saul, and David and their deeds. If men believed that God worked in such ways, this tells us something of the nature of faith: and, if the narrators are right and God was working in those ways, then here is an insight into the nature of God which we neglect at our peril. The great value of this book is that it is not just another good work of scholarship, though of course it is that, but that Professor Hertzberg has used his scholarship to set forth the great theological themes of the books of Samuel. and for that he deserves our real gratitude' (Church Quarterly Review). `Many of its original suggestions are stimulating, if not all will be immediately accepted. But by its concentration on the religious message of the book and its effort to get into the mind of the compiler it will serve readers of all levels. For this is not a rehash of earlier commentaries. It is interested primarily in the religious significance of the books of Samuel, and Dr Hertzberg endeavours to integrate each of the sections into which he divides the books into the message of the whole. Like other commentators he is interested in the literary analysis of the Biblical work, but unlike many of his predecessors he is not content simply to ask what sources the compiler used, but why he drew his material from them and for what purpose he intended to use it . It is this effort to penetrate the thought and purpose of the writer which gives the special quality to this commentary, and for this approach it is to be warmly welcomed. It should be added that throughout the scholarship is above reproach' (TLS).