David

David (ruled c. 1000–960 B.C.E.) in the Hebrew Bible, king of Israel and founder of the ruling dynasty of Judah After the death of King SAUL and his sons, David united the kingdoms of Israel (today in northern Israel) and Judah (today in southern Israel). He took JERUSALEM (previously the stronghold of a people known as the Jebusites), made it his capital, and brought the ark of the COVENANT to it. The books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible recount many stories about David. Among them are his anointing while yet a boy by the prophet Samuel to be king, his battle with Goliath—the giant champion of the Philistines—and his close relations with Saul's son Jonathan. Less positively, David is said to have engineered the death of Uriah the Hittite in battle so that he in turn could marry Uriah's wife Bathsheba. At the end of his life his sons fought to succeed him. These struggles included a failed coup attempt by Absalom. David was famed as a musician. Tradition attributed the biblical book of Psalms to him. In the late Second Temple period (roughly 200 B.C.E.– 70 C.E.), some Jews hoped for a MESSIAH descended from David. Christians assert that this messiah was JESUS.