1 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,780 On the brink of war, two men prepare to duel. 2 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,780 One, a Goliath, known in the Bible as a giant more than nine feet tall. 3 00:00:20,660 --> 00:00:25,260 The other, a young Israelite shepherd, David. 4 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:29,820 It's one of the Bible's most famous stories. 5 00:00:55,790 --> 00:01:02,650 But behind the heroic legend lies a tale of relentless ambition, violent 6 00:01:02,650 --> 00:01:07,330 murder, conquests on the battlefield, 7 00:01:07,650 --> 00:01:10,590 and in the bedroom. 8 00:01:15,190 --> 00:01:21,450 David's quest will ultimately unite a people, but not before it tears a 9 00:01:21,450 --> 00:01:22,450 apart. 10 00:01:41,420 --> 00:01:47,340 The legendary David and Goliath duel takes place around 1015 B .C., a time 11 00:01:47,340 --> 00:01:51,860 the Israelites are in the middle of a bloody war against a vicious enemy, the 12 00:01:51,860 --> 00:01:52,860 Philistines. 13 00:01:56,020 --> 00:02:01,200 It's been more than 200 years since the great military commander Moses first led 14 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,980 the 12 Israelite tribes out of Egypt during the Exodus. 15 00:02:05,980 --> 00:02:09,000 Joshua then continued the Israelite military campaign. 16 00:02:09,910 --> 00:02:12,550 and successfully invaded the promised land of Canaan. 17 00:02:17,410 --> 00:02:22,650 Now, after two centuries and thousands of lives lost in bloody battles, the 18 00:02:22,650 --> 00:02:27,310 Israelites no longer call this land Canaan. It is their homeland, Israel. 19 00:02:30,790 --> 00:02:34,990 They have become one of the most powerful military forces in the region. 20 00:02:35,950 --> 00:02:39,090 and are united for the first time under a king named Saul. 21 00:02:43,110 --> 00:02:47,650 For years, Saul's war against the Philistines has been drenching the soil 22 00:02:47,650 --> 00:02:48,650 blood. 23 00:02:50,190 --> 00:02:54,030 On a fateful day in the Valley of Allah, only one will die. 24 00:02:55,050 --> 00:02:58,050 But it will be a monumental and historic death. 25 00:02:59,500 --> 00:03:03,120 The armies faced one another for several days until, as often happened in the 26 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:10,100 ancient world, which believed that it was God that decided battles, that each 27 00:03:10,100 --> 00:03:11,260 side would choose a champion. 28 00:03:11,460 --> 00:03:16,360 And the champions would meet, and whoever won would convey victory to 29 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:17,360 side. 30 00:03:27,210 --> 00:03:31,190 Everyone knows the story of David and Goliath, where David ventures onto the 31 00:03:31,190 --> 00:03:35,950 plain, fires a sling at Goliath, strikes him between the eyes, and Goliath is 32 00:03:35,950 --> 00:03:36,950 killed. 33 00:03:40,190 --> 00:03:44,030 And then David goes over, takes his sword, and chops off Goliath's head. 34 00:03:47,130 --> 00:03:50,590 David's slaying of Goliath is a turning point in the war against the 35 00:03:50,590 --> 00:03:55,330 Philistines. But more importantly, it launches the young shepherd boy down a 36 00:03:55,330 --> 00:04:00,520 bloody path of intrigue. deception and paranoia which will ultimately propel 37 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:01,520 to the throne. 38 00:04:02,780 --> 00:04:07,640 It's one of the more interesting aspects of the Bible that David is held in such 39 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:12,960 high regard as the father of Israel and the king of Israel. But when you really 40 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:18,519 look at his career, what he really is is a kind of bloodthirsty opportunist. 41 00:04:19,519 --> 00:04:24,900 More than a mythical figure, more than a person of great valor, he more 42 00:04:24,900 --> 00:04:26,200 resembles Mafia Don. 43 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:31,020 A very narrow, self -interested man who clearly knew what he wanted and was 44 00:04:31,020 --> 00:04:34,640 prepared to do anything to get it, to include the betrayal and killing of his 45 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:38,160 own people. The important thing about the incident of David and Goliath is not 46 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:39,980 military. It's political and social. 47 00:04:40,260 --> 00:04:44,800 What happens because of the slaying of Goliath is this young man comes to the 48 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:46,920 attention of the great warrior King Saul. 49 00:04:49,020 --> 00:04:50,640 David is an instant hero. 50 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:00,480 He wins a position as King Saul's personal weapons bearer. 51 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,960 This gives David the opportunity to hone his skills as a soldier. 52 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:21,980 But Saul's initial feelings of admiration soon darken into suspicion 53 00:05:21,980 --> 00:05:22,980 jealousy. 54 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:27,980 Even from the beginning, you get the sense that this is going to lead to 55 00:05:27,980 --> 00:05:34,100 disaster. On the way back from the first battle after David flew Goliath, there 56 00:05:34,100 --> 00:05:38,720 is dancing in the streets and women singing, Saul has slain his thousands 57 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:40,020 David his ten thousands. 58 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:48,200 Saul has just been through 20 years of brutal war, while David has thrown 59 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:49,340 a single stone. 60 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,000 So perhaps we can forgive Saul for being... 61 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:54,440 A tad bit jealous. 62 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:59,400 What Saul was concerned about, and rightly so, having spent all his years 63 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:06,000 creating at least a modicum of a kingdom of Israel with him as a king, he's 64 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,820 interested in passing that on to his son. 65 00:06:09,180 --> 00:06:15,500 And he's a little bit concerned that David has picked up some allies at 66 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:17,960 because David turns out to be a good soldier. 67 00:06:20,810 --> 00:06:25,490 Saul is also suspicious of David's close friendship with Saul's son, Jonathan. 68 00:06:31,010 --> 00:06:35,090 The two young men form a brotherly bond on and off the battlefield. 69 00:06:41,490 --> 00:06:48,360 Saul now is becoming quite alarmed that David is positioning himself to be the 70 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:52,380 heir of the throne or failing that to control Jonathan. 71 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:58,100 And this becomes the basis for the break with David. 72 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:05,240 To escape Saul, David retreats to his home tribe of Judah, a region in 73 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,840 Israel. But even here he is hunted by Saul's hitmen. 74 00:07:09,100 --> 00:07:13,500 So David flees Israel and allies himself with its greatest enemy. 75 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:15,800 The Philistines. 76 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:22,020 It was at this time that David begins to assemble a cadre of what the Bible 77 00:07:22,020 --> 00:07:23,660 calls desperate men. 78 00:07:24,420 --> 00:07:26,420 They are really outlaws. 79 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,980 They're soldiers of fortune, and they place themselves on the side of the 80 00:07:30,980 --> 00:07:35,300 Philistines. So now David is not only an outlaw, but in a very real sense, he's 81 00:07:35,300 --> 00:07:36,620 become a traitor to his own people. 82 00:07:38,220 --> 00:07:42,960 But before the Philistines accept David's help, they must be convinced he 83 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:43,960 a spy. 84 00:07:46,060 --> 00:07:49,620 The first thing the Philistine prince is going to do, he's going to test David's 85 00:07:49,620 --> 00:07:53,180 loyalty. And how do you test an Israelite's loyalty? 86 00:07:53,820 --> 00:07:58,120 I've got to believe that he's going to order David to raid Israelite 87 00:07:58,120 --> 00:07:59,120 settlements. 88 00:07:59,940 --> 00:08:04,900 The Philistine prince controls the area called Gath, right next to the border of 89 00:08:04,900 --> 00:08:06,140 David's home tribe of Judah. 90 00:08:07,780 --> 00:08:13,160 Easy picket against Israeli, Israelite villages. 91 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:15,280 And so he sends David. 92 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,740 against the Israelite villages, and David follows orders. 93 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:25,900 David becomes a raider of the border villages between Philistia and the 94 00:08:25,900 --> 00:08:31,440 Israelite kingdoms and gathers up the booty and delivers it to the Philistine 95 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:32,440 prince. 96 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:37,460 While David and his men are stationed near Hebron, the Bible says that the 97 00:08:37,460 --> 00:08:41,340 Philistine army makes a daring raid on the Israelites at Mount Gilboa. 98 00:08:44,750 --> 00:08:47,110 Saul and the Israelites hold the high ground. 99 00:08:49,430 --> 00:08:52,710 It looks as though they'll be able to hold off the Philistine attack. 100 00:09:00,830 --> 00:09:04,930 But the Philistines manage to encircle the Israelites and envelop them. 101 00:09:06,850 --> 00:09:08,990 Saul and Jonathan are doomed. 102 00:09:30,410 --> 00:09:31,630 Saul is hit several times. 103 00:09:32,090 --> 00:09:36,670 He turns to a sword bearer and says, do not leave me to the uncircumcised. 104 00:09:36,850 --> 00:09:38,710 They'll torture me and make sport of me. 105 00:09:40,350 --> 00:09:43,470 But the sword bearer can't bring himself to kill his king. 106 00:09:46,750 --> 00:09:53,650 Not willing to be captured, Saul takes his own life. 107 00:09:55,760 --> 00:10:00,280 The Philistines behead Saul and hang his body on a wall of a Philistine city. 108 00:10:01,020 --> 00:10:06,340 From the Philistine position, nothing could have been better. The Israelite 109 00:10:06,340 --> 00:10:07,340 monarch is gone. 110 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:09,300 Israel is in defeat. 111 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:12,560 The Philistines now control everything. 112 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:18,220 But the Philistines have a problem. One heir to Saul's kingdom still remains, 113 00:10:18,540 --> 00:10:20,100 his son Ishbal. 114 00:10:20,860 --> 00:10:25,760 And neither he nor his chief military commander, Abner, is willing to accept 115 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:26,760 defeat. 116 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:31,920 Ishbal and Abner move across the Jordan River, but their government is too small 117 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:33,500 and remote to be of major concern. 118 00:10:34,180 --> 00:10:36,300 So the Philistines simply ignore it. 119 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:40,300 However, they do want a way to control the Israelite population. 120 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:42,080 Their answer? 121 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:43,540 Make David king. 122 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,240 A messenger tells David of Saul's demise. 123 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:50,560 He carries with him Saul's crown. 124 00:10:52,170 --> 00:10:55,890 The last people to have Saul's headpiece and his head, quite frankly, were the 125 00:10:55,890 --> 00:10:59,770 Philistines. Now suddenly it ends up in the hands of David. 126 00:11:00,890 --> 00:11:03,930 Makes one think that the Philistines have plans for David. 127 00:11:05,790 --> 00:11:09,930 With the backing of the Philistines, David becomes king of the tribe of 128 00:11:10,150 --> 00:11:12,510 But David's ambition is greater than that. 129 00:11:13,030 --> 00:11:16,130 He's not interested in merely ruling as a Philistine puppet. 130 00:11:17,030 --> 00:11:19,370 He wants to be king of all Israel. 131 00:11:21,100 --> 00:11:25,000 He brings in muscle from his days as an outlaw, men who are ruthless, 132 00:11:25,180 --> 00:11:28,400 experienced killers, and completely loyal to David. 133 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:38,100 Well, he takes... 134 00:11:38,350 --> 00:11:43,770 those that was called the gegud which are those 600 uh outlaws that he had 135 00:11:43,770 --> 00:11:48,910 fought with uh and he establishes them in all the villages and towns of judah 136 00:11:48,910 --> 00:11:52,470 and the reason for this is not only to extend his political control but when he 137 00:11:52,470 --> 00:11:57,790 has to raise a militia force from the from those israelite territories these 138 00:11:57,790 --> 00:12:03,750 can enforce his will david chooses his nephew yoav as his chief military 139 00:12:03,750 --> 00:12:07,170 commander to lead a civil war against ishmael's growing army 140 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:15,600 David knows that to become the uncontested king of Israel, he must 141 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:17,180 wipe out Saul's bloodline. 142 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:25,740 Israelites believe that Saul was anointed by God, so any blood relative 143 00:12:25,740 --> 00:12:29,500 is automatically more legitimate than David can ever be. 144 00:12:30,140 --> 00:12:32,620 That is, as long as they're alive. 145 00:12:34,890 --> 00:12:40,210 Over the next two years, David's forces, led by Yoav, clash with Ishmael's 146 00:12:40,210 --> 00:12:41,210 troops. 147 00:12:42,330 --> 00:12:47,310 With every slash of his blade, David moves closer to his ultimate goal, 148 00:12:47,590 --> 00:12:50,530 the crown of Israel. 149 00:12:53,970 --> 00:12:58,710 Superior technology puts you in control, both on the battlefield and at home. 150 00:12:58,810 --> 00:13:02,930 With DirecTV, you can easily set your home DVR from any cell phone or 151 00:13:04,300 --> 00:13:10,620 It's around 1004 B .C., just ten years after David slays Goliath, he fights a 152 00:13:10,620 --> 00:13:13,060 bloody civil war to become king of all Israel. 153 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:21,360 David's nephew, Joab, leads the army against Ishba, the son of the dead 154 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:22,480 Israelite king Saul. 155 00:13:24,910 --> 00:13:29,730 The Bible is silent about the number of battles and how many people were killed, 156 00:13:29,810 --> 00:13:34,450 but it's very clear about the fact that Ishmael's army was getting the worst of 157 00:13:34,450 --> 00:13:39,670 it. The weapon of the day is the straight sword used to hack, slash, and 158 00:13:39,670 --> 00:13:40,990 deadly iron into the enemy. 159 00:13:44,770 --> 00:13:49,850 The six -foot wooden spear, now tipped with iron, is used to skewer opposing 160 00:13:49,850 --> 00:13:50,850 soldiers. 161 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,940 Ultimately, David's men prevail, but there is a loose end to tie up. 162 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,780 And this is where David the Mafia Don really starts to show his colors. 163 00:14:06,060 --> 00:14:10,860 Like a scene right out of The Godfather, David becomes king and whacks all of 164 00:14:10,860 --> 00:14:11,860 his enemies. 165 00:14:12,740 --> 00:14:15,860 One of the first to die is Abner, Ishbal's commander. 166 00:14:16,420 --> 00:14:21,720 He had tried to defect to David's side, but Yoav considered him a threat. 167 00:14:23,730 --> 00:14:28,050 Yoav is the consigliere. Yoav is the trigger man. And he did it because it 168 00:14:28,050 --> 00:14:29,050 the right thing to do. 169 00:14:29,490 --> 00:14:32,870 At least if you're talking strategic politics. 170 00:14:36,010 --> 00:14:39,330 Then one night while he sleeps, Ishmael is assassinated. 171 00:14:42,510 --> 00:14:48,510 When the assassins present David with Ishmael's head, the king of Israel puts 172 00:14:48,510 --> 00:14:49,510 them to death. 173 00:14:51,450 --> 00:14:54,610 Now, looked at from a kind of Sicilian perspective. 174 00:14:54,890 --> 00:14:59,690 If one orders the assassination of another person, the best way to prove 175 00:14:59,690 --> 00:15:02,130 weren't involved is to kill the assassins you sent to kill him. 176 00:15:02,490 --> 00:15:04,910 And he killed them as soon as they walked in the door. 177 00:15:05,290 --> 00:15:11,490 David makes this whole to -do about how horrible it was that Ishbal was killed. 178 00:15:11,810 --> 00:15:16,110 But of course, who is the one that benefited most from Ishbal's death? 179 00:15:16,670 --> 00:15:22,190 David. The Bible never blames David for his death. But logically... Who else 180 00:15:22,190 --> 00:15:23,190 could have done it? 181 00:15:24,670 --> 00:15:29,790 In one final grisly act designed to secure his position as the king of 182 00:15:29,990 --> 00:15:34,310 David orders the execution of the last remaining blood heirs to the throne, 183 00:15:34,530 --> 00:15:36,710 Saul's seven young grandsons. 184 00:15:37,250 --> 00:15:41,630 David has them crucified and staked out into the sun where they all die. 185 00:15:42,090 --> 00:15:47,490 With that act, there are no more legitimate claimants to the throne. 186 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:54,160 David will never be blamed for any of the murders. 187 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:03,820 David's grip on the throne of Israel is secure, but his ambitions have grown. 188 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:08,920 He wants to expand Israel into an empire. 189 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:16,420 David rises to power because he's really the toughest guy on the block. He's the 190 00:16:16,420 --> 00:16:18,280 most ambitious guy on the block. 191 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:24,620 He's the man with almost no limits in what he'll do to further his own 192 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:31,240 And so it's a bloody rise to power. And then what happens is it becomes a 193 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:34,840 bloody regime today in power. 194 00:16:37,380 --> 00:16:41,240 David's first order of business is to rid himself of any obligation. 195 00:16:43,820 --> 00:16:46,820 He betrays the Philistines who helped put him in power. 196 00:16:51,340 --> 00:16:54,660 In a series of bloody battles, he beats them into submission. 197 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:05,060 After this defeat, the Philistine soldiers will fight for David's army. 198 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,780 They'll supply him with their most prized weapon, the war chariot. 199 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:20,660 The Philistine chariot of the day is drawn by two horses and usually carries 200 00:17:20,660 --> 00:17:25,560 men, the driver and the archer. The archer must be highly skilled to launch 201 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:30,220 precision shots while traveling on uneven surfaces at up to 10 miles an 202 00:17:32,060 --> 00:17:36,960 The wooden platform is fashioned in the shape of a D, with the axle placed in 203 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:41,420 the middle of the carrying platform, ensuring stability and giving the 204 00:17:41,420 --> 00:17:42,420 added strength. 205 00:17:43,850 --> 00:17:48,850 With an army that now numbers some 8 ,000 to 10 ,000 soldiers, David captures 206 00:17:48,850 --> 00:17:52,790 the city of Jerusalem, where he establishes Israel's first capital. 207 00:17:53,870 --> 00:17:56,170 He looks around, and what does he see? 208 00:17:57,210 --> 00:17:59,590 What do any kings see when they're in charge? 209 00:18:00,130 --> 00:18:06,970 Threats. And he looks to the east, and there on its border, on what today we 210 00:18:06,970 --> 00:18:10,230 would call the modern Jordanian River or Jordan Valley, 211 00:18:11,070 --> 00:18:14,570 There are three states that offer strategic and economic threats. 212 00:18:16,690 --> 00:18:21,550 Amman, Moab, and Edom, which is first on David's hit list. 213 00:18:22,570 --> 00:18:26,290 The real reason he wants that is economic. 214 00:18:26,750 --> 00:18:33,530 There are large copper and iron mines in Edom, and Edom sits right across 215 00:18:33,530 --> 00:18:35,150 what we call the King's Highway. 216 00:18:36,030 --> 00:18:39,130 The King's Highway connects Syria and Egypt. 217 00:18:39,740 --> 00:18:44,480 David wants free access to this important trade route, so he moves to 218 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:45,480 by force. 219 00:18:46,900 --> 00:18:53,160 David moves very quickly to bring Edom within the Israelite orb and does so 220 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:54,160 incredible brutality. 221 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:07,240 David orders the complete extermination of the Edomite male population. 222 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,680 The children and women are sold into slavery. 223 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:17,660 Their government is dismantled. 224 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:27,620 And Edom essentially ceases to exist and is annexed by Israel. 225 00:19:28,100 --> 00:19:32,580 The brutal carnage at Edom is a potent message to any who might consider 226 00:19:32,580 --> 00:19:36,880 retaliation. But David's bloodletting has only just begun. 227 00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:46,960 Next on his hit list, is moab having achieved the conquest of edom destroyed 228 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:51,160 its population but gathered all its economic resources and now having cut 229 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:57,440 king's highway uh the state that boarded up against edom the state of moab 230 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:03,420 now appears to be a threat to containing those, to preserving those resources. 231 00:20:03,500 --> 00:20:08,000 It's an old story in history where something that was a buffer state at one 232 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:11,240 point suddenly becomes a threat and has to be neutralized. It's kind of 233 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,320 history's first domino theory. 234 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:18,620 David knows Moab is not really a military threat to Israel because it's 235 00:20:18,620 --> 00:20:19,960 far side of the Dead Sea. 236 00:20:20,580 --> 00:20:22,440 But he doesn't want to take any chances. 237 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:25,240 And again, he proves to be merciless. 238 00:20:26,460 --> 00:20:29,740 David sends his army against Moab and makes very quick work of it. 239 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:34,780 Sure, numbers would have carried the day, but here we find an interesting 240 00:20:34,780 --> 00:20:37,100 description of how he actually dealt with them. 241 00:20:37,660 --> 00:20:42,540 And he smoked Moab and measured them with the line, making them to lie down 242 00:20:42,540 --> 00:20:43,540 the ground. 243 00:20:44,780 --> 00:20:49,660 And what the Bible tells us is that the captives of all military age were laid 244 00:20:49,660 --> 00:20:56,000 out in three lines, while the troops went among two of the lines and put them 245 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,320 all to the mouth of the sword, which... 246 00:20:58,780 --> 00:21:01,080 means, essentially, beheading them. 247 00:21:04,980 --> 00:21:10,260 For the second time, David massacres his neighbors, leaving them unable to rise 248 00:21:10,260 --> 00:21:11,260 against him. 249 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,620 But David's about to collide with Israel's most powerful competitor in the 250 00:21:19,620 --> 00:21:22,900 region. More blood is about to spill on the Holy Land. 251 00:21:27,310 --> 00:21:32,850 It's around 1000 BC, and King David's Israelite army is on the warpath. 252 00:21:34,430 --> 00:21:38,390 They've already destroyed both the Edomite and Moabite people. 253 00:21:42,950 --> 00:21:46,810 Now, David leads nearly 10 ,000 troops north. 254 00:21:47,770 --> 00:21:52,950 Having conquered both Edom and Moab, David naturally turns his eyes to the 255 00:21:52,950 --> 00:21:53,950 remaining. 256 00:21:54,260 --> 00:22:00,620 that is a competitor for Israeli interests in the Jordan Valley, and that 257 00:22:00,620 --> 00:22:04,980 Ammonites, whose capital is at Rabah, which is modern Amman. 258 00:22:06,340 --> 00:22:11,180 Amman is the last but most important of the three eastern border states David 259 00:22:11,180 --> 00:22:12,180 seeks to conquer. 260 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,740 It is Israel's prime competitor for regional influence. 261 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,860 In order to understand what happened at Raba, I have to understand the political 262 00:22:19,860 --> 00:22:22,180 context, and that is that the Ammonites were not stupid. 263 00:22:22,380 --> 00:22:27,420 They could clearly see the expansion of Israelite interests into the valley. 264 00:22:27,740 --> 00:22:32,820 There were some negotiations between David and Haman, the king of Ammon, 265 00:22:32,820 --> 00:22:38,320 David claimed some kind of diplomatic insult, at which point the Ammonites got 266 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,600 the message and began to look around for allies. 267 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,040 They found their allies in the north. 268 00:22:46,360 --> 00:22:48,960 the land of Aram, in what is called Syria today. 269 00:22:49,940 --> 00:22:54,800 It's a new force that has come to power under a leader named Hadadezer, who has 270 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:55,880 ambitions of his own. 271 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:02,440 Hadadezer's no fool. He's looking for any pretext to extend his main influence 272 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,860 south into Israel and to stop David's advance. 273 00:23:06,420 --> 00:23:08,460 This is just the perfect pretext. 274 00:23:09,540 --> 00:23:14,440 When David gets word the Ammonites have reached out to Hadadezer for help, He 275 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:16,560 orders Yoav to lead his army to Rabah. 276 00:23:16,900 --> 00:23:23,740 And very quickly he assembles the entire army and puts his consuliere, 277 00:23:23,860 --> 00:23:30,000 Yoav, in charge and tells him quickly to march on the capital of Rabah and 278 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,000 destroy it and defeat the Ammonites. 279 00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:37,680 Yoav and the Israelites cross the Jordan River without opposition. 280 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:42,780 With no other troops in sight, Yoav marches straight across the plain to 281 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:48,980 What happens is, is the Ammonite army comes out of its city and deploys in 282 00:23:48,980 --> 00:23:51,960 of the city with its infantry offering battle. 283 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,960 Yoav positioned his army opposite the Ammonites. But as the Israelites marched 284 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,280 toward the walls of Rabbah, 20 ,000 Arameans attacked them from the rear. 285 00:24:05,500 --> 00:24:10,900 What had happened was the Ammonites formed up, essentially as bait to a 286 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:17,060 Yoav and the Israelite army are now caught between a hammer and an anvil. 287 00:24:18,300 --> 00:24:22,800 To counter the Aramean attack, Yoav does something completely surprising. 288 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,260 He divides his force in two. 289 00:24:26,380 --> 00:24:30,900 So Yoav turns to his brother, who's second in command, and says, you take 290 00:24:30,900 --> 00:24:34,620 group and attack the walls. I'll take the other and deal with the chariots. 291 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:36,660 Remember that David... 292 00:24:37,230 --> 00:24:42,470 had at his disposal a number of vassals of Canaanite and Philistine states whose 293 00:24:42,470 --> 00:24:46,070 specialty was heavy infantry and chariot warfare. 294 00:24:47,470 --> 00:24:52,810 Yoav orders his Canaanite and Philistine chariot corps to turn around and charge 295 00:24:52,810 --> 00:24:54,690 the Arameans approaching from the plain. 296 00:24:55,650 --> 00:25:00,110 What follows is a swirling mass of chariots vying for position. 297 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:08,080 as the opposing infantries fight it out in bloody hand -to -hand combat. 298 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:15,620 So this large chariot battle is fought on the open plain in which the Arameans 299 00:25:15,620 --> 00:25:17,840 get the worst of and begin to flee. 300 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:22,420 With the chariots on the run, Yoav turns his infantry loose. 301 00:25:39,530 --> 00:25:44,790 The Ammonite infantry, now mixing it up with the Israelite infantry in front of 302 00:25:44,790 --> 00:25:49,630 the city, lose their spirit, and they begin to withdraw back into the city. 303 00:25:49,870 --> 00:25:53,170 And so the battle is essentially a draw. 304 00:25:54,790 --> 00:25:59,870 Yoav's success with his divided forces remains an amazing military feat to this 305 00:25:59,870 --> 00:26:00,870 day. 306 00:26:03,010 --> 00:26:07,290 Modern military tacticians always teach commanders to keep their forces 307 00:26:07,290 --> 00:26:08,290 together. 308 00:26:09,390 --> 00:26:14,850 But it sure must have put the fear of the Lord in Yoav, because he made no 309 00:26:14,850 --> 00:26:20,130 further movement to attacking the capital of Rabah. He immediately grabbed 310 00:26:20,130 --> 00:26:24,330 infantry, grabbed the chariots he had, and basically withdrew quickly back 311 00:26:24,330 --> 00:26:30,330 across to Jordan and back to Jerusalem, saying that this has not been a great 312 00:26:30,330 --> 00:26:31,330 day. 313 00:26:31,790 --> 00:26:36,370 After the battle, the Arameans retreat north into what is now southern Syria. 314 00:26:37,390 --> 00:26:39,130 David wastes no time. 315 00:26:39,470 --> 00:26:42,970 The Bible states that he orders all Israel to assemble. 316 00:26:44,170 --> 00:26:48,650 When you hear that phrase, all Israel, what you mean is the entire militia 317 00:26:48,930 --> 00:26:55,130 probably 20 ,000 to 25 ,000 strong. David personally leads the Israelites 318 00:26:55,370 --> 00:26:58,850 bypassing the capital of Rabbah and the Ammonite army. 319 00:26:59,920 --> 00:27:05,480 He's a smart tactician, a little bit smarter than Yoav. He does not cross the 320 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:07,420 Jordan Valley where Yoav crossed. 321 00:27:07,740 --> 00:27:13,600 What he does instead is he moves on the Israelite side along the water course of 322 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,340 the Jordan Valley, using it to protect his flank. 323 00:27:17,500 --> 00:27:21,800 David and the Israelites collide with the Arameans somewhere south of Sikuth. 324 00:27:24,860 --> 00:27:27,380 It is known as the Battle of Helam. 325 00:27:29,710 --> 00:27:34,170 What we have to imagine in the battle at Helan was that it was a combined 326 00:27:34,170 --> 00:27:35,890 infantry and chariot battle. 327 00:28:02,050 --> 00:28:03,750 David refuses to lose. 328 00:28:09,350 --> 00:28:13,650 King David of the Israelites is being true to his brutal reputation. 329 00:28:14,290 --> 00:28:18,270 His current victims are the Arameans, and they are getting slaughtered. 330 00:28:22,970 --> 00:28:27,010 There's no great detail in the Bible except to say that a swirling battle was 331 00:28:27,010 --> 00:28:29,290 fought, and many of the Arameans were killed. 332 00:28:29,820 --> 00:28:32,840 The proof of this is that the commander of the Arameans was killed. 333 00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:36,140 Now, that tends to suggest that they were completely overwhelmed. 334 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:47,320 When you kill the commander of an ancient army, whose chariot borne, by 335 00:28:47,340 --> 00:28:50,220 which means I can actually get out of here very quickly if I have to, you've 336 00:28:50,220 --> 00:28:51,540 done a very good day's work. 337 00:28:52,540 --> 00:28:57,360 Bruised by the Israelites a second time, the Arameans again retreat north. 338 00:28:58,430 --> 00:29:04,950 David now understands that I didn't come this far to win a single battle. We 339 00:29:04,950 --> 00:29:08,470 might as well deal with it while we have the troops in the field. And he 340 00:29:08,470 --> 00:29:10,390 continues to move north. 341 00:29:12,290 --> 00:29:16,490 News of the Aramean defeat at Halam spreads quickly throughout the region. 342 00:29:17,430 --> 00:29:21,610 Revolts erupt throughout the states that the Aramean king Hadadezer had already 343 00:29:21,610 --> 00:29:22,610 conquered. 344 00:29:23,470 --> 00:29:26,910 This creates a real problem for the Armenian king Hadadezer. 345 00:29:27,660 --> 00:29:32,720 because he can't launch a concerted attack against David until he puts down 346 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:33,720 these revolts. 347 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:36,000 So he has to deal with both at once. 348 00:29:38,620 --> 00:29:43,300 Hadadezer orders one force to hold off David and the Israelites while he mounts 349 00:29:43,300 --> 00:29:45,480 a campaign to put down the local revolts. 350 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:54,160 At this point, David continues his advance north and slams right 351 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:55,160 into... 352 00:29:55,850 --> 00:30:02,830 Had the desert's rear guard For the third time in six months the 353 00:30:02,830 --> 00:30:08,630 Israelites battle the powerful Arameans What 354 00:30:08,630 --> 00:30:16,530 happens 355 00:30:16,530 --> 00:30:21,780 is that David catches up with Hadadezer's main army. He turns, and a 356 00:30:21,780 --> 00:30:25,560 battle occurs in which many thousands were playing the Bible. 357 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:37,700 And David smote Hadadezer, king of Zobah, by Hamas, as he went to establish 358 00:30:37,700 --> 00:30:39,080 dominion at the river Euphrates. 359 00:30:45,130 --> 00:30:49,470 David and the Israelites catch the Arameans on the run and slaughter many 360 00:30:49,470 --> 00:30:50,470 them. 361 00:31:02,950 --> 00:31:04,910 Hadadezer's empire is destroyed. 362 00:31:10,710 --> 00:31:16,380 Now, unopposed from the north, David claims the Aramean vassal state in the 363 00:31:16,380 --> 00:31:17,380 of Israel. 364 00:31:17,580 --> 00:31:21,920 So now, with the addition of the Aramean kingdom, David controls a very large 365 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:26,300 area. This is what comes to define what is called the empire of Israel. 366 00:31:28,540 --> 00:31:33,720 The new Israelite empire now stretches from the Euphrates River in the north to 367 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:38,760 the Egyptian border in Sinai to the south, from the Mediterranean Sea in the 368 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,420 west to the Jordanian mountains in the east. 369 00:31:42,380 --> 00:31:45,960 But one last foe remains to be conquered before David can rest. 370 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:48,780 The Ammonites at Rabbah. 371 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:54,440 Now, of course, they are deprived of their Aramean armies. 372 00:31:54,960 --> 00:32:00,180 And so David turns his attention to bringing Ammon into the Israelite orbit. 373 00:32:03,140 --> 00:32:07,900 But at the same time, the Bible says David is distracted from his military 374 00:32:07,900 --> 00:32:11,260 conquest by a beautiful woman he spies from his palace. 375 00:32:15,630 --> 00:32:21,750 This seems to be the time when David is smitten by this beautiful girl named 376 00:32:21,750 --> 00:32:22,750 Bathsheba. 377 00:32:26,490 --> 00:32:33,330 And so, instead of taking the army himself into battle, some 378 00:32:33,330 --> 00:32:39,150 analysts suspect what kept David in Jerusalem was his lust for Bathsheba. 379 00:32:39,290 --> 00:32:43,650 Instead, he turns to his consigliere, Yoav, and says, take the army. 380 00:32:45,470 --> 00:32:47,870 Go among the Ammonites and defeat them. 381 00:32:52,290 --> 00:32:54,930 David orders Bathsheba to be brought to him. 382 00:32:55,350 --> 00:32:56,930 But she is a married woman. 383 00:32:57,130 --> 00:33:02,090 Her husband, Uriah the Hittite, is a soldier under Yoav in the Israelite 384 00:33:04,370 --> 00:33:05,370 Total scandal. 385 00:33:06,350 --> 00:33:07,970 David is the stuff of legend. 386 00:33:08,190 --> 00:33:11,930 He's thought of as a great warrior and a great unifier. 387 00:33:12,620 --> 00:33:16,840 He's the founder of the first Israelite nation state, the darling of the Bible. 388 00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:21,460 But much has been said of his flaws, especially with women. 389 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:31,540 And so, while David is having his way with Bathsheba, Yoav assembles the 390 00:33:31,540 --> 00:33:33,480 Israelite armies in two bodies. 391 00:33:35,620 --> 00:33:39,560 One is the militia force stationed at Succuth in the Jordan River Valley. 392 00:33:40,170 --> 00:33:44,450 The other is the elite army made up mostly of professional infantry and 393 00:33:44,450 --> 00:33:47,970 chariotry. They march to Rabah and bring it under siege. 394 00:33:49,230 --> 00:33:55,110 When you talk about a siege, and this time among the Israelites, is they have 395 00:33:55,110 --> 00:33:55,849 siege equipment. 396 00:33:55,850 --> 00:33:59,890 They take cities the way they normally take cities, which is by storm. 397 00:34:00,190 --> 00:34:04,530 The problem with that, with regard to Rabah, is in order to do that, you need 398 00:34:04,530 --> 00:34:05,710 large numerical advantage. 399 00:34:06,050 --> 00:34:08,670 And most of the militia troops are at Sukkot. 400 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:14,780 From on top of the walls of Rabbah, Ammonite archers are easily able to pick 401 00:34:14,780 --> 00:34:15,780 the Israelite infantry. 402 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:22,460 The blood spilled at Rabbah, however, is not what's occupying David's mind. 403 00:34:23,380 --> 00:34:28,719 David is back in Jerusalem, apparently, having a good time with Bathsheba, and 404 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:34,679 he gets a message from Yoav, his commander, saying things are pretty 405 00:34:35,290 --> 00:34:40,150 He said, you know, every time we venture near the walls, we lose men. We lost 18 406 00:34:40,150 --> 00:34:46,310 men just yesterday, in which case David replies, well, then don't go near the 407 00:34:46,310 --> 00:34:51,730 walls. Well, here is when the problem begins to develop, is that apparently 408 00:34:51,730 --> 00:34:53,389 Bathsheba turns up pregnant. 409 00:34:53,690 --> 00:34:58,530 And the problem with this is that she is married to Uriah the Hittite. 410 00:34:59,150 --> 00:35:01,530 So this creates a bit of a problem. 411 00:35:02,050 --> 00:35:04,630 Uriah is stationed with the army at Hrabah. 412 00:35:05,150 --> 00:35:06,150 fighting for David. 413 00:35:08,370 --> 00:35:10,570 David calls Uriah back to Jerusalem. 414 00:35:12,210 --> 00:35:16,190 So Uriah, being a good soldier that he is, reports back to Jerusalem. 415 00:35:16,610 --> 00:35:20,770 And David says to him, look, you've been a good soldier, you're on the front 416 00:35:20,770 --> 00:35:25,710 line, you deserve a rest. Go back to your wife, go rest a little before you 417 00:35:25,710 --> 00:35:26,710 back to battle. 418 00:35:27,870 --> 00:35:29,230 Think about this for a minute. 419 00:35:29,650 --> 00:35:33,210 There's only one reason David would send Uriah home to Bathsheba. 420 00:35:33,720 --> 00:35:34,720 so they can have sex. 421 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:39,040 It looks like David is trying to hide the paternity of Bathsheba's unborn 422 00:35:39,580 --> 00:35:45,580 Well, the next day, after David told him to go to his wife, 423 00:35:45,820 --> 00:35:51,280 David walks out of his bedroom door and stumbles over Uriah the Hittite, who was 424 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,980 falling asleep outside the door. And one can imagine what the conversation was 425 00:35:54,980 --> 00:35:59,230 like when the king of Israel says to this lowly soldier, What are you doing 426 00:35:59,230 --> 00:36:03,390 here? I told you to go home to eat and be with your wife. 427 00:36:03,650 --> 00:36:07,030 And he said, Sire, how can I do that? 428 00:36:08,690 --> 00:36:14,490 When my colleagues and fellow soldiers are in danger at the front lines, I 429 00:36:14,490 --> 00:36:16,870 cannot go with my wife. 430 00:36:17,270 --> 00:36:18,890 It would be wrong. 431 00:36:19,350 --> 00:36:22,150 Uriah keeps to the Israelite soldiers' code of honor. 432 00:36:22,870 --> 00:36:26,650 None shall sleep with their wives when at war. All for one, one for all, so to 433 00:36:26,650 --> 00:36:27,650 speak. 434 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:32,500 But in refusing David's command to sleep with his wife, he seals his fate with 435 00:36:32,500 --> 00:36:33,500 David. 436 00:36:35,580 --> 00:36:39,920 The Bible says David writes a note for Doab and sends it back to the front 437 00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:40,920 with Uriah. 438 00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:49,300 And he wrote in the letter saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest 439 00:36:49,300 --> 00:36:53,720 battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten and die. 440 00:37:00,650 --> 00:37:04,790 A good soldier to the end, Uriah follows his commander's orders without 441 00:37:04,790 --> 00:37:05,790 question. 442 00:37:23,770 --> 00:37:27,350 Uriah the Hittite is a valiant soldier who fights for the Israelites. 443 00:37:29,580 --> 00:37:32,640 But the great King David has doomed him to die. 444 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:39,900 David essentially, having failed to camouflage the pregnancy of Bathsheba, 445 00:37:39,980 --> 00:37:45,260 simply decides to have her husband killed in an almost mafia -like style. 446 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:49,920 And who else is in command of this, of course, is his consul, Yeri, which is 447 00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:50,920 Yoav. 448 00:37:51,140 --> 00:37:55,040 Yoav orders Uriah into battle, where survival is impossible. 449 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:00,480 David will stop at nothing to possess Bathsheba. 450 00:38:29,230 --> 00:38:33,350 In Jerusalem, Bathsheba hears that Uriah has been killed in action. 451 00:38:33,650 --> 00:38:36,530 She goes into mourning, standard cultural practice. 452 00:38:37,350 --> 00:38:41,790 As soon as her period of mourning is over, King David calls her to become his 453 00:38:41,790 --> 00:38:42,790 wife. 454 00:38:43,410 --> 00:38:46,130 But David's behavior doesn't go unnoticed. 455 00:38:47,010 --> 00:38:51,830 The Bible says it is God's will that the baby dies as punishment for David's 456 00:38:51,830 --> 00:38:52,830 sins. 457 00:38:54,110 --> 00:38:55,110 Uriah is dead. 458 00:38:55,290 --> 00:38:57,310 David has taken Bathsheba as his wife. 459 00:38:57,690 --> 00:38:59,630 This is all pretty heavy Old Testament scandal. 460 00:39:00,010 --> 00:39:04,270 But militarily, there's still a battle being waged at Rabbah. The Israelites 461 00:39:04,270 --> 00:39:10,410 still stuck outside the walls of Rabbah. And so finally, 462 00:39:10,670 --> 00:39:16,550 David sends a message to Yoav, renew the attack, carry the day. 463 00:39:22,390 --> 00:39:25,050 Yoav finally breaks through the Ammonite defenses. 464 00:39:34,410 --> 00:39:38,350 And then Yochav, he sends a message back to David and says, in essence, look, 465 00:39:38,510 --> 00:39:43,210 this is going well, but you'd better come out here because your absence is 466 00:39:43,210 --> 00:39:46,670 noted. And what people are going to say is they're going to give me credit for 467 00:39:46,670 --> 00:39:48,150 this victory. Well, David's no fool. 468 00:39:48,550 --> 00:39:52,270 He understands that to be king means that you have to do kingly things. And 469 00:39:52,270 --> 00:39:57,290 what he does is he marches up to Sukkoth, joins with the rest of the 470 00:39:57,290 --> 00:40:01,850 then marches on Rabbah. And then now with even more troops, the city is taken 471 00:40:01,850 --> 00:40:02,850 storm. 472 00:40:14,410 --> 00:40:19,090 As with all his previous triumphs, David makes a point of eliminating any chance 473 00:40:19,090 --> 00:40:21,070 of the banquet rising up against him. 474 00:40:24,470 --> 00:40:25,810 The slaughter continues. 475 00:40:34,150 --> 00:40:39,090 The Bible says he set the people to the mold, which is essentially what Pharaoh 476 00:40:39,090 --> 00:40:42,190 had done to the Israelites. He set them to construction work. 477 00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:46,760 One of their first tasks, tear their own walls down. 478 00:40:47,480 --> 00:40:50,200 Which is a very common thing to do in those days. 479 00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:55,580 Once you took the city, you destroyed its defenses so it couldn't resist you 480 00:40:55,580 --> 00:40:56,580 anymore. 481 00:40:57,500 --> 00:40:59,120 David's goals are complete. 482 00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:01,880 The Israelite empire is born. 483 00:41:03,940 --> 00:41:05,720 So it's a bloody right to power. 484 00:41:06,180 --> 00:41:10,340 And then what happens is it becomes a bloody regime to stay in power. It 485 00:41:10,340 --> 00:41:11,340 so bad. 486 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:14,320 that there are even revolts against David by his own people. 487 00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:17,300 Even by his own son. 488 00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:20,360 Talk about a dysfunctional family. 489 00:41:21,220 --> 00:41:23,180 David is still married to Bathsheba, right? 490 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:24,720 The first baby dies. 491 00:41:25,140 --> 00:41:29,960 Well, David's got other wives and concubines and eventually has many more 492 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:36,620 children, one of whom is Absalom. Well, it turns out Absalom will kill his older 493 00:41:36,620 --> 00:41:40,020 brother because the older brother rapes their half -sister. 494 00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:44,120 All right, now, this will start a rift between David and Absalom. 495 00:41:45,860 --> 00:41:48,780 The rift evolves into a full -fledged rebellion. 496 00:41:49,640 --> 00:41:54,880 Two Israelite armies clash in what is known as the Battle in the Wood of 497 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:58,280 Absalom wants to overthrow David and become king. 498 00:41:59,380 --> 00:42:02,560 But in the end, Absalom's army is routed. 499 00:42:04,020 --> 00:42:07,520 The story goes that Absalom had this beautiful long hair. 500 00:42:07,740 --> 00:42:09,840 And during the battle, he gets it caught. 501 00:42:10,330 --> 00:42:13,110 on the branches of a tree in the wood of Ephraim. 502 00:42:13,930 --> 00:42:18,830 Now, exactly what happened, we don't know. But one thing is certain, he 503 00:42:18,830 --> 00:42:20,210 make it out of that forest alive. 504 00:42:22,810 --> 00:42:25,770 David has issued orders to spare Absalom's life. 505 00:42:29,290 --> 00:42:31,070 But one man disobeys. 506 00:42:33,050 --> 00:42:34,050 Yoab. 507 00:42:34,950 --> 00:42:37,690 True conciliary, if that's what we could call him. 508 00:42:38,330 --> 00:42:41,040 Yoab. eliminates David's biggest threat. 509 00:42:41,660 --> 00:42:43,260 Politically, he did the right thing. 510 00:42:45,580 --> 00:42:51,020 David rules the Israelite empire for 23 more years. The Bible states he dies 511 00:42:51,020 --> 00:42:53,400 peacefully in his bed at the age of 110. 512 00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:58,880 But even after his death, the murder and intrigue continues. 513 00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:04,880 David's other son with Bathsheba, Solomon, becomes the next king. 514 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:08,480 One of his first acts, murder Yoav. 515 00:43:09,480 --> 00:43:15,040 This wasn't done for any kind of retribution. It most likely was to 516 00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:16,080 own personal power. 517 00:43:17,100 --> 00:43:19,660 Solomon might have seen Yoav as a threat. 518 00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:23,900 And like his father before him, he eliminated that threat. 519 00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:32,520 David is the most popular figure in the Bible. Children are named after him. 520 00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:39,000 He's seen as a hero, as the person who founded the Israelite empire, the nation 521 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:44,460 state. So he is a kind of almost mythical figure. But when you look at 522 00:43:44,460 --> 00:43:47,320 reality, he turns out to be all too human. 523 00:43:50,190 --> 00:43:54,130 From my perspective, even more fascinating that people still hold him 524 00:43:54,130 --> 00:43:58,470 kind of mythical person to emulate because he had a lot of bad habits. 525 00:44:01,230 --> 00:44:05,590 David is revered throughout the ages for uniting the tribes of Israel and 526 00:44:05,590 --> 00:44:07,390 establishing the Israelite empire. 527 00:44:08,190 --> 00:44:13,130 Like many conquerors, he was also ambitious, treacherous, and without 528 00:44:15,470 --> 00:44:20,030 The Bible says that toward the end of his life, he was always cold, no longer 529 00:44:20,030 --> 00:44:21,050 able to feel warm. 530 00:44:22,110 --> 00:44:27,030 Perhaps, like his amazing accomplishments, that too was a gift