David

Remember that fellow so often shown using a sling to throw a stone into Goliath’s eye, killing him despite his opponent’s far greater size? Me too! Apparently there’s much more to this character however, so let’s dive into David.

There are few concrete facts known about this figure. It’s generally agreed there was once a ruler named David but that’s pretty much where all agreements about him stop. Shepherd, general, prophet, king—depending on who’s asking and where, he’s one or more or all of these things. For our purposes here we’re going to stick with the biblical narrative (a young shepherd who slayed Goliath, the much greater champion of the Philistines) partly because we’ve already got a few ancient kings rolling around this book, and also because its far and away the most popularized representation of the character. That does not however mean that we should ignore the rest of his milieu, and it’d be remiss of me not to bring up David’s place in various histories.

Christian: David kills Goliath, gains King Saul’s favor, is spurned by the ruler, they die and he takes the throne, conquers Jerusalem and brings the Ark of the Covenant there, gets intimate with Bathsheba, and has her husband assassinated. As recompense God has David’s son Absalom try to overthrow him, and he returns after said offspring has died to rule over the kingdom. During his reign he’s said to have been a kind and just king, and just before dying he picks Solomon to take his place.

Judaic: This follows along similar lines as above, but here David goes about shepherding while his brothers go to school, and more importantly his transgressions with Bathsheba are decidedly less transgress-y (the narrative is more about repentance, and it may have not been adultery at all because of get, an old Jewish practice of conditional divorces declared on the eve of battle that shield a widow from becoming agunah, an abandoned woman forbidden from remarrying). This might actually be about being excessively self-conscious, in that David was specifically trying to test himself to have his name united with God’s (like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).

Islamic: This is where the prophetstuff comes in because David (aka دواد or Dāwūd) was sent by God to guide the Israelites, gifted kingship, wisdom, and the Psalms (some wise books) from above when he slays Goliath to become the divine’s “khalīfa (viceregent) on earth”. These gifts of knowledge included how to work iron rather than just cast it and how to make chainmail—definitely an advantage against bronze weaponry and a means to great wealth. David's story holds true in the Islamic tradition as well. The Bible and Torah are also considered holy books in Islam, and though Bathsheba isn't elaborated on in the Quran, Muslim scholars might still hold the opinion that it happened based on those accounts. In addition, in this iteration he's more zealous and a faster, but still great with a tune. All told, the veracity of his depiction is evident between the three faiths.