\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 Scholars date the reign of David between the years 1000 and 980 BC. His r
eign and that of his son \b \cf4 \ATXht71913 Solomon\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 marked the moment of greatest splendor in the history of the house of Israel. David belonged to the family of \b \cf4 \ATXht1097 Jesse\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 , from the city of Bethlehem. He
was blond, handsome and endowed with a variety of virtues and strengths. Musician and poet, he is accredited with having composed most of the Psalms. An invincible and courageous hero, it was he who in his youth defeated the terrible giant \b \cf4 \ATXht70702 Goliath\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 with a simple sling. He had an adventurous and fortunate life. He was anointed king by Samuel, who was then in old age, but had to conquer his kingdom by authority and force of arms. He consolidated his reign by definitively
defeating the Philistines and conquering the city of Jerusalem from the Jesubites. Jerusalem then became the capital of his realm and site of his royal residence. David ordered that the Holy Ark of the Covenant, which the Israelites built in the desert
to contain the Tablets of the Law, be brought into the city. From then on, Jerusalem became the religious and political center of the Hebrews. David was so successful that his people saw him as exemplar of the ideal king, unsurpassed by all others. Th
e prophet Nathan foretold of an eternal lineage for David. From the great king David, the greatest of all kings, who would definitively bring about the liberation of Israel and all humanity, would descend the Messiah. \par
