Mourtzios Chr. Ioannis, The Tradition for David in the Old Testament, Pournaras Press: Thessaloniki 2006, pages 265.
In his study Ioannis Mourtzios deals with one of the most important personalities of the pre-Christian history, King David. The book consists of an introduction and three chapters.
As the author mentions in his introduction, the tradition for king David is part of the so-called “traditions of election”, which are divided in the ancient ones, referring to the election of the Patriarchs, the exodus from Egypt and the stay of the people on Sinai and the more recent ones, which are closely connected to Jerusalem and Scion. A basic element of the Davidic tradition is the view that every king is a descendant of King David and has his seat in Jerusalem.
In the first chapter, the author examines the tradition for David in the Deuteronomistic historiography and the work of the chronicler. According to the author, the Deuteronomist does not fail to present David’s faults in contrast to the Chronicler who wants to present David as a model for all kings. The chronicler is interested not only in the narration of past events, but also in redefining them, based on the needs of his contemporary community after their state of captivity.
In the second chapter, Ioannis Mourtzios analyzes the tradition for David in the prophets of the Old Testament and especially Hosea (ch. 3), Amos (ch. 9), Micah (ch. 5), Proto-Isaiah (ch. 9.11.16), Jeremiah (ch. 17.23. (MT). 37), Second-Isaiah (ch. 55), Ezekiel (ch. 34.37) and Third-Zachariah (ch. 12).
In the third chapter, the writer deals with the tradition for David in Psalms (17, 77, 88, 131. Psalms of Solomon, 17, 4. 21.), the Sophiologic Literature (Sofia Seirah 47, 2-11) and the biblical Jewish historiography ( A’ Maccabees 2, 57. 4, 30).
In his conclusions, Ioannis Mourtzios makes a synoptic presentation of what he has thoroughly analyzed in the above chapters and comes to the conclusion that the tradition for David, with the Davidic Testament as its central element, has been widely used in the whole of the O. T.. David is, according to the biblical text, the person chosen by God and heir to the divine promises given to the forefathers of Israel and fulfilled in the person of Christ. Thus, David has a prominent position in God’s plan of salvation.
The book closes with an index of names and topics, an index of biblical passages, sources-bibliography and a summary in English.