King David – Hero or Villain?

About this episode

The episode explores the duality of King David's character as both a hero and a villain through an interview with Professor David Shepherd.

King David is one of the most familiar figures in the Bible. Most people know him as the shepherd boy, the Psalmist and the underdog who steps up to defeat Goliath. But is this only one side to a much darker story? To find out, Helen and Lloyd take a trip in the Biblical Time Machine with Professor David Shepherd, who argues that David is not only a man of war, but a 'man of blood.' David J. Shepherd is Professor in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Trinity College Dublin and founding direc...

People in this episode

Hosts: Helen Bond, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

Guest: David J. Shepherd

Topics covered

• King David
• Biblical figures
• war and peace
• morality in the Bible
• historical analysis

Keywords

• King David
• Goliath
• Hebrew Bible
• Old Testament
• morality
• war
• blood

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Trinity College Dublin

Books & works: King David

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