2 Samuel Figures

King David

"Everybody Loves David"—if they'd had sitcoms in roughly 1000 B.C., they might have had one...

God

In the story of David's life, God is the man in his corner—the Paulie to his Rocky,...

Absalom

Absalom is a daring figure—even though he's doomed, he deserves some admiration, despite...

Bathsheba

We don't really get much insight into Bathsheba's thought processes or psychology. We know that...

Nathan

Nathan's a good dude. He speaks truth to power, calling out David for murdering Uriah and...

Joab

Joab shows up quite a bit in 2 Samuel—and he doesn't exactly come out smelling like roses....

Abner

Abner is originally the chief general of Saul's son Ishbaal's army, fighting against David. But...

Ahithophel

Ahithophel is a wise counselor—though not a particularly loyal one, since he abandons David...

Tamar

The women in this book endure an intense amount of suffering, and David's daughter, Tamar, is...

Amnon

Amnon, David's first-born son, is a wholly repulsive character: he rapes his own...

Ishbaal

Ishbaal is one of Saul's four sons and David's main rival to be the undisputed king of all...

Jonadab

There's not too much to say about Jonadab. He's a crafty guy who tells Amnon that if he wants to...

Uriah

Poor Uriah guy gets a really raw deal. Plenty of people wind up getting unfairly attacked,...

Rizpah

Rizpah is another character who has nothing but suffering and a hard time. The same former...

Michal

Michal is one of David's wives and one of Saul's daughters. Although David had originally won her...

The Woman of Tekoa

Joab hires this wise woman from Tekoa to try to get David to forgive his son Absalom and let him...

Minor Characters

Abishai, the brother of Joab, is one of David's most fearsome warriors. He's not quite one of the...