Israelite king who unified the tribes, captured Jerusalem, brought the Ark of the Covenant there, defeated the Philistines, and created the United Monarchy — whose flaws (Bathsheba, Uriah) are presented alongside his greatness — whose Psalms make him the greatest poet-king in Western literature.
Creates the archetype of the flawed hero whose greatness is inseparable from his brokenness — David's military genius, his Psalms (joy, lament, praise), his sin with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah, and his response to God's judgment make him the most complex human figure in the Hebrew Bible.
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