The World David Knew: Connecting the Vast Ancient World to Israel's Great King

by Leonard Greenspoon

IMMERSE YOURSELF IN THE CAPTIVATING WORLD OF 1000 BC AS EVERYONE WATCHES THE SMALL NATION OF ISRAEL MAKE ITS NEXT MOVE AFTER THE DEATH OF ITS BELOVED KING DAVID.

Shepherd. Warrior. King. Psalmist. Father. Fugitive. Hero. Villain. No single word is sufficient to encompass Israel's King David. The World David Knew offers a snapshot of life during this key period in the nation's history.

The World David Knew provides you with vivid details of life in 1000 BC, including elements of numerous cultures around the world. Hold your breath as some of the biggest political power shifts in history are made. Celebrate along with the people of Israel as they go to weddings and holiday feasts. Understand how nations traded goods, services, and money. What will the future hold for the nation of Israel, and the greater world? 

Genres: Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2017

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised at how good this was. I haven't had a lot of success in reading fictionalized accounts of Bible stories. They often take too many liberties with the text or are wooden and uninteresting from a fiction aspect. The World David Knew marries Biblical scholarship and sleek prose well. It felt right.

I also enjoyed getting inside the story and exploring what it would be like to be in David's court in the weeks leading up to his death. I hope the Museum of the Bible writes more of these!

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Preceding each chapter, this book gives a short 2 page overview of what was happening in the world roughly around 1000 B.C. in the world from South America to India to China to Mesopotamia. I do wish these parts were longer and more detailed, but they are an very helpful for relating Biblical history to global history.

Each chapter is a fictional look through the eyes of one of three characters: a soldier, a priest and a concubine. The author picked an interesting time to cover, the rebellion of Adonijah and the crowning of Solomon. However, the story is interesting as it weaves real characters in with imagined motives that are rooted in David’s past. Instead of getting a story covering a longer period of time, we get parts of David’s life shown from fresh perspectives which I was surprised by, but enjoyed. Again, I only wish the book were longer.

Despite dealing with concubines and rebellion, the book is completely clean. Violence is not discussed graphically neither is David’s private life.

The characters were the best part of the book. They were interesting and felt real. I have to check my Bible to see if two of the characters are mentioned in the Bible or are purely fictitious, but they draw you into the story along with the real ones. The author does an amazing job using things in the Bible to flesh out characters. (Spoiler alert: I bet you never noticed where Abishag, David’s last concubine/companion was from.)

[NinaB · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*
A fascinating book that makes the story of King David come to life. It not only gives context to Scripture passages, but also to what else was going on in other cultures during the same time period.

What I don’t like about the book is the fictional additions to the narrative that were based on actual biblical events. I understand they were necessary so the book could be written as a story, rather than a boring textbook. I don’t fault the author for doing this. I just do not like this style. In such a unique genre (not really historical fiction), it is hard to know which are facts and which are filled in (which could be influenced by the author’s bias). I prefer to treat a book directly as either fiction or non. It just so happens that I’m reading another book (“Steal Away Home”) written the same way. I love the story telling, but am unsure how “fictional” it is.

[Jeanette Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book although it was not what I expected. Thought it would take me from David's days of tending sheep to his death. Although it was different then I expected it still was a great read. I enjoyed it. Because in the beginning of each chapter the authors gave some nonfiction background (loved this) would have like to see the Scriptures referenced that this particular chapter referred to. The foreword did suggest reading the books of the Bible about David (Samuel and Kings) but I would have liked to see this broken down for each chapter. Otherwise gave great background and believable text fill-in.

[Piper Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for school, and I ended up loving it. I wish it was longer, and I loved how the author brought all the characters to life, and just really made the whole story seem actually real, and not just a story. I also liked how before each chapter they told you what was going on around the world.

[Neva · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was history and story in one. I enjoyed the way they explained how things were in those days

[MadMannikin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I especially liked how the beginning of each chapter gives a small history brief about the surrounding world.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was interesting in that each chapter had a theme of study and was accompanied by fiction piece. Very delightful and refreshing way to write a historical book on the life and times of King David (my favorite man from Old Testament times).

[Mark D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fictional book based upon the biblical narrative, tells the story of the end of David's life and Solomon ascent to the throne. The story includes the rebellion of Adonijah. This story utilizes a biblical visualization to fill in the gaps of the narrative contained in the Scripture. The point of the book is to given insight into the world which David knew. This is a very interesting book which captures the attention. Even though the story is fictional, the reader can imagine that the story might have followed this exact story Line. This book is entertaining as well as informative.