David Ives

When I read biblical texts now I read it with a more feminine lens than I ever have before. I think it is incredibly important for biblical stories to get taught accurately and that definitely includes many stories involving women that often get misinterpreted. There are many different examples of words getting inserted into stories that make the female character portrayed negatively, such as Eve. When Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, many people are taught…

neighbors Israel and Judah had an interesting relationship to say the least. It could be peaceful at times. An example of this was during the Book of Ruth, where trade existed and apparent peace. Ruth herself was a Moabite and was the ancestor of David and…

The Fall of King David King David is known by many as the child who killed Goliath with a sling and a stone and who united all of Israel under the rule of Jerusalem. While this is how David became king, this kingship was the cause of most, if not all, of his sins. David, after becoming king, abused his powers for self gain and pleasure, and was eventually punished by God for these sins. This punishment not only lead to David being chastised, but his family also received this chastisement from…

different meaning for everyone. Donatello’s David and Bernini’s David, are based on the same biblical story, however, they capture David at two different moments, making the viewers have different emotions towards each work. Even works that are based on the same story, can make the viewers feel different emotions due to the pieces capturing different times and emotions. Donatello’s and Bernini’s piece of David are both based on the story of David and Goliath. David goes to fight the giant…

David seventeen sons gather at the royal court and they all claimants to the throne. Among them there was a mere boy, according to Jewish legend, barely 12 years old his name is Solomon. Solomon's mother Bathsheba approaches the frail king's bedside and she said unto him “my lord you swore to your servant by the lord your God saying your son Solomon shall succeed me as king and shall sit on my throne.” (first king 1:17). David has many sons that wants to inherit the throne, but he fulfill…

Samuel was Israel’s spiritual advisor a prophet sent by God. There was no king over Israel at the time of Samuel (the priest). The Israelites wanted to be like the other nations with a ruler to govern, guide them, to protect and fight their battles. Samuel sons was not worthy to rule the Israelites, they were drunkards, dishonest, and a no nonsense type of judgement. (“1 Samuel 8:5 5 and said unto him, behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like…

After reading the book Ruth in the Bible, I was surprised at how similar the stories really were. In both stories, Boaz is extremely kind and good to Ruth, even if she was a foreigner. I was very happy to find this similarity because this point stuck out strongly to me when reading Ruth and Boaz. There were two different parts of the story that, in my opinion, were not similar. There is no proof of these two points being different however, for the author of Ruth and Boaz has written down nothing…

From Zero to… Hero? How Orwell Writes to Define His Fate Psychologically speaking, people are likely to root for the underdog. Though the reason for this trend is unclear- perhaps it hearkens back to countless stories in the bible. Whatever the reason may be for this pattern, it has been observed in many forms- sports teams and politics in particular. In fact, a study published in The American Political Science Review focused on this trend of rooting for the underdog, and determined that in a…

The Psalms of Solomon are a series of 18 pseudonymous Jewish poems written in Greek and Syriac (It is assumed they were translated from Hebrew). These psalms explore various topics ranging from military attacks to halakik disputes. It is assumed that these psalms were written in the first century BCE. Psalm 1 introduces the theme of warfare, and transcends from a ‘women’s’ (Jerusalem) prayer for deliverance from foreign invaders, to God’s justification in attacking the inhabitants of Jerusalem…

go before the elder and revoke his right to marry Ruth. They go through the ‘tradition’ a little different than normal but in the end Boaz gets to marry Ruth. It says in Ruth 4:4, that God blesses Ruth with a son named Obed, and through Obed came David. One thing to remember is in Deuteronomy 25:6, it says that the first child born in a levirate marriage is to be the child Ruth’s first husband. Which means that Obed is really Ruth’s second son, because he is considered the son of Boaz. Some…