In this completely revised edition of a true classic, Walter Bruggermann thoughtfully examines four different sets of David narratives. Each narrative reflects a particular social context, a particualr social hope, and a particular community. Thus these stories offer a distinctly different 'mode of truth' concerning this pivotal biblical figure. The tribe, the family, the state, and the assembly, each has a different agenda and thus draws a very different portrait of the one who helps define them and is defined by them.