The monarchy, along with the prophets and the priesthood, was one of the main institutions in Israel.1 The importance of kingship can be seen in the promise to Abraham that kings would come forth from him (Gen. 17:6), in the law regulating how a king should conduct himself (Deut. 17:14–20), and in the amount of history devoted to the rise of kingship and to the reigns of kings in the historical books. The high point of kingship is reached in David and the early part of
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