Promised Son

There are threads in the Bible that we are pointing out - the word root, David the icon, and the Son of Man apocalyptic figure - these become the pillars of the developed prototype classic messianic idea.

Within the Bible, the thread of the word itself messiah at a certain point meets with another thread, which is the legend of David as king of Israel. David is also a thread of sorts. The biblical narrative begins with no David, nor a king at all...

The people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Israel, form together, in Genesis and the following books we see some tribes leading more than others, towards the end of Genesis Jacob blesses his son Judah implying that his descendants or legacy will be of kings or rulers. But the first king of Israel is Saul of the tribe of Benjamin, and only then David enters the scene, when Samuel the prophet anoints him, in 1 Samuel 16, which I will paraphrase and quote:

The Lord God tells Samuel to stop mourning over Saul the failed king, but rather to fill his horn with oil and go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem because among his sons is a king. Samuel is afraid Saul will hear and kill him, but God gives him a cover story. Go and anoint as I tell you! He goes and calls Jesse, and the elders of the city are afraid of the great prophet. He says he has come to burn an offering to the LORD, in peace. He calls Jesse and his sons to join him. 

One after the other the sons come to him. God rejects them, and tells Samuel “Do not look at his appearance or his height… no, not like man sees, man sees by the eyes and the LORD sees by the heart…” One after the other, the brothers are not chosen. “Are there no more youths?” Asks Samuel, and Jesse answers: “There is one more, the youngest, he is shepherding the flock.” And Samuel tells Jesse to send for him, because no one is leaving until the boy is here. They bring him, he is “red-haired, with fair eyes and good looks”. This is the one. 

“And the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him, for this is the one. Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD gripped David from that day on. Samuel then set out for Ramah.” (v.13)

In the great story of David, as he rises to power as a young military leader among the army of Saul, even when Saul turns against him and persecutes David and tries to kill him, Davidly humbly risks his life to avoid killing Saul because Saul is the LORD's anointe one. David had reverence for the LORD’s anointed one, and then he becomes the LORD’s anointed one, the king of Israel. This is the start of the legend of David within the Bible, which leads within the Bible to a legendary perception of David, and beyond the Bible, into the Messianic Legend. 

Notice at this stage the interaction between the threads. Already we see the overlap between the David thread and the ‘messiah’ word thread. David is anointed by Samuel the prophet. He revers the LORD's anointed one. Another grand passage continues these threads, in 2nd Samuel chapter 7, the word of the LORD to Nathan was to go to David and tell him, alluding to Solomon his son: 

“Are you the one to build a house for Me to dwell in? … I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be ruler of My people Israel, and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut down all your enemies before you. Moreover, I will give you great renown like that of the greatest men on earth. I will establish a home for My people Israel and will plant them firmly, so that they shall dwell secure and shall tremble no more. Iniquitous people shall not oppress them anymore as in the past… 

The LORD will establish a house for you— When your days are done and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own issuing, and I will establish his kingship. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to Me. When he does wrong, I will chastise him with the rod of mortals and the blows of humankind.”

These great words, great as they are, are still not the later traditional Messiah idea we will encounter. David will not build the house, but Solomon will, his son and seed. There is nothing apocalyptic here. It is about David and it is with this word-concept. It is the beginning of the legend of David, which feeds into the greater Messiah legend, as we shall see. The act and the word messiah are prominent. Later, these threads come together to from the classic messianic legend: the Davidic and apocalyptic 'anointed one', king redeemer of Israel.

Already in the passages referenced above, David is like a legend. He is an individual promised with great destiny. He then becomes the iconic king of Israel. Every king to follow, of his dynasty, is spoken of within the Bible as compared with David. He was the shepherd of flock that became the shepherd of Israel. He will always be known as that of a kindred spirit to the heart of G-d Himself, despite all his flaws. The king should be as David close to God's heart, a warrior, a man of faith and kindness, one who saves Israel, and honors God.

In the biblical narrative to follow, in the historic and prophetic texts, the themes surrounding David continue, the metaphors are expanded. His kingdom and seed are spoken of as everlasting. In Ezekiel 34 the prophecies of the leader the shepherd of Israel will be considered messianic. His seed and the house, the house of the LORD and his dynasty ‘house of David’ are themes. 

David is also, as we see in the above passages, an iconic ‘son’ figure. He is the youngest of sons, his son Solomon is emphasized, and all the kings to come are sons of David, and themselves ‘son’ figures. The son represents a psychological romantic hope, the beloved child and hero to champion over the enemies and problems, a redeemer. David and his lineage are commemorated within the Bible as such. David becomes an icon, a legend.