David and Abraham

In a first reading of the Bible Abraham appears as being anterior to David. The promises to Abraham have their fulfillment. This book shows that in reality Abraham plays an important role after the exile, in the Persian Period, with the disappearance of the Davidic monarchy. The Psalter proposes two solutions to the problem of the disappearance of the Davidic monarchy, in spite of the divine promises (Ps 89). On the one hand, Pss 90-106 give an alternative to the Davidic dynasty, the substitution by the Patriarchs and their descendants. In this perspective we have the development of the traditions about Abraham. From this same angle, we have the case of the book of Isaiah, but with transference to descendants other than those of Abraham. The other alternative proposed by the Psalter is a direct identification to David by the titles of the psalms. This second possibility has a direct relation to the redaction of the books of Samuel. A synthesis of the two possibilities is presented in 1 Chr 16 with a citation of Ps 105,1-15 in a Davidic context. Hence, Abraham is presented in Gen 14-15 as an anticipation of David. It is in this way that we must interpret the mentions of Melchizedek in Gen 14,18 and Ps 110,4. Finally, the role of Abraham and his descendants depends on the disappearance of the Davidic monarchy in the Persian Period.