With Skilful Hand

"In order to read Scripture properly, we must know not only its plain meaning but also the significance of that which is implied in the text. Judaism knows this oral tradition as Midrash. David Barnard's story of King David belongs to this genre. With fidelity to the English text and respect for current scholarship, he has written an extremely readable and very believable book. People of all faiths, and none, will greatly enjoy it and learn much from it." Rabbi Dow Marmur "This imaginative re-interpretation of the story of King David is a remarkable book. While remaining faithful to Biblical and scholarly sources, Barnard brings alive the conflicted personal and cultural matrix of David's life and reign in a compelling manner. The complex humanity, as well as the individual and political struggles of the actors, are "proved on the pulses" of the modern reader ... This work of creative synthesis explores and illuminates some central theological questions canvassed by Zadok in his Prolog, without giving into the temptation of providing definitive answers or final interpretations." Catherine Harland, Department of English, Queen's University