David J. Shepherd

This volume offers an examination of Brecht’s largely forgotten theatrical fragments of a life of David, written just after the Great War but prior to Brecht winning the Kleist Prize in 1922 and the acclaim that would launch hisextraordinary career. David J. Shepherd and Nicholas E. Johnson take as their starting point Brecht’s own diaries from the time, which offer a vivid picture of the young Brecht shuttling between Munich and the family home in Augsburg, surrounded by friends, torn between women, desperate for success, and all the while with ‘David on the brain’.The analysis of Brecht’s David, along with his notebooks and diaries, reveals significant connections between the reception of the Biblical David and one of Germany’s most tumultuous cultural periods. Drawing on theatrical experiments conducted with an ensemble from Trinity College Dublin, this volume includes the first ever translation of the David fragments in English, an extensive discussion of the theatrical afterlife of David in the early twentieth century as well as new interdisciplinary insights into the early Brecht: a writer entranced by the biblical David and utterly committed to translating the biblical tradition into his own evolving theatrical idiom.

This volume offers an examination of Brecht’s largely forgotten theatrical fragments of a life of David, written just after the Great War but prior to Brecht winning the Kleist Prize in 1922 and the acclaim that would launch hisextraordinary career. David J. Shepherd and Nicholas E. Johnson take as their starting point Brecht’s own diaries from the time, which offer a vivid picture of the young Brecht shuttling between Munich and the family home in Augsburg, surrounded by friends, torn between women, desperate for success, and all the while with ‘David on the brain’.The analysis of Brecht’s David, along with his notebooks and diaries, reveals significant connections between the reception of the Biblical David and one of Germany’s most tumultuous cultural periods. Drawing on theatrical experiments conducted with an ensemble from Trinity College Dublin, this volume includes the first ever translation of the David fragments in English, an extensive discussion of the theatrical afterlife of David in the early twentieth century as well as new interdisciplinary insights into the early Brecht: a writer entranced by the biblical David and utterly committed to translating the biblical tradition into his own evolving theatrical idiom.

Of all the characters bequeathed to us by the Hebrew Bible, none is more compelling or complex than David. Divinely blessed, musically gifted, brave, and eloquent, David's famous slaying of Goliath also confirms that he is a redoubtable man of war. Yet, when his son Absalom rebels, David is dogged by the accusation than he will lose his kingdom because he is not merely a man of war, but a man of 'bloods' - guilty of shedding innocent blood. In this book, for the first time, this language of 'innocent blood' and 'bloodguilt' is traced throughout David's story in the books of Samuel and 1 Kings. The theme emerges initially in Saul's pursuit of David and resurfaces regularly as David rises and men like Nabal, Saul, Ishbosheth, and Abner fall. Innocent blood and bloodguilt also turn out to be central to David's reign. This is seen in a surprising way in David's killing of Uriah, but also in the subsequent deaths of his sons, Amnon and Absalom, his general, Amasa, and even in David's encounters with Shimei. The problem rears its head again when the innocent blood of the Gibeonites shed by Saul comes back to haunt David's kingdom. Finally, the problem reappears when Solomon succeeds David and orchestrates the executions of Joab and Shimei, and the exile of Abiathar. Attending carefully to the text and drawing extensively on previous biblical scholarship, David J. Shepherd suggests that innocent blood is not only a pre-eminent concern of David, and his story in Samuel and 1 Kings, but also shapes the entirety of David's history.

Two features especially distinguish the Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary series: theological exegesis and theological reflection. Both of these features are fully realized in this THOTC volume on Ezra and Nehemiah by David J. Shepherd and Christopher J. H. Wright. Following an introduction and concise, verse-by-verse commentary on both books, Shepherd and Wright highlight key ways in which these Old Testament texts continue to speak to us today. They closely examine what Ezra and Nehemiah tell us about God and the people of Israel, reflect practically on leadership, and engage critically with those portions of the text (such as Ezra's dissolution of the Judeans' marriages with foreigners) that present special problems for contemporary readers. Offering deep theological insight throughout, this volume will prove essential for students, pastors, and other Christian leaders seeking to engage in theological interpretation of Scripture.

Between the advent of motion pictures in the 1890s and the close of the 'silent' era at the end of the 1920s, many of the longest, most expensive and most watched films on both sides of the Atlantic drew upon biblical traditions. David J. Shepherd traces the evolution of the biblical film through the silent era, asking why the Bible attracted early film makers, how biblical films were indebted to other interpretive traditions, and how these films were received. Drawing upon rarely seen archival footage and early landmark films of directors such as Louis Feuillade, D. W. Griffith, Michael Curtis and Cecil B. DeMille, this history treats well-known biblical subjects including Joseph, Moses, David and Jesus, along with lesser-known biblical stars such as Jael, Judith and Jephthah's daughter. This book will be of great interest to students of Biblical studies, Jewish studies and film studies.