# David — Leviathan character guide

> David in Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** king David

**First appearance:** 0003-part-i-of-man

## Snapshot

Israel's second king, whose throne Hobbes treats as the legal hinge on which all legitimate Christian sovereignty turns.

## Who they are

David matters less as a psalmist than as a precedent: Hobbes argues that God's kingdom was a real civil kingdom, and that Israel's demand for a king in Samuel's day interrupted it. When Gabriel promises Christ 'the throne of His father David,' Hobbes reads the phrase as a territorial, earthly claim — the same claim that got Jesus crucified under the title 'King of the Jews.' For a reader entering Leviathan, David is the proof-text that Scripture's kingdom language is political, not merely spiritual.

## Relationships

### [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/jesus_christ)

_family_

David is an ancestor of Jesus Christ according to the flesh, with Christ often called the Son of David in messianic prophecy.

### [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/jesus_christ)

_family_

David is an ancestor of Jesus Christ according to the flesh, with Christ often called the Son of David in messianic prophecy.

## In the story

### [XX: Of Dominion Paternal, and Despotical](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/chapters/xx-of-dominion-paternal-and-despotical)

Refused to harm Saul, acknowledging him as the Lord's anointed, exemplifying obedience to sovereign authority.

### [XXI: Of the Liberty of Subjects](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/chapters/xxi-of-the-liberty-of-subjects)

Mentioned for killing Uriah; Hobbes argues this was an injury to God, not to Uriah, because David was God's subject and violated the law of Nature.

### [Of the Office of the Sovereign Representative](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/chapters/xxx-of-the-office-of-the-sovereign-representative)

Referenced as a king whose actions illustrate sovereign rights.

### [Of the Kingdom of God by Nature](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/chapters/xxxi-of-the-kingdom-of-god-by-nature)

Quoted from Psalms (97:1, 99:1, 73:1-3) to illustrate God's kingship and the problem of the prosperity of the wicked.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters/david
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leviathan_se/characters