Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Listeners kept asking, so this episode we finally did it: was there a historical King David?
Dan McClellan works through the Tel Dan Stele, the Goliath story that seems to have been borrowed from somebody else, the protection racket at Nabal's house, and the literary spackle used to explain how a shepherd's eighth son ended up on Saul's throne.
The answer turns out to be more interesting than a simple yes or no.
This episode originally aired on 6/24/2024.
_______________________________________________
Get your Data Over Dogma merch at our online store:
data-over-dogma-shop.fourthwall.com
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Support Data Over Dogma and get every episode early and ad-free, plus exclusive bonus content — become a patron:
patreon.com/DataOverDogma
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Listen to the podcast on every app:
pod.link/1681418502
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Follow us:
Instagram — instagram.com/dataoverdogmapod
TikTok — tiktok.com/@data.over.dogma.pod
Threads — threads.com/@dataoverdogmapod
X — https://x.com/data_over_dogma
Facebook — facebook.com/DataOverDogmaPod
_______________________________________________
Get Dan McClellan's New York Times bestselling book, The Bible Says So:
static.macmillan.com/static/smp/bible-says-so-9781250347466
_______________________________________________
Chapters:
0:00 Welcome
1:23 David by Popular Demand
4:04 Israel's Most Important King
4:52 Warlords and Failed Kings
6:26 David Was Not Saul's Son
7:50 David and Jonathan
10:14 The Eighth Son of Jesse
10:59 The Jephthah Parallel
12:03 Getting In With Saul
13:00 Who Actually Killed Goliath
13:40 Battles, But No Territory
14:30 The Tel Dan Stele
15:54 Judah Inherits Israel
17:18 Nabal and the Protection Racket
19:19 Marriage as Politics
21:07 Bathsheba and Uriah
23:47 Blaming Bathsheba
24:32 So Was David Real?
25:37 Afterparty and Outro
_______________________________________________
#DataOverDogma #BibleScholarship #KingDavid #TelDanStele #HebrewBible
Listeners kept asking, so this episode we finally did it: was there a historical King David?
Dan McClellan works through the Tel Dan Stele, the Goliath story that seems to have been borrowed from somebody else, the protection racket at Nabal's house, and the literary spackle used to explain how a shepherd's eighth son ended up on Saul's throne.
The answer turns out to be more interesting than a simple yes or no.
This episode originally aired on 6/24/2024.
_______________________________________________
Get your Data Over Dogma merch at our online store:
data-over-dogma-shop.fourthwall.com
_______________________________________________
Support Data Over Dogma and get every episode early and ad-free, plus exclusive bonus content — become a patron:
patreon.com/DataOverDogma
_______________________________________________
Listen to the podcast on every app:
pod.link/1681418502
_______________________________________________
Follow us:
Instagram — instagram.com/dataoverdogmapod
TikTok — tiktok.com/@data.over.dogma.pod
Threads — threads.com/@dataoverdogmapod
X — https://x.com/data_over_dogma
Facebook — facebook.com/DataOverDogmaPod
_______________________________________________
Get Dan McClellan's New York Times bestselling book, The Bible Says So:
static.macmillan.com/static/smp/bible-says-so-9781250347466
_______________________________________________
Chapters:
0:00 Welcome
1:23 David by Popular Demand
4:04 Israel's Most Important King
4:52 Warlords and Failed Kings
6:26 David Was Not Saul's Son
7:50 David and Jonathan
10:14 The Eighth Son of Jesse
10:59 The Jephthah Parallel
12:03 Getting In With Saul
13:00 Who Actually Killed Goliath
13:40 Battles, But No Territory
14:30 The Tel Dan Stele
15:54 Judah Inherits Israel
17:18 Nabal and the Protection Racket
19:19 Marriage as Politics
21:07 Bathsheba and Uriah
23:47 Blaming Bathsheba
24:32 So Was David Real?
25:37 Afterparty and Outro
_______________________________________________
#DataOverDogma #BibleScholarship #KingDavid #TelDanStele #HebrewBible
