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David

Biblical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Shepherd-king of Israel, famed for slaying Goliath and his psalms

Detailed Definition
David, chosen by God despite his youth, united Israel, committed grave sins, yet remained “a man after God’s own heart.” In poetry, he embodies the flawed hero, repentance, and the fusion of warrior and poet.
Example
Example in poetry:
In the Psalms (traditionally attributed to David), lyrical poetry expresses repentance and praise; In John Milton’s "Paradise Regained," David’s lineage prefigures Christ’s kingship; In W.H. Auden’s “For the Time Being,” David symbolizes the shepherd-king archetype; In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “A Drama of Exile,” David’s harp soothes spiritual turmoil; In modern Jewish poetry, David often represents the poet-prophet and national resilience; In Derek Walcott’s “Omeros,” David’s psalms echo in Caribbean spirituals.
Additional Notes
David, the biblical king, psalmist, and slayer of Goliath, represents divinely chosen leadership, repentance (after Bathsheba), and poetic inspiration (as traditional author of Psalms); poets invoke David to explore themes of faith, moral failure and redemption, or the poet-prophet role—his lyre symbolizes the power of music and verse to soothe, worship, or unify.
Also Known As
Shepherd-King Slingshot Hero Psalmist of Israel
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