The Author: Michael A. Eschelbach was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science, from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with a Master of Divinity, and from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a Ph.D. in hermeneutics. For fifteen years, he served parishes in Billings, Montana, and Sandusky, Michigan. Dr. Eschelbach is Assistant Professor of New Testament Studies and Greek at Concordia University in River Forest, Illinois.

«David is one of the most fascinating and complex characters the Hebrew Bible has to offer. Recent studies have pictured him either as saint or sinner, opportunist or focused on service to God. Michael Eschelbach’s illuminating literary study of the relationship between David and Joab is a major contribution to the question of David’s character. This book is must reading for all who study this crucial period of Israelite history.» (Tremper Longman III, Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies, Co-author, ‘A Biblical History of Israel’)