David the ark

Donald Wiseman points out that the word for the “coverings” over David in 1 Kings 1 is the same as the word for the coverings of the tabernacle. Perhaps David is being implicitly compared to the ark of the covenant; the Lord is “enthroned” above David, a notion that would be consistent with the parallels between David’s flight from Jerusalem during Absalom’s rebellion and the exile of the ark in 1 Sam 3-5. If this is right, then the royal “ark” is shivering and weak, and the story of Kings is of a shift from royal to prophetic human “thrones.”