D A V 
Are you at leifure, holy father, now ; 
Or (hall I come to you at evening rnafs !—• 
—My leifure ferves me, penfive daughter, now. Shakejp. 
DAUHN, or Thaun, a town of Germany, in the circle 
of the Upper Rhine : twelve miles fouthi of Simmern. 
DAUHN, or Daun, a town of Germany, in the elec¬ 
torate of Treves, on the Lefer : twenty-five miles from 
Coblentz. 
DA'VID, [Tn, Heb. i. e. beloved; David, Tent.] A 
king of Ifrael, &c. 
DA'VID, king of the Jews, one of the mod illuftrious 
characters of ancient times, was the younged Ion of Jeffe, 
of the tribe of Judah, who dwelt in the city of Bethle¬ 
hem, and was born in tire year of the world 2860, or 
1090 before Chrift. There are few circumfiances in fcrip- 
ture hillory which have occafioned more improper re¬ 
marks, and wanton indecencies, than the character of 
David. This has principally arifen from the pert fami¬ 
liarity with which di (believers inveftigate, and the confum- 
mate illiberality with which they decide on the operations 
of Providence. Feeling a (hort-fighted filtered in leflen- 
ing the authority of (acred writ, they fearch only for ob¬ 
jections, and twift every circumftance unfavourable to 
their caufe, tili they bring it to agree with their own 
principles. Unwilling to admit what they require in 
their ovvn cafes, they never dwell on the tendency of 
events; they forbear to look into the principles of a 
tranfaCtion ; they refufe to efteem the rule whereby God 
has condefcended to inftruCt our race. Notwithflanding 
this highly-diitinguifhed character is marked by peculia¬ 
rities very proper to be urged to our imitation, (till he 
was certainly not deftitute of faults, nor was he exempt 
from crimes. It is a melancholy portrait of human na¬ 
ture. But, although we difeovsr fuch dark (hades in a 
character fo eminently favoured, no one who contem¬ 
plates the fum of his conduCt, will prefume to cenfure 
the marks of honour and approbation whereby he was 
diftinguilhed. Though highly zealous in the fervice of 
God, vve never trace in him a reliance on his own 
ftrength, or a prefumption on the divine favour; no in¬ 
timations of fuperior purity; nothing, in fliort, but a 
jealoufy of liimfelf; a quick apprehenfion of his finful- 
nefs ; a fenfe of his weaknefs and c.onfequent humility. 
Grief and bitter tears follow clofe on his tranfgre(lions : 
on his refolves, amendment and an improvement in the 
laws of his Creator. His being called in (cripture a man 
after God’s own heart, is intended to exprefs his peculiar 
qualifications for the purpofes to which he was defigned 
by divine providence, and, in particular, his fteady adhe¬ 
rence to the worfhip of the one true God, in oppofition to 
the idolatrous and fuperfiitious practices of the furround¬ 
ing nations, with which the Ifaelites themfelves had been 
too frequently infeCted. Of the mod rational and animated 
piety, his fublime and excellent compofitions afford ex¬ 
amples, the beauty of which will not ceafe to be felt 
and admired, fo long as a ferious regard to the Deity, or 
a juft take, prevail in the world. They abound in the 
nobleft fentiments, the granded images, the mod affeCt- 
ing pathos, and all the charms and graces of genuine 
poetry. The book of Pfalms confifts chiefly of fuch 
pieces as David liimfelf compofed, many of which have 
his name prefixed to them, and of facred hymns by Mofes, 
Solomon, Afaph, Hainan, and others, before and after 
David’s time ; which were, mod probably, collected to¬ 
gether, and placed in the order in which we now have 
them, by Ezra, after the return of the Jews from the 
Babylonifh captivity. 
DA'VID,- a celebrated philofopher of Armenia, flou- 
rifhed about the middle of the fifth century. He fludied 
at Athens, where he made liimfelf mafler of the lan¬ 
guage and philofophy of the Greeks; whence he went 
in company with his learned countryman, Mofes, fur- 
named the Grammarian, and afterwards archbifhop of 
Kerona, to Condantinople. In that city he refided for 
Vol, V. No. 303. 
D A V 017 
fome time, before the termination of a war between the 
Armenians and Perfians permitted him to return in fafetv 
to his native country. His occupations in that city were, 
the indruCtion of a number of difciples in philofophy, 
and the tranflation into Armenian of fuch Greek book - 
as he conlidered to be mod valuable and ufeful. In his 
philofophy he refrained from fervilely following either 
Plato or Aridotle, but felefted fuch of the opinions of 
both as appeared to him to be mod true and judicious, 
and freely controverted and qxpofed their errors. Ac¬ 
cording to the abbe Villefroi, he reafons with folidity 
and perfpicuity, in a dyle that is flowing and precife. 
Of his writings, which have remained hitherto in manu- 
feript in what was the king’s library at Paris, the (ub- 
jeCfs are detailed by Moreri. 
DA'VID, a maronite archbidiop, in the eleventh cen¬ 
tury. He was the tranflator of the conditutions of the 
maronite church from the Syriac into the Arabic lan¬ 
guage, about the year 1059. Abraham Ecchellenfis, the 
learned Syriac and Arabic profeffor in the college royal 
at Paris, makes frequent ufe of the authority ot thefe 
conditutions ; and a Latin abridgment of them may be 
found in father Simon’s colledtion of letters ot John 
Morin, and other learned men, which was publiflied in 
England, in 1682, under the title of Antiquitates Ecclef<e 
Orientalis. 
DA'VID, a city of Paledine, in the tribe of Benjamin, 
fituated upon Mount Zion. Its ancient names were, Je- 
bufi, the fort of Zion, and Jerufalem, which lad it re¬ 
tains to this day. It appears to have been a place of 
great drength, infomuch that the Ifraelites, in the days 
of Joflma, could not totally expel the ancient inhabi¬ 
tants, (compare Judges i. 8. 21. with JoJh. xv. 63.) and 
they remained unconquered and unmolefled until the 
reign of king David ; and even then they prided them¬ 
felves fo much upon its natural drength, that they fent 
David this defiance : “ Except thou take away the blind 
and the lame, thou (halt not come in hither,” dignifying 
that fuch objects as thofe were capable of maintaining 
podeflion of it. Neverthelefs, David took the drong 
hold of Zion; the fame is the city of David. It was 
the lad place in Canaan contended for, or furrendered 
to the Ifraelites. It afterwards became the capital of 
Paledine, and continued to be fo for ages afterwards, 
and the chief refidence of David and his fucceflors. Here 
he brought the ark of God; and here, at his indance, the 
holy temple was built. Here was the royal fepulchre of 
the kings of Judah. It was here that Jefus Chrid com¬ 
pleted his minidry, and finiflied the work ot man’s re¬ 
demption, and from whence he commanded his apodles 
fird to commence their minidry. For particulars relative 
to this city in its after-date, fee Jerusalem. 
DA'VID el DA'VID, one of the falfe mefliahs.of 
the Jews, made his appearance in Perfia, in the latter 
end of the twelfth century. He was a man of consider¬ 
able learning, and of great addrefs, and had the art to 
perfuade numbers of the Jews who were fettled on the 
mountain called Haphtan, that he was the promifed me(- 
fiahj-who was to lead them back to Judea, and re-efla- 
bti(h the kingdom and throne of David. At his infliga- 
tion they took up arms, and committed various acts ol 
hodility againd Laid Aladin king of Perfia, whofe mea- 
fures to fupprefs their infurrection, and to fecure the 
perfon of their leader, were for fome time unfuccefsful. 
At length, however, the impodor appears to have been 
betrayed by his father-in-law, and beheaded. Accord¬ 
ing to fome authors he was brought into the king’s pre¬ 
fence, where he boldly avowed his pretenfions to the 
charadter which he had affirmed, and offered to give the 
mod convincing proof of them by refloring liimfelf to 
life, if the king would give orders that his head diould 
be dricken oft’. The experiment was made accordingly, 
and anfwered the purpofe which the falfe mefliah in¬ 
tended ; for it enabled him to efcape the cruel tortures 
which he well knew they were preparing to inflict on 
7 S him. 
