Model and Penitent: King David in Niccolò Machiavelli’s Work

• In Event: Religious Knowledge, Religious Practice, and Political Authority

Abstract

Machiavelli portrays King David as a model prince, especially in The Prince. However, few Machiavellian scholars have paid attention to the significance of King David in Machiavelli’s neglected discourse “Exhortation to Penitence,” instead focusing on the author’s sincerity or his unrevealed Christian ideas. I argue that Machiavelli situates David as a model hero and a penitent prince, with a duality that helps to understand the relation between religion and politics. First, through analyzing Machiavelli’s political works, I claim that David is a “new prince,” who makes use of public religion for political goals. Second, based specifically on the “Exhortation to Penitence,” David is a “penitent prince,” who asks for mercy and forgiveness in his private use of religion. Thus, this paper gives a new interpretation of King David’s virtue from a reading of “Exhortation to Penitence.” I explore not only Machiavelli’s notion of virtue found in military and political motives, but also from the role of penitence in politics. I conclude with a reflection on how the notion of David’s penitence can elucidate Machiavelli’s political theory and the place of political virtue in comprehending governments.

Author

• Ely Orrego-Torres, Northwestern University