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The David J. Joseph Company Business Information, Profile, and History

300 Pike Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
U.S.A.

Company Perspectives:

The David J. Joseph Company will focus on deepening customer relation ships. We will be the leading provider of value added services to the steel, metals and related industries. We will extend our global reac h in concert with SHV and affiliates. The Company will seek to manage its business portfolio for earnings growth and investment return to exceed shareholder expectations. The Company's continuing success wil l be built upon its century-long core values as well as the quality a nd responsiveness of its employees. We will develop our human resourc es in sufficient depth and strength to assure the full realization of our mission and objectives.

History of The David J. Joseph Company

The David J. Joseph Company (DJJ) is widely recognized as America's o ldest and largest scrap iron and steel company. With more than $5 billion in sales and $600 million in assets, DJJ is also one of the largest scrap metal companies in the world. The company provides procurement services for scrap consumers, ferrous and nonferrous scra p trading and processing, international scrap and substitutes marketi ng, ferro-alloy and nodular and foundry pig iron trading, mill servic es, rail services, industrial scrap services, and railcar lease, purc hase, sale, and finance. DJJ operates as a subsidiary of Netherlands- based SHV Holdings, N.V.

Early History

The company's history can be traced back to the mid-19th century, whe n German immigrant Joseph Joseph started a textiles business in Cinci nnati. Swept up in the industrial revolution, the founder launched a scrap iron business in 1885. The railroad and construction industries helped increase demand for steel--and in turn boosted the scrap busi ness--throughout the late 19th century.

Known in the late 1800s and early 1900s as the Joseph Joseph & Br others Company, the family business diversified vertically and horizo ntally. The Indiana Rolling Mill Co. subsidiary was eventually merged into Republic Iron & Steel, a leading steelmaker in the early 20 th century. The founder also created the Railway Supply Company and t he Ohio Falls Iron Company.

Although each of the founder's five sons earned positions in manageme nt, it was the youngest who rose to the top. David Joseph first start ed working at the scrap brokerage in 1897 at the age of 11. The futur e company namesake rejoined the firm in 1905 after earning degrees fr om the Franklin Institute and Harvard University. He advanced to lead ership of scrap operations by the time he was 30. Following the 1920 dissolution of Joseph Joseph & Brothers, the David J. Joseph Co. was formed to pursue the scrap iron business.

The development of the open-hearth furnace in the early 1900s both im proved the quality of steel and encouraged consumption of scrap metal . Although steel manufacturers used "home scrap" from their own opera tions, the burgeoning auto industry's voracious appetite drove the ex pansion of the purchased scrap business.

Nonetheless, the scrap business remained a risky proposition ruled by the cyclical dictates of supply and demand. Scrap dealers played the odds, stockpiling material when prices dropped and selling when dema nd drove prices up. Scrap collection grew so efficient that an analys t for American Metal Market characterized the market as "demand-drive n," asserting that "scrap is bought, not sold." A 1995 company public ation noted that DJJ dealers occasionally "resorted to barter, taking finished steel in the attempt to make a profit." Given the structure of the industry, DJJ evolved into a brokerage. It established contra cts with steelmakers that required the firm to find scrap supplies to meet steelmakers' needs.

Surviving the Great Depression/War Years

The speculative nature of the scrap iron business was exacerbated by the Great Depression, which in the United States shut down more than half of the capacity for steel production. According to a company his tory, David Joseph did not let the national financial crisis stand in the way of a good deal. The 1933 purchase of 16,000 Southern Railroa d railcars and engines is an oft-cited case in point. DJJ shipped a w hopping 625,000 tons of scrap to Great Britain four years later. Larg e, risky transactions such as this helped DJJ rebound in the mid-1930 s.

DJJ's close ties to the railroad business developed into an enduring, but lesser-known, segment of the family company. Railcars were an ab undant source of scrap steel. DJJ's railcar scrapping developed propr ietary burning equipment for wood-lined boxcars. The firm not only sc rapped railroad equipment, it also refurbished railcars. Some of thes e were drafted for use in a company-owned fleet that transported scra p across the country; others were sold or leased to railroads and bus inesses. This auxiliary operation eventually developed into DJJ's Rai lroad Equipment Division, which had facilities in Illinois, Nebraska, Colorado, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, Texas, an d Utah by the late 1980s. This division maintained a fleet of nearly 10,000 general-purpose railcars by the mid-1990s.

By the early 1940s DJJ was generally acknowledged to be America's lar gest scrap iron broker; it also ranked as a top scrap iron and steel exporter. David J. Joseph, Jr., joined the family firm in 1938 and as sumed the presidency in 1945. In contrast to his father, the Yale alu mnus was better known for his managerial techniques than his trading prowess. DJJ expanded with the steel industry throughout the postwar era.

A New Parent Company for DJJ in 1975

The Joseph family divested ownership of its namesake company to SHV H oldings, N.V. of The Netherlands in 1975. SHV was a worldwide global trading conglomerate with interests that included wholesaling and ene rgy. David J. Joseph, Jr., accepted the presidency of SHV's North Ame rican Holding Corporation and remained in that capacity for seven yea rs. He retired in 1982.

James R. Breth was elected to DJJ's presidency in 1980. He had starte d as a broker in one of the firm's southern offices, advancing to off ice manager in 1960. He became vice-president of trading in 1976. In 1986, the veteran trader was elected chairman.

Technological advances and structural changes in the steel industry b enefited DJJ in the 1980s and early 1990s. Just as open-hearth furnac es had changed the face of the steel industry at the dawn of the 20th century, the development of the electric-arc furnace in the 1960s sp urred another revolution. The electric-arc furnace used scrap iron an d steel--instead of the traditional mix of iron ore, limestone, and c oke--to make a limited range of steel products. Compared with convent ional integrated mills, the "minimills" that evolved around electric- arc furnace technology were faster, more efficient, more versatile, a nd more productive than their dominant counterparts. At the same time , steel mills striving for increased efficiency reduced their product ion of "home scrap," thereby raising their need for purchased scrap. Thus, even as U.S. steel production declined in the late 1970s and ea rly 1980s, demand for purchased scrap iron and steel increased.

The minimill segment of the steel industry fit well with DJJ's own de centralized strategy. Its regional markets and emphasis on autonomy e choed DJJ's corporate culture. DJJ had the foresight to forge close t ies with two of the most important minimills in the United States, Nu cor Corp. and Florida Steel Corp. Established in 1967, North Carolina -based Nucor had grown into the largest and most profitable producer in the minimill sector. DJJ enjoyed valuable exclusive brokerages wit h Nucor and Florida Steel.

DJJ's internal technological advances created efficiencies and improv ed profitability as well. Perhaps most noteworthy was the company's i nformation system that linked company traders, and technology facilit ated the coordination of orders and supplies.

Global Expansion in the 1980s and Early 1990s

The vast majority of DJJ's post-World War II business was conducted d omestically, but in recognition that the United States was the world' s largest exporter of scrap, the company reentered international mark ets in 1985 and created an international division two years later. Wi th the support of its globally influential parent, DJJ expanded its g eographic reach through exports to Canada, Mexico, and overseas marke ts. In 1993, DJJ expanded railcar leasing, repair, and remarketing in to Mexico through a joint venture with Servicios Financieros Quadrum S.A.

DJJ also expanded through acquisition in the late 1980s and early 199 0s. After a six-year hiatus, the company reentered the nonferrous seg ment of the scrap business with the purchase of United Iron & Met al Co., a Baltimore firm. The 1991 acquisition of Frank H. Nott Inc., a private, family-owned company founded in 1887, further expanded DJ J's nonferrous activities.

Two publicized attempts to expand DJJ's processing activities through acquisition were inexplicably aborted, however. In 1992, the company initiated the $18 million purchase of three southern scrap yards from Proler International Corporation. The deal was abandoned within months of its announcement with no public explanation. Less than a y ear later, the proposed acquisition of Ferrous Processing & Tradi ng Company, a major Detroit-area scrap yard, fell through. Later in 1 993, DJJ was able to acquire two ferrous scrap shredders from the ban krupt CF & I Steel Corporation.

Although DJJ's processing operations remained limited in the early 19 90s, the company was not sheltered from the environmental pitfalls of this aspect of the scrap business. Scrap processing entails handling and disposition of the hazardous byproducts of everything from autom obiles to medical equipment. As a result, it is regulated by state an d federal environmental and worker safety agencies. In 1993, DJJ's Ta mpa, Florida, scrap yard discovered two cancer therapy devices contai ning radioactive material. (Both components were found before any har m was done.) DJJ also has been involved in a Tampa-area Superfund cle anup ordered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These event s dramatically illustrated some of the risks associated with the scra p industry.

DJJ got a new leader in 1992, when Louis F. Terhar, Jr., advanced to president and chief executive officer. Terhar had been with DJJ a sca nt three years. James Breth stayed on as chairman.

Industry analysts were divided over the prospects for the domestic an d international scrap markets in the mid-1990s and beyond. Some predi cted that rising global minimill capacity and production would fuel s crap steel shortages. That was good news for scrap dealers, who antic ipated higher prices. Other analysts, however, forecast that rising s crap prices would simply revitalize the more traditional integrated p roduction methods. Given the support of its parent, its historical pe rformance, and its strong ties to the minimill sector, DJJ's position appeared impervious to market shifts.

DJJ in the Late 1990s and Beyond

DJJ made several key moves in the late 1990s and early years of the n ew millennium that solidified its position in the scrap metal industr y. During 1996 the company formed Western Metals Recycling LLC when i t merged its processing facilities in Plymouth, Utah, and Englewood, Colorado, with those of Atlas Steel Inc. Two years later, the company partnered with Newell Recycling Company to create Trademark Metals R ecycling LLC, a processing company based in Tampa, Florida. Later tha t year, DJJ added Klempner Brothers Inc. and the River City Baling an d River City Shredding yards in Louisville, Kentucky to its arsenal. River Metals Recycling LLC was formed as a result of the deal.

DJJ also worked to bolster its railcar leasing business during this t ime period. In November 1998, the company bought FerroQuadrum, S.A. d e C.V., a large railcar leasing and repair firm based in Mexico. DJJ believed the purchase would strengthen its transportation services di vision, which benefited from a North American rail system that stretc hed from Montreal, Canada, to Mexico City.

By now, sales had surpassed $2 billion. DJJ continued to forge pa rtnerships as it entered the year 2000. It joined with Ferrous Proces sing & Trading Co. of Detroit, Michigan, to create Gemini Recycli ng Group LLC The venture gave DJJ a strong foothold in Detroit, one o f the largest scrap producing areas in the country. Gemini was establ ished as a full-service company that processed, transported, and sold scrap metal for manufacturers who produced scrap metal as a byproduc t.

In September 2000, the company formed DJJ Metals Group, which was est ablished to oversee the marketing of metal sales including aluminum, copper, brass, nickel, and stainless.

DJJ's Trademark Metals Recycling group installed a new mega-shredder at its Tampa Port in Florida in 2002. The new shredder was much more efficient and had the capacity to produce up to 30,000 tons each mont h--double the capacity of the old shredder.

During 2002, River Metals Recycling installed the world's first onlin e bulk scrap analyzer at its Newport, Kentucky facility. In September 2004, the second Gamma-Tech Crossbelt Metal Analyzer went online in Louisville, Kentucky. DJJ had worked with Gamma-Tech since the late 1 990s to develop the new analyzer, which after several rounds of testi ng was able to accurately determine the chemical makeup of scrap grad es.

DJJ's actions during the last five years had left it on solid ground. It remained the largest scrap broker in the United States with 11 of fices, and by 2005 sales had moved past the $5 billion mark. DJJ planned to continue to strengthen its ferrous brokerage, ferro-alloy, metals, processing, and rail operations in the future. As the leader in its industry, The David J. Joseph Company appeared to be well pos itioned for success in the years to come.

Principal Divisions: Ferrous Brokerage; Ferro-Alloy; Metals Gr oup; Processing; Rail Equipment Group; Services.

Principal Competitors: Commercial Metals Company; Metal Manage ment Inc.; Philip Services Corporation.

Related information about David

Second king of Israel, and the first of the dynasty that governed Judah and Israel until the exile, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem. According to Jewish tradition he is the author of several of the Psalms, and according to some Christian traditions he is the ancestor of Jesus. He was a warrior under King Saul (and his son-in-law), but his successes against the Philistines (including the killing of Goliath) caused the king's jealousy, and he was forced to become an outlaw. After Saul's death, he became king over Judah in Hebron, and later was chosen king of all Israel. He made Jerusalem the political and religious centre of his kingdom, building a palace for himself on its highest hill, Zion (the ‘city of David’), and placing the Ark of the Covenant there under a tent. He united the many tribes of Israel, and extended his territory from Egypt to the Euphrates. The later part of his reign was troubled by the revolts of his sons Absalom and Adonijah. He was succeeded by Solomon, his son by Bathsheba.

King David (Hebrew: ??????, Standard Davíd Tiberian ; "belovéd") was the second king of the united kingdom of Israel (c.

Scriptural account of David's life

This section summarizes major episodes from David's life as recorded in the Hebrew Bible, blending legendary elements.

The choosing of David

God has withdrawn his favour from King Saul and sends the prophet Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem, "for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." And so David comes to Saul, "and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer...And whenever the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand;

David and Goliath

The Israelites under Saul are facing the army of the Philistines. David, the youngest of the sons of Jesse, brings food each day to his brothers who are with Saul, and hears the Philistine champion, the giant Goliath, challenge the Israelites to send out their own champion to decide the outcome in single combat. David brings back the head of Goliath to Saul, who asks him whose son he is, and David tells him, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite".

David is made king

An Amalekite soldier who claims to have killed Saul - at the king's request - brings the news to David, who kills him for having laid hands on an anointed king, and then sings a song of lament for Saul and Jonathan. David then goes up to Hebron in Judah, where he is anointed king of Judah, while in the north Saul's son Ish-bosheth is king over Israel. "There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David, and David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker," until Ish-bosheth is assassinated. Yet with the death of the son of Saul the elders of Israel come to Hebron, and David is anointed king of Israel, uniting the two kingdoms.

Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite

David, infatuated with the beautiful Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, commits adultery with her. I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

David's adultery is a fulfillment of God's own foretelling, through the judge Samuel, of what will happen for the nation if they foresake God as their king and, like their neighbors, take a man from among them to be king. This is entirely brought to light in the confrontation between David and the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 11,12), where Nathan metaphorically describes David's sin through the story of a wealthy man who robs from his poor neighbor. This is a lesson which Israel and its kings will repeatedly ignore.

Considering the cultural aspects of his sin, David is a monarch who impregnated Bathsheba even though he was already married to Michal and Abigail. If David's monarchy wasn't blessed from God it would have been usual for him to impregnate and kill anyone he chose verify source, this was a popular practice in antiquity citation needed. David's transgression against God is more a matter of having murdered of Uriah and having attempted to conceal it rather than his adultery - note that God's condemnation via Nathan does not address this specific act of adultery but focuses on David's self-serving and merciless violenece. The fallout from David's sin was incest and murder among his own children (1 Kings: Absalom, Tamar & Amnon et al.).

The prophetic Talmud view adamantly asserts that David committed no sin in his taking of Bathsheba. According to the Talmud, it was the custom of Israelite soldiers to leave their wives with a bill of divorce, so as to avoid the possibility of a woman being unable to remarry if her husband went missing in action.

Absalom

David's beloved son Absalom rebels against his father. The armies of Absalom and David come to battle in the Wood of Ephraim, and Absalom is caught in the branches of oak. David's general Joab kills him as he hangs there.

The Psalms

David is described as the author of the majority of the Psalms of the Bible. I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul:

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

thou anointest my head with oil;

my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."

The reign of David

"Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. and Solomon his son reigned in his stead."

David's family

David's father was Jesse (??? "Gift", Standard Hebrew Yí?ay, Tiberian Hebrew Yí?ay / Y??ay), the son of Obed, son of Boaz of the tribe of Judah and Ruth the Moabite, whose story is told at length in the Book of Ruth. (The "Pharez" that heads the line is Judah's son, ).

David had eight wives, although he appears to have had children from other women as well:

Michal, the second daughter of King Saul
Ahinoam of Jezreel
Abigail, previously wife of the evil Nabal
Maachah
Haggith
Abital
Eglah
Bathsheba, previously the wife of Uriah the Hittite

In his old age he took the beautiful Abishag into his bed, leaving her still a virgin on his death .

As given in , David had sons by various wives and concubines; By Bathsheba, his sons were:

Shammua
Shobab
Nathan
Solomon

His sons born in Hebron by other mothers included:

Amnon was the progeny of David and Ahinoam
Daniel was the progeny of David and Abigail
Absalom was the progeny of David and Maachah
Adonijah was the progeny of David and Haggith
Shephatiah was the progeny of David and Abital
Ithream was the progeny of David and Eglah

His sons born in Jerusalem by other mothers included:

Ibhar
Elishua
Eliphelet
Nogah
Nepheg
Japhia
Elishama
Eliada
Eliphelet

David also had at least one daughter, Tamar, progeny of David and Maachah and the full sister of Absalom.

"Descendants" of David

A number of persons have claimed descent from the Biblical David, or had it claimed on their behalf. August 1609 Prag).

Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia.
Bahá'u'lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Bahá'í Faith.

David as a religious figure

David in Judaism

In Judaism, David's reign represents the formation of a coherent Jewish kingdom with its political and religious capital in Jerusalem and the institution of a royal lineage that culminates in the Messianic Age. David's descent from a convert (Ruth) is taken as proof of the importance of converts within Judaism. before David they were a group of many tribes but David destroyed almost all separation of the individual tribes.

David is also viewed as a tragic figure;

David in Christianity

In Christianity, David is important as the ancestor of the Messiah. Early Christians believed that the Hebrew scriptures prophesied that the Messiah would come from David's line; the Gospels of Matthew and Luke therefore traced Jesus' lineage to David to fulfill this requirement. (See Davidic line).

David later became figurative of Christ, the slaying of Goliath being compared to the way Jesus defeated Satan when Jesus died on the cross, or of the Christian believer.

The Catholic Church celebrates his feast day on December 29.

David in Islam

David (Arabic: ?????, D?w?d), is one of the prophets of Islam, to whom the Zabur (Psalms) were revealed by God. Muslims reject the Biblical portrayal of David as an adulterer and murderer. This is based on the Islamic belief in the righteousness of prophets (Arabic: "Nabi").

Goliath appears in the Qur'an as Jalut, which is Arabic for Goliath;

David in Mormonism

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints originally cited David to justify polygamy, but the Church forbade polygamy in 1890 and his significance is currently taught in terms familiar to traditional Christianity, as a righteous man brought low by failing to deal with sinful desires.

David in the Bahá'í Faith

In the Bahá'í faith, David is seen as a prophet during the dispensation of Moses, and Bahá'u'lláh, the Prophet-Founder of the Religion, is seen to be a descendent. bahai-library.com/?file=gonzales_genealogy_shoghieffendi

Historicity of David

See The Bible and history and dating the Bible for a more complete description of the general issues surrounding the Bible as a historical source.

The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) itself, being composed of no less than thirty-nine books traditionally written on twenty-four scrolls, is a library of many different sources, all of which are ancient.

The most relevant biblical books are 1 and 2 Samuel, because they contain the earliest biblical account of almost all of David's career, followed in relevance by 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. Among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest scroll of a biblical book happens to be that of Samuel (that is, 1 and 2 Samuel).

Although at least one small portion of the Hebrew Bible from biblical times has been discovered in a dig (parts of the benediction in Numbers 6:24?26 on two silver scroll amulets recovered from a grave at Ketef Hinnom), it must be observed that each book of the Bible, having been handed down for generations by recopying, rather than having been excavated, is an example of a received text, a textus receptus. (So are the works of Homer, which originated in the eighth to seventh centuries BCE, and the works of Plato, from ca. In the first of these, Saul sends for David as one known for his skill on the lyre and makes him his armour-bearer, while in the second Saul first meets David when he defeats Goliath.

More fundamentally, the texts as they currently exist have been subject to revision and redaction over many centuries, notably during the reign of King Josiah of Judah at the end of the 7th century BC. Dever?point to the similar architecture of the massive, fortified gates of several cities built in what would have been the home territory of David's and Solomon's united kingdom of Israel as evidence that they were built by a powerful Hebrew king during the period that the Bible assigns to the reign of Solomon (compare 1 Kings 9:15-16). Dever, What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2001).

Despite debates about particular biblical episodes within the reigns of various Hebrew kings, most biblical scholars regard the list of Hebrew kings contained in the books of Samuel and Kings, and repeated in Chronicles, as well-established and reliable. 153?154.

Turning to sources outside of the Bible for the specific case of David, three inscriptions are either clearly or potentially relevant. The first is from an Aramean king, the second is from a Moabite king, and the third is from an Egyptian Pharaoh:

First, the famous Tel Dan Stele provides the only clear non-Biblical evidence of King David's existence and status as the founder of a Hebrew dynasty. Dated to the period from the mid-9th to mid-8th centuries BC and erected by an Aramean king (probably the king of Damascus) to record a victory over Israel, the text says inter alia: "I killed Achazyahu son of Joram king of the House of David." (The words and letters within square brackets have been supplied using biblical content.) While the reading has been questioned, it is accepted by a majority of scholars as confirming the existence in the 9th/8th centuries BC of a line of kings claiming descent from a dynasty founder named David.

A second stele, the Moabite Stone or Mesha Stele, erected by a king of Moab in about 850 BCE, has also been read as containing the phrase "house of David."

A third possible mention of King David is found in a standing monumental Egyptian inscription of Pharaoh Shoshenq I (called Shishaq in the Bible) that is dated to 924 BCE?only about forty years after David's death as calculated according to the books of Kings and Chronicles. This particular place-name is Hadabiyat-Dawit, translated by Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen as "highland of David" or "heights of David," and it is located in the Negev region, where the Bible says that David hid as a fugitive from Saul for lengthy periods of time. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 76 (1997): 29?44, especially 39?41.

In 2005, Israeli archaeologist Eilat Mazar, excavating in the most ancient portion of Jerusalem, which is called the City of David, in East Jerusalem uncovered an alleged King David's Palace site, but there is no reliable archaeological assessment currently available. The objectivity of her archaeological research was called into question by Israeli newspapers, and by some fellow- archaeologists, due to her known links with settlers who try to establish themselves in Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.

The strongest argument for the historicity of King David is the area of specific agreement between the Bible and the Tel Dan stele. The biblical content presents David as a Hebrew king who founded a dynasty called "the house of David" (in Isaiah 7:13, etc.) that lasted more than four centuries. The Tel Dan stele presents David as a king, most likely a Hebrew, and the founder of a dynasty called "the house of David." 193-194.

A somewhat different but related question has to do not with the historicity of King David, that is, whether he existed, but rather with the many episodes and details of the biblical presentation of him. On the other hand, extant inscriptions of this era simply do not contain detailed information about the lives of members of societies which are foreign to the writer, so one cannot realistically expect to find inscriptional corroboration of biblical details of the life of any Hebrew person in a foreign inscription?or vice versa?from the period of the Hebrew monarchies.

The question of whether the biblical portrayal of David and his successors amounts to royal propaganda must take into consideration the prophetic rebukes of the monarchs of Israel and Judah in the books of 1-2 Samuel and 1-2 Kings.

Representation in art and literature

Art

Famous sculptures of David include (in chronological order) those by:

Donatello (ca. 1430 - 1440) (see Donatello's David)
Andrea del Verrocchio (1476)
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1504) (see Michelangelo's David)
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1624) (see Bernini's David)
Antonin Mercié (1873)

Literature

Elmer Davis's 1928 novel Giant Killer retells and embellishes the Biblical story of David, casting David as primarily a poet who managed always to find others to do the "dirty work" of heroism and kingship. In the novel, Elhanan in fact killed Goliath but David claimed the credit; and Joab, David's cousin and general, took it upon himself to make many of the difficult decisions of war and statecraft when David vacillated or wrote poetry instead.

Gladys Schmitt wrote a novel titled "David the King" in 1946 which proceeds as a richly embellished biography of David's entire life. The book took a risk, especially for its time, in portraying David's relationship with Jonathan as overtly homoerotic, but was ultimately panned by critics as a bland rendition of the title character.

In Thomas Burnett Swann's Biblical fantasy novel How are the Mighty Fallen (1974) David and Jonathan are explicitly stated to be lovers. Moreover, Jonathan is a member of a winged semi-human race (possibly nephilim), one of several such races co-existing with humanity but often persecuted by it.

Joseph Heller, the author of Catch-22, also wrote a novel based on David, God Knows. The portrayal of David as a man of flaws such as greed, lust, selfishness, and his alienation from God, the falling apart of his family is a distinctly 20th century interpretation of the events told in the Bible.

Juan Bosch, Dominican political leader and writer, wrote "David: Biography of a King" (1966) a realistic approach to David's life and political career.

Film

Gregory Peck, played King David in the 1951 film David and Bathsheba, directed by Henry King. Susan Hayward played Bathsheba and Raymond Massey played the prophet Nathan.

Richard Gere portrayed King David in the 1985 film King David directed by Bruce Beresford.

Footnotes

(Note:Online Bible references are to the Revised Standard Version)

References

Kirsch, Jonathan (2000) "King David: the real life of the man who ruled Israel". ISBN 0-345-43275-4.
See also the entry for David in Easton's Bible Dictionary.

Chronology

Key Dates:
1885: Joseph Joseph launches a scrap iron business.
1921: The company is renamed the David J. Joseph Co.
1975: The Joseph family divests ownership of its namesake comp any to SHV Holdings, N.V.
1987: DJJ creates an international division.
1996: Western Metals Recycling L.L.C. is created.
1998: The company forms River Metals Recycling L.L.C.
2000: The DJJ Metals Group and Gemini Recycling Group L.L.C. a re launched.

Additional topics

Company HistoryMiscellaneous Wholesale Goods

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