Opening 2 Samuel

There appear to be some major differences between 1 and 2 Samuel. For one, the triangle Saul - David - God is no longer generating story tension. David rises to what appears to be a seamless bond with the Lord - at least until he spies Bathsheba.

But 2 Samuel also begins with a man, a seeming wanderer:

2  It came even to pass¹⁹⁶¹ on the third⁷⁹⁹² day,³¹¹⁷that, behold,²⁰⁰⁹ a man³⁷⁶ came⁹³⁵ out of⁴⁴⁸⁰ the camp⁴²⁶⁴ from^4480 5973 Saul⁷⁵⁸⁶ with his clothes⁸⁹⁹rent,⁷¹⁶⁷ and earth¹²⁷ upon⁵⁹²¹ his head:⁷²¹⁸ and so it was,¹⁹⁶¹ when he came⁹³⁵ to⁴¹³ David,¹⁷³² that he fell⁵³⁰⁷ to the earth,⁷⁷⁶ and did obeisance.⁷⁸¹² 

He's about to spin a tale -- the tale will not be believed; in fact, speaking the death of Saul will occasion the death of this stranger. David is facing something more threatening than Goliath: a world of complex motives and lies that will demand from him -- and from us readers -- a hermeneutic of suspicion.