The scene of action moves away from David to another conversation, this time between Nathan (a prophet of God) and Zadok (the high priest). Nathan was on his way to see David in the palace, but Zadok stops him to talk about the test of leadership facing David. Nathan replies that David has already passed that test—in fact, had passed it long ago, when he was young—because it was always a test of the heart, not of one’s leadership abilities. Nathan further notes that the inner character of men like Saul and Absalom seems always to find enemies, wherever they might go: “The Sauls of this world can never see a David; they see only Absalom. The Absaloms of this world can never see a David; they see only Saul” (80). Zadok asks what a pure-hearted man—namely, David—might do in such a situation, and they both express anticipation at seeing how the king will deal with the challenge unfolding before him.

David’s conversations continue when Zadok enters after the latter’s dialogue with the prophet Nathan. David summoned Zadok to talk over a matter relating to Israel’s history. The king wants to hear the story of Korah’s rebellion, an episode during Israel’s ancient wilderness wanderings in which an upstart leader tried to undermine Moses’s authority.