history - Was King David also a Navi?

Is there any suggestion in the scripture (even implicitly) that King David might have been also a Navi?

Answer

Whether or not David was a navi seems be an age-old discussion among Jewish authorities.

On the one hand, there seem to be many futuristic concepts throughout Tehillim, especially about the destruction of the Temple and the eventual redemption. Assuming that David was the author of at least most of the psalms would imply that he had at least some form of prophecy.

On the other hand, though, we don't ever find that God "spoke" to David as he did to other prophets. In fact, when God wanted to give David a direct message, it was sent either by Gad HaChozeh or Nassan HaNavi. This implies that David himself, at least at that time, was not a navi.

As @msh210 pointed out, Chazal count David in their list of Neviim. Rambam, however, believes that he was not really a full-fledged navi. (See here. And here)

To find out what different people belive about David's prophetic status, a good place to look is the commentaries at the beginning of Sefer Tehillim. It is there in Ibn Ezra's introduction that you will find a list of sources in which the scipture "suggests" that David indeed was a navi. (The context there is actually sources that imply David as the author of all of Tehillim.) To give you the first couple:

• "כִּי כֵן מִצְוַת דָּוִיד אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים" [A description we find only by neviim.] (II Divrei Hayamim 8:14)


• "רוּחַ יְהוָה דִּבֶּר בִּי וּמִלָּתוֹ עַל לְשׁוֹנִי" (II Shmuel 23:2)

See Ibn Ezra there; also Radak and Meiri.