The Old Testament story of God's punishment of King David by forcing him to choose for his people between famine, defeat in war or pestilence is recounted in Samuel's Book. Images of David kneeling in prayer with the Lord appearing overhead were popular in illustrated Bibles. The most common way of depicting the theme of David's choices was with scourge or whip for famine, a sword for war, and a skull for pestilence. De Grebber refined this iconography by substituting three slender ears of corn, one of which is broken, for the whip or scourge.