In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all
 |
| Artist: Artemisia Gentileschi |
II Samuel 11:1-12:15a is the story of the adultery of David with Bathsheba. Scholars commonly attribute this material to the so-called “Early Source” in the books of Samuel, an individual with first-hand knowledge of the events recounted. The work of this author, who wrote during the reign of Solomon, makes up the bulk of Second Samuel. Of all the flawed heroes of the Old Testament, David is the most spectacularly flawed of all, given the amount of love and veneration the text affords him. David has been a man of devotion and action. He has had military and financial success. David's greatest failures are often the result of inaction. If this story were not bad enough, however, later in the story David will stand passively by as his son Amnon rapes his daughter Tamar (13:1-22) and is then murdered by Tamar’s brother Absalom, another of David’s sons (13:23-33). He will exile Absalom instead of having him executed for fratricide (13:34-38) and live to regret that decision when Absalom returns to court only to lead a rebellion against David shortly thereafter (14:1-19:8). He does not appear to care about the peacefulness of his successor’s rise to the throne, oblivious to the fact that two of his sons, Adonijah and Solomon, are assuming they are next in line to succeed him (1 Kings 1). The story of his relationship with Bathsheba also begins with a reference to inaction on David's part.
The story of David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba, and the subsequent killing of her husband Uriah, is one of the Bible’s most famous and compelling narratives. This gripping narrative marks the beginning of the story of the domestic troubles that beset the house of King David, Israel’s most illustrious king. There are few examples in ancient literature of stories that show successful and powerful kings in a negative light. The narrator tells this story in a way that shows the horror and immorality of adultery, and thus the overriding importance of moral values. Of course, here is an important example of the breaking of the Ten Commandments. David, the servant of the Lord, the anointed of the Lord, breaks the 10th, 7th, and 6th commandments in succession. The story suggests the power of beauty, the power of desire, the abuse of power, the illusory character of sudden intimacy, and the danger of using people to fulfill our desire. The self-destructive impulse is present here, as well as the socially destructive nature of sin.
The story can be difficult to read, for the narrator has recently painted a positive picture of David. We see hints of problems in his family. We see the suddenness and intensity of his anger. With his power and success, and with the wives and concubines he has as a sign of both, one would not think of as capable of what this story suggests. Part of the difficulty of reading is some of the theology. Although David commits an act worthy of death, the Lord places that punishment upon the child. David will live for another day. Part of the difficulty is wrestling with our tendency toward moralism. It is so tempting to separate ourselves from David, to think we could never do what David did. Our tendency toward self-righteousness can rise quickly. At a deeper level, if we wrestle with what David does here on a personal level, we recognize that David is in us. Failure to respect the boundaries of our sexuality is a temptation for many human beings. Yet, for some persons, a greater source of temptation may come from another place (desire for power, fame, wealth, knowledge, perfection, and so on). Our reflections upon this story should lead us away from moralism, toward the recognition of the power of inappropriate desire, and strengthen our resolve to lead a life that honors our covenant with the Lord and with others.
1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites (II Samuel 10:1-19, with David on the scene, gathering the troops for this battle), and besieged Rabbah (12:26-31 with only Joab and his forces engaging this battle). Thus, David remained at Jerusalem.David is both the mightiest of warriors and a spectator in the wars of the Lord.[1] Although it is the "time when kings go out to battle," David remains in Jerusalem while his nephew Joab (I Chronicles 2:16) goes across the Jordan to lead the siege of Rabbah. Throughout the story, the author juxtaposes David's activities with Bathsheba with Joab and Uriah's activities on the battlefield. In context, David has engaged the Arameans in battle. At the same time, Joab seems frustrated that David is in Jerusalem when he sends a message to David that if David does not gather troops to finish the siege of Rabbah Joab will take the city and make a name for himself (12:26-31).
Thus, while his army is during this "time of going out [to battle]," David is getting his first view of Bathsheba. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David already has many wives, concubines, some of whom were “very beautiful” as well, and children (II Samuel 3:2-5, 5:13-16). Sexual desire has no boundaries. No matter how beautiful is the woman a man has, a man will notice the beauty of other women. He does not have to act. The man of action, who is now inactive in battle, will now turn to being a man of action again, but in the wrong direction. 3 David sent someone to inquire about the woman. The person reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite,” present-day Turkey being the center of the Hittite empire, but they were also Canaan. It is unusual to refer to both father and husband in identifying her. It may be he her father was a soldier as well. Uriah was a foreign mercenary. Uriah is a member of the elite royal corps The Thirty (I Samuel 23:39). David’s betrayal of so trusted (and, as the subsequent narrative depicts, trusting) a comrade-in-arms accentuates the gravity of his sin. 4 David sent messengers to get her, she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) The way the narrator tells the story, one could interpret that David forced himself on her.[2] One ought not to let David off the hook in any way. If she was bathing on the roof, that would have been normal. She was doing so for religious reasons of purification. In terms of the insight of the story regarding coveting and adultery, he saw her beauty, which led to the action of inquiry and the action of sexual relations. Some readers of this story suggest that Bathsheba was complicit in this. They suggest she went up on the roof that day knowing David was watching, and therefore engaged in seduction. While a possible reading of the text, the emphasis upon ritual purification should point us another direction. It heightens the culpability of David. The text goes further in saying that David sends his servant “to get” her. The Hebrew word is better translated "to take" her. Bathsheba, a woman married to a foreigner, certainly did not have the power in that ancient culture to refuse the advances of the king. Thus, David breaks the commandment against committing adultery and that not coveting the wife of your neighbor. Then she returned to her house. 5 The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”When David is done with her, she returns to her home, and that is that. Until, that is, Bathsheba utters the only three words she says in the entire story, "I am pregnant." Now, David has a problem.
6 Therefore, David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. The questions disguise his intent. The fact that the narrator does not mention a response suggests David has no interest in his answer. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet, customary after a long journey.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present (foodstuffs) from the king. 9 Nevertheless, Uriah slept, but not with his wife or even in his house, but at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark, taken to the battlefield in the belief that the presence of God would ensure victory, and Israel and Judah remain in booths (succoth, the simple shelters of the soldiers; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field, as opposed to the comfortable home of Uriah; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.” David tries to cover up his adultery by having her husband have sex with her, but he is a military man and refuses to enjoy sex while his fellow soldiers are in battle. Uriah - though a non-Israelite - knows the Israelite rules of holy warfare too well to go home and sleep with his wife. Their Torah did not allow Israelite soldiers to have sexual relations while on campaign. Such activity caused ritual impurity inconsistent with waging holy war (Leviticus 15:18; Deuteronomy 23:10-11). David hopes that Uriah is not concerned with Israelite covenant law. He is mistaken. Even when David presents Uriah with gifts, he will not forget himself, 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” Therefore, Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, 13 David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. The repetition of “did not go down” stresses the steadfastness of Uriah. We see the heart of Uriah that makes him intent upon fulfilling his duties as a soldier and the service of the king. We need to be thankful for the example such persons set in our lives. Unlike David, we need to listen to them, observe them, and be like them when the time comes. Even when drunk, he does not forget himself. Uriah the Hittite behaves himself like a virtuous Israelite soldier. In the end, Uriah, the foreigner, keeps himself holier according to Israelite law than does the Israelite king, but it is eventually that very holiness that gets him killed.
14 In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. He trusts that Uriah will not open the letter. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.” He becomes complicit in the death of Uriah, thereby breaking yet another commandment. Uriah returns to the battlefield, unwittingly serving as the bearer of his own death warrant. Here again, the theme of action and inaction returns in that David effectively developed a plan to murder Uriah without having to lift a finger of his own to accomplish it. David does not do this because he is in love; he does it because he is in trouble. This planned murder is a cover-up. David goes through all these machinations so that he may hide his sin and maintain his reputation and power. David, the former shepherd, is now King David. He could have used his power to influence people toward liberation and healing. Instead, he sends his people into a battle he does not deem important to attend himself. He uses Bathsheba for his pleasure and sends her away when he is through. Eventually, he uses his commanders to put Uriah in a vulnerable position that not only gets Uriah killed, but other soldiers as well.
Are we in danger of going down with David?
Blondie and Dagwood are watching television. Dagwood remarks, "Boy, there sure is a lot of nudity on TV lately!" "I'll say," replies Blondie. They continue to stare at the TV eyes wide open. Says Dagwood, "Darnedest tire commercial I've ever seen."[3]
Many people, including Christians, are getting themselves into a mess when it comes to sexuality. Americans value their freedom. Many look upon Christianity as imposing a law and thereby restricting freedom. Yet, among the greatest challenges we face is that our freedom of choice will lead to a self-made prison. The point of the boundaries set in the Jewish and Christian tradition regarding sex is that our sexuality is not just about sex. Sexuality is about character, virtue, and the family. We make a mess when we start undermining such important aspects of our lives.
David's treatment of Bathsheba and Uriah is a chilling warning to us. It illustrates the deadly danger of seeing humans as objects -- objects that satisfy our personal desires and agendas. Instead of respecting Bathsheba as a woman and a wife, David sees her as an attractive thing designed to give him pleasure. Instead of honoring Uriah as a soldier and a husband, David disposes of him as though he were an annoying, throwaway object. This story packs an emotional punch as it shows the great harm that we can do when we treat people as objects instead of as human beings.
Fortunately, a simple formula exists to keep us on the right track: Love people, not things; use things, not people. How differently the story of King David would have turned out if he had really loved Bathsheba and Uriah, treating them as the valuable people they were. Instead, he treated them like things -- things designed to satisfy his desires and advance his agenda.
Much of the sexuality debate in this country has revolved around gay sex. However, the larger sexual revolution matter involves heterosexuality, and it is to this matter that the story of David and Bathsheba directs us. Our own desire drags us away and entices us. Once conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin leads to death (James 1:13-15).[4] Death is the grandchild of desire. At this point, the story of David and Bathsheba is not so much one of romance as it is lust and power. A powerful and wealthy man uses his privilege because he can. Most of us know about the Roman Catholic priests who abused their position as well as the money the church paid out to try to keep it quiet. We have another danger to our virtue, character, and family. In our society, we use the word "adult" in odd ways. We call a store where people sell X-rated videos and magazines an "adult" store. We have Web sites that encourage people to break the commandment regarding adultery in multiple ways, and we say those are "adult" sites. Well, yes, we do not want children there, but if they do find their way to such a store or site, we would not want to tell children that what they are seeing is mature behavior or the way grown-ups should relate to others. The seventh commandment tells us not to break the rules of being an adult.
More Americans than you might think are practicing polygamy. Adherents prefer to call it "polyamory": loving more than one person simultaneously and - this is crucial - openly. No one has taken a survey on polyamory, but as with many fringe movements, it has grown on the Web. "Ten years ago, there were maybe three support groups for polies," says Brett Hill, who helps run a magazine (circulation 10,000), a Web site (1,000 hits a month) and two annual conferences for an organization called Loving More. Today there are perhaps 250 polyamory support groups, mostly on the Internet, but some that meet for potluck suppers. Sure, most of them are in such expected precincts as Boston and Los Angeles, but there are also outposts like KanPoly, where polyamorous residents of Kansas can meet others like themselves and even download a "poly pride flag."[5]
Most of us can understand how a moment of oneness with another human being is so exhilarating. The natural walls we have to protect ourselves have come down in that moment. We no longer feel like strangers. If we have felt isolated and maybe unloved, such a moment is all the more powerful. Sexual attraction often accompanies the miracle of sudden intimacy. Yet, by its nature, such a moment does not last. We become acquainted. The sudden intimacy loses its miraculous character. The initial excitement is gone. Such a moment can feel like love. We may even think of it as proof of love. Yet, such a moment is an infatuation with another. It may say more about our preceding loneliness than it does about love.[6]
Please, do not think that you cannot fall into sexual sin. You are not holier than David, stronger than Samson, or wiser than Solomon.
Our culture has not produced anything new.
Are we in danger of going down with David?
You may think reading the story of David, you are not in danger because you are not king. Yet, if we reflect upon it, the story of David reads our culture – and it may well read us. You have influence upon others. You can also abuse the influence or power you have. To use another Old Testament image, we are moving toward the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah.
The problem with conventional sins is that we think they are manageable. He was lazy (slothful) and did not go to battle with his soldiers. He coveted (lusted) the wife of his neighbor. He displays the arrogance and pride of power over others. If we think of the manageable, the danger is present that they become out of control, leading to damage, destruction and even death.
Skipping toward God, instead of Gomorrah, is the way we need to go. Any other direction is bound to be deadly.
How do we deal with the mess?
Here is one story. Vlad was the illegitimate son of a slave and Prince Sviatoslav. He overthrew his half-brother to take over the Russian throne at the age of 43. He was at the top of his career. He unified western Russia. His subjects happily overlooked his drinking, five wives, and 800 concubines. He just could not get enough of women. That is, until 988, when Vlad saw the legendary beauty of Anna, sister of Byzantine Emperor Basil II. Her father would not allow the marriage unless he converted to Christianity. Now, I realize that we might think he would fake it. Well, he underwent the needed instruction, and was faithful to Anna until his death in 1015. He lived an exemplary life so much so that the Orthodox Church made him a saint.[7]
King David's behavior in II Samuel 11:1-15 was destructive -- on many levels.
I am convinced that many people are going down this path of view virtue as confinement or a prison. Virtue limits our freedom, and we Americans cherish our freedom. I am also convinced that the New Testament is quite right to teach us that sin is our real prison from which we need liberation. Reflect again on the pain and hurt caused in engaging in the sins listed here. It sounds fun and freeing, at one level. Yet, we should learn from the experience of David by using whatever influence we have to lift people up, to heal them rather than hurt them.
[1] (Barth 2004, 1932-67) II.2 [35.2] 376.
[2] It is unclear if Bathsheba slept with David willingly. He inquires about her and is told that she is married, but still, the text says, he sent messengers and "to get her" (v. 4). The next phrase in the Hebrew says "and she came to him." The Greek, however, says, "and he entered her," thus eliminating the phrase that makes it seem that Bathsheba was willing to sleep with David. Even without this reading, however, the story makes it clear that David, as king, had the power to summon this woman by sending people to take her from her home, and then to sleep with her. The same expression, "he seized her ... and lay with her" is also used in Genesis 34 to describe what commentators usually call the "Rape of Dinah." Considering all this, it is possible to conclude that adultery was not David's only sin in this episode.
[3] -Young & Drake, "Blondie," The Washington Post, January 28, 2000, C12.
[4] James 1:13-15 13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full–grown, gives birth to death.
[5] -John Cloud, "Henry & Mary & Janet & ..." Time, November 15, 1999.
[6] If two people who have been strangers, as all of us are, suddenly let the wall between them break down, and feel close, feel one, this moment of oneness is one of the most exhilarating, most exciting experiences in life. It is all the more wonderful and miraculous for persons who have been shut off, isolated, without love. This miracle of sudden intimacy is often facilitated if it is combined with, or initiated by, sexual attraction and consummation.
However, this type of love is by its very nature not lasting. The two persons become well acquainted, their intimacy loses more and more its miraculous character, until their antagonism, their disappointments, their mutual boredom kill whatever is left of the initial excitement.
Yet, in the beginning they do not know all this: in fact, they take the intensity of the infatuation, this being "crazy" about each other, for proof of the intensity of their love, while it may only prove the degree of their preceding loneliness ....
There is hardly any activity, any enterprise, which is started with such tremendous hopes and expectations, and yet, which fails so regularly, as love.
--Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving (Harper & Brothers, 1956), 4.
[7] -"The 9 most intriguing people of 999," People Magazine, December 31, 1999, 196.
No comments:
Post a Comment