How Do You Tell a True Story, Example: The David and Bathsheba Love Affair? By Bobbie Ann Cole
Whenever we tell a story, true or fiction, we need to be
kind to our reader by taking a position, whether or not they are going to agree
with us. It is the only way we can be clear.
Jesus always did this, to the amazement of his
listeners and the dismay of Pharisees, Scribes and Elders looking on, who loved
to show off their knowledge by examining, ‘on the one hand…’ and ‘on the other
hand…’ until they had accumulated armfuls of possible hands without reaching
any conclusion.
This is exactly what I am about to do now with the
David and Bathsheba story, my purpose being to illustrate just how hard a task
this can be. And to ask you your view of this story, at the same time.
WHO SET UP WHOM?
Just what was going on? Who were the goodies
and who the baddies?
The author perhaps gives us a clue in verse 1: In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.
Do you, like me, detect a note of reproach against King David here? He’s not where he should be. He has let others go fight his battles for him.
THE STORY
Has he stayed home because he is lusting after Bathsheba, bathing in the
lantern-light beneath his balcony? Or is he the victim of her inveiglement?
Perhaps she is acting under coercion from Uriah, her husband, presently
away fighting with the Israelite army?
The story tells us that David seduces Bathsheba, though she has little
choice about the matter, since he sends his men to bring her. After he has his
way with her, he sends her home.
However, she is pregnant, which David tries to cover up by coaxing Uriah
to go home (and, presumably, sleep with his wife) when he is next in Jerusalem.
Uriah, however, refuses and goes off to sleep in the garrison, where his men
are, arguing that, if they can’t go home to their wives, neither should he.
When God gives people a challenging task, He promises
He will be with them and then He sends a helper.By now, Jerusalem’s tongues are wagging. David, frustrated, arranges to
have Uriah killed in battle and marries Bathsheba. David’s friend, the prophet
Nathan, opens David’s eyes to his ungodly behaviour.
David, filled with remorse, though not apparently for what he has done
to Uriah or Bathsheba, cries out to God: “Against
you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,” (Ps.51:4).
This begs the question…
WHO SET UP WHO?
I see four possibilities and I would invite you to make your
own choice. I can see there is an argument to be made for any of four possible
scenarios:
1. Elderly David, too arthritic and cranky to
fight, fancies some fresh meat and has been watching Bathsheba, possibly a teen
of only thirteen or so, the too gorgeously beautiful young bride of one of his
generals, a Hittite foreigner, to boot. He takes her but does not fall for her.
Rather than exercise his right of kings to insist on keeping her, he sends her
home afterward. If he thought Uriah would play ball and pretend it never
happened, he is in for a surprise. Uriah says he would not dream of sleeping
with his wife when his men cannot sleep with theirs. He returns to the front,
only to be ‘killed’ on David’s order. David now marries Bathsheba and, corrupted
by power, does not realize he has done anything untoward until Nathan points it
out. He is then contrite.
2. Uriah, the Hittite general, has plotted against David from the start: forcing his
young wife to get the king going and commanding her to sleep with him, then refusing to go to her and risk having her child by David palmed off on him as his own. Does Uriah plan to blackmail David or just bring him down? Whatever his intentions, David will not forgive upstart Uriah’s failure to play ball and Uriah loses his life.
3. Bathsheba, fed up and bored with the absence of
her husband, the Hittite her parents have married her off to, thinks she could
do better with the king – after all, she knows she is drop-dead irresistible. It
would be a shame not to use those assets. Her heart sinks when David sends her away
after seducing her…But wait – she is pregnant! Surely now the king will marry
her and own his child? But no, he tries to get Uriah to be the Dad. Luckily for
her, (in her opinion), Uriah won’t play ball, which ticks David off, and he
arranges for Uriah to be killed. David is now forced to marry pregnant Bathsheba:
she wins in the end.
4. Uriah and Bathsheba in cahoots set David up.
She falls pregnant, Uriah cannot be considered the father. David, irate,
justifies to himself the killing of upstart Uriah. No one should try stuff like
that on with him! Of course, now he has to save himself from a scandal and marry
yet another wife… Bathsheba. It’s a hard-up life.
Or which of the above do you favour? Let me know in your comments below.
I like your point that we have to take a position when telling a story, Bobbie. I would tell this story from both David's and Bathsheba's POVs. David would be a very unreliable narrator before Nathan was sent by God to confront him with his sin!
ReplyDeleteI preached on this passage once, and made the point that while the text doesn't say it was rape, there is a huge power imbalance between David and Bathsheba that David ruthlessly exploited. No woman would be in a position to say 'no' to the king without possibly endangering her own life and even that of her family's. We don't hear Bathsheba's voice so we have no idea how she felt. It is possible she was flattered by David's seduction, but that doesn't let him off the hook. The Bible lays the blame fairly and squarely on his shoulders and never hints that Bathsheba is an equal partner in the crime of murder or even in the act of adultery. Nathan the prophet speaks up in her defence in his excoriating rebuke of David: she is the exploited lamb, the innocent victim.
So the only option I favour is 1), which is canon. (Was David really that elderly though? Any scenario which has an elderly David perving after a 13 year old girl is seriously icky. Would she really have been that young?)
Thank you Philippa for your contribution. I think there is much to say in favour of your choice of scenario. One thing, however: eventually Bathsheba and David have Solomon - future king, builder of the Temple, a man wise and initially full of faith and devotion. So ALL OF THIS was within God's purposes. Interesting, don't you think?
DeleteI'll never forget the comment made by an ex-military wife when reflecting on the David and Bathsheba story. This is a paraphrase. She said something like, 'When your husband is away on duty, it is a very lonely time and you are in a very vulnerable position. Temptations for military wives are very real when their husbands are away on duty.' I never saw it in this light before, so now whenever, I remember I whisper a prayer for military wives.
ReplyDeleteYes. I was there, Kabwe. She also reflected that no military man would sleep with his wife when his men had to sleep at the front or at the barracks. I had always thought that Uriah was conniving, until I heard that.
DeleteInteresting post. 4 very intriguing possibilities, none of which I agree with. If I had to choose, 1 would be the closest. However, David wasn’t old and arthritic at the time, he fought many battles after this episode and it’s very unlikely Bathsheba was 13. The good news being, my position is captured in my novel Becoming Queen Bathsheba. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteI accept your evidence for David suggesting he was not elderly but mature. But what about Bathsheba - no one knows how old she was. I think I said she could have been as young as 13. But none of us knows. The author must assume that to be irrelevant. In those times, life was short and marriage was at 12-13, which we today find horrendous. They didn't.
DeleteLovely post Bobbie! Almost missed it!! Very interesting perspective there! Thank God for fantasy writing which allows us to imagine and use our creativity to suit the present era we are in, for stories like David and Bathsheba. Inded, all biblical characters! Blessings.
ReplyDeleteMy response to you appears below - thank you, Sophia.
Delete@Philippa Linton suggested writing this story up with David as an unreliable narrator - that sounds to me like a great approach. And there is a lot evidence available to piece together his devout yet determined character, his creativity and his ambition. I wouldn't call that fantasy writing quite - but what genre would it be? Biblical fiction, perhaps. And, yes, Sophia, you could certainly give the story a present-day treatment. Thank you for commenting.
ReplyDeleteThere's another angle on this which Kabwe's phrase "military wives" highlights. Bathsheba's husband (Uriah) and father (Eliam, 2 Sam 11:3) were both part of David's top team of fighters, the Thirty (2 Sam 23:24-39) so potentially known personally to David. Eliam's father, Ahithophel the Gilonite, was one of David's top counsellors (2 Sam 15:12). This points also to Bathsheba being quite young - her grandfather was still alive and active in politics. So Bathsheba may have moved close to court circles herself from a young age; and being from a military family in an age of frequent warfare she would have known the risks of army life. She herself later became involved in palace intrigues with some success (1 Kings 1:11-31) but also some naivete (1 Kings 2:11-22). She seems genuinely to have mourned her first husband (2 Sam 11:26) and following the death of their child David seems to have been able to comfort her (2 Sam 12:24) which may imply genuine affection between them. But the knock-on effects are serious ... I reckon it is probably 10-15 years before David finally recovers spiritually (around the time of the vision in 2 Sam 24) by which time he has faced Absalom's revolt (2 Sam 15 onwards) in which Ahithophel sided with the usurper; yet after his advice was frustrated by Hushai the Arkite (2 Sam 16:15-17:14), Ahithophel committed suicide (2 Sam 17:23). But what drove Ahithophel down this route of supporting Absalom in the first place? Was it perhaps partly disgust at how David had treated his grand-daughter?
ReplyDeleteThank you massively, Martin, for the trouble you have taken to contextualize this story. It had never struck me that it would have been perfectly possible for David to have known Bathsheba socially, rather than simply being taken with her bathing. Great insights.
DeleteWhat a fascinating blog!
ReplyDeleteDo you have a whodunnit opinion? Pray tell, Ruth!
DeleteI'm a bit late to this post; very interesting. I don't buy the idea that David was set up. Uriah was counted amongst his mighty men, as Martin has pointed out, and this would be a betrayal on a massive scale that isn't inferred in the text. I agree that Bathsheba had very little choice in the matter. Bathing on the roof on hot eastern nights is to cool down rather than invite other interest, David should have been elsewhere, as you say. Although it is Solomon who ascends the throne, no one really wins. A baby dies, and a repentant David never seems to quite get back on track after this, in terms of his parenting. His lack of intervention with both Absalom and Amnon is disastrous. Was it his persistent guilt and shame over the Bathsheba affair that rendered him reluctant to act as he should? I don't know; but I do know that God is gracious beyond our understanding. Thanks, Bobbie
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insightful reflections, Jenny. Bathsheba may innocently have been purifying herself in the mikvah after her period was finished - or she may have had grand designs. We shall never know.
DeleteDear Jenny, the above comment is mine. I entered it from my phone.
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