{"id":60257,"date":"2019-07-29T21:55:43","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T18:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=60257"},"modified":"2023-02-21T14:32:57","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T12:32:57","slug":"how-active-was-bathshebas-participation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/how-active-was-bathshebas-participation\/","title":{"rendered":"How Active Was Bathsheba\u2019s Participation?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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11:4 \u201cAnd David sent messengers and fetched her and she came to him and he lay with her, she having just cleansed herself of her impurity, and she returned to her house.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Commentary: It is not uncommon for biblical narrative to use a chain of verbs in this fashion to indicate rapid, single-minded action. What is unusual is that one verb in the middle of this sequence switches grammatical subject — from David to Bathsheba. When the verb \u201ccome to\u201d or \u201ccome into\u201d has a masculine subject and \u201cinto\u201d is followed by a feminine object, it designates a first act of sexual intercourse. One wonders whether the writer is boldly toying with this double meaning, imitating an element of active participation by Bathsheba in David\u2019s sexual summons. The text is otherwise entirely silent on her feelings, giving the impression that she is passive as others act on her. But her later behavior in the matter of her son\u2019s succession to the throne (1 Kings 1–2) suggests a woman who has her eye on the main chance, and it is possible that opportunism, not merely passive submission, explains her behavior here as well. In all of this, David\u2019s sending messengers first to ask about Bathsheba and then to call her to his bed means that the adultery can scarcely be a secret within the court.<\/span><\/p>\n

From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible<\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. 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