{"id":60272,"date":"2019-07-30T11:13:43","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T08:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=60272"},"modified":"2023-02-21T13:55:08","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T11:55:08","slug":"just-who-was-on-the-roof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/just-who-was-on-the-roof\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Who Was On The Roof?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The instigating image of the saga of David and Bathsheba is that of Bathsheba in her bath. The image of the woman in her bath, nude in a private moment, is a recurring trope in art; it is an image that is vulnerable — the woman in the bath isn\u2019t undressed for anyone\u2019s visual pleasure, but rather because she is bathing herself. That vulnerability is one that can be played on by those in power.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The mental picture I have of Bathsheba bathing is that she herself was bathing on the roof, which made her visible, but this is not how the Jewish Publication Society nor Robert Alter translates the verse: Both versions have David as the party on the roof, observing Bathsheba. The two versions of the verse are born of a textual ambiguity: the verse is unclear if David sees Bathsheba while he is on the roof or while she is on the roof. The commentators Metzudat David and Radak both offer similar remarks: they each note that it is David on the roof, and — as specified by the Radak — Bathsheba in the bath in her own home, seen perhaps through a window.<\/span><\/p>\n

The impulse of both commentators to clarify that Bathsheba was inside indicate that it is not a given from the plain sense of the verse. Indeed, Bathsheba is sometimes portrayed in art as bathing outside, as in Artemisia Gentileschi\u2019s painting \u201cBathsheba.\u201d What is at stake if Bathsheba was bathing on the roof?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Radak\u2019s painstaking emphasis that Bathsheba was indoors, in her home, seems to suggest that it would be a problem for her to be bathing elsewhere. The home is the appropriate place for a woman to take a bath; if Bathsheba was bathing indoors, she is a more \u201cperfect\u201d victim of King David\u2019s inappropriate attentions. A woman cannot be blamed for taking a bath inside her living space.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what if Bathsheba was bathing on the roof? Would she then be more blameworthy in David\u2019s indiscretion? If Bathsheba sat outdoors, enjoying the sun on her skin, as Gentileschi — a rare woman painter in her era — depicts her, is she somehow liable for tempting the king?<\/span><\/p>\n

Even as Bathsheba later demonstrates power and influence in the Davidic court, in this moment he is the king and she is his subject. The demands of the king cannot be refused. It is vital to see this as modern readers of this text; it is irrelevant where Bathsheba was bathing. Her agency here is limited by her status and David\u2019s. We should be able to imagine the Bathshebas of the world able to enjoy the warmth of the sun, the fresh air, unburdened from the guilt of offering temptation to powerful men. David\u2019s sin should not keep Bathsheba indoors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Artemisia Gentileschi – Bathsheba at Her Bath (ca. 1636-1638) \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":60278,"id":60278,"title":"2sam11-Artemisia_Gentileschi_-_Bathsheba_at_Her_Bath","filename":"2sam11-Artemisia_Gentileschi_-_Bathsheba_at_Her_Bath.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-Artemisia_Gentileschi_-_Bathsheba_at_Her_Bath.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/just-who-was-on-the-roof\/2sam11-artemisia_gentileschi_-_bathsheba_at_her_bath\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam11-artemisia_gentileschi_-_bathsheba_at_her_bath","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":60272,"date":"2019-07-30 08:13:32","modified":"2019-07-30 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