{"id":60300,"date":"2019-07-30T12:14:04","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T09:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=60300"},"modified":"2023-02-21T14:22:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T12:22:36","slug":"david-a-stay-at-home-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/david-a-stay-at-home-king\/","title":{"rendered":"David: A Stay-At-Home King"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In today\u2019s chapter, David sleeps with Bathsheba, another man\u2019s wife, gets her pregnant, tries and fails to cover up, sends the woman\u2019s husband, Uriah, to certain death in war and finally marries Bathsheba.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is beyond shocking. How could this man of faith, this sensitive musician and courageous warrior commit such a succession of vile acts?<\/span><\/p>\n

A key clue lies in the story\u2019s opening:<\/span><\/p>\n

At the turn of the year, at the season when kings go out to battle, David <\/span>sent<\/span><\/em> Yoab with his officers and all Israel and they devastated Ammon, David remained in Jerusalem. Late one afternoon, David rose from his couch and strolled on the roof of the royal place and saw a woman bathing\u201d (11:1-2).<\/span><\/p>\n

No longer the leader who faced Goliath alone and who went out to war at the head of the people (as in chapter 5: 1-2), David now sends men to fight and die on his behalf while he stays safe in his palace, takes a nap in the afternoon and sleeps with another man\u2019s wife. Malbim, a 19<\/span>th<\/span> century commentator, points out that it was David\u2019s remaining in Jerusalem that opened the way to his sin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sending others to do his will is the <\/span>leitmotif<\/span><\/em> of this episode. The phrase \u201cand David sent\u201d occurs five times in our chapter; In addition, the word \u201csend\u201d appears twelve times. After sending his men to war, David sends messengers to bring him Bathsheba, sends a message to his general Joab to send him Uriah, sends another message to Joab to put Uriah in the front line of the battle where he will be killed, and finally sends men to bring Bathsheba, after Uriah\u2019s death.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a king at the height of his power, David can determine the fates of others at arm\u2019s length. Through his retinue of servants and soldiers, he moves around and manipulate people \u2013 bringing Bathsheba, sending Uriah to his death, without his own direct involvement. David kills Uriah through cold-blooded messages without facing the horror of what he has done. His agency is concealed by the trappings of power. This corrupting capacity to exercise the power of life and death at a distance is, I suggest what makes David\u2019s sin possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

If so, then this helps explain the power of Nathan the prophet\u2019s parable in chapter 12. Nathan tells David a simple story of a rich man with many flocks who seized the single lamb of a poor man to feed a visiting traveler. With this bare tale Nathan cuts through the convoluted connections between David and his deed and confronts him with his terrible responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

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