{"id":60544,"date":"2019-08-03T22:19:52","date_gmt":"2019-08-03T19:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=60544"},"modified":"2023-02-26T16:45:08","modified_gmt":"2023-02-26T14:45:08","slug":"explaining-davids-unusual-passivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/explaining-davids-unusual-passivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Explaining David\u2019s Unusual Passivity"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[527,529,834,400],"acf":{"old_id":"60544","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34245,"related_cahpter":"276","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The king who said nothing to Amnon or to his daughter, was left to cry in vain \u201cAbsalom, my son!\u201d","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">David\u2019s transgression with Bathsheba was difficult to witness, but not beyond comprehension. The young man who listened to Abigail\u2019s warning and refrained from killing Saul may have lost his moral restraints in this case, but his sin \u2013 like his earlier heroics \u2013 displayed his tendency for decisive action. When young David saw an enemy, he attacked. When king David saw a beautiful woman, he took her. His decision to solve a problem by orchestrating Uriah\u2019s death took him further down the path of sin, but it was still in keeping with his earlier nature. At his worst, David continued to conduct himself as he did at his best: as a man of action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But when David\u2019s son raped his daughter, the man of action disappeared. \u201cWhen King David heard about all this,\u201d we hear, \u201che was greatly angered.\u201d This brief verse (13:21) \u2013 it spans a total of ten words \u2013\u00a0 is sandwiched between two verses that describe Absalom\u2019s reactions to his sister\u2019s rape at great length. Verse 20 uses 25 words to describe Absalom\u2019s immediate response. Verse 22 uses 20 words to describe Absalom\u2019s subsequent behavior towards Amnon. In both verses feelings fuel decisive actions. By bookending verse 21, these verses highlight the fact that David\u2019s anger doesn\u2019t lead to actions. As far as we can tell, the king says nothing and does nothing, leaving the stage clear for other people to respond.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps David\u2019s uncharacteristic passivity stemmed from the disastrous consequences of his actions in chapter 11. Perhaps, after failing so spectacularly, David lost confidence in his ability to choose the right action. Perhaps he was especially reluctant to respond when his son displayed the very kind of sinful behavior that David himself displayed in Bathsheba\u2019s case, thus rendering David\u2019s potential reproofs somewhat hypocritical.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whatever its motives, David\u2019s inaction proved as disastrous as his earlier actions. According to Nathan\u2019s dire warnings in chapter 12, David earned a calamity that will rise from within his own house by taking Bathsheba and murdering Uriah. But he shaped this calamity through his passivity after Tamar\u2019s rape. His own lack of response practically invited Absalom to orchestrate his own revenge, and probably convinced him that his father was weak and unjust.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This, in turn, led to Absalom\u2019s rebellion, and to the horrid moment when the king was left to mourn Absalom\u2019s death. Thus, while Absalom\u2019s rebellion fulfilled Nathan\u2019s earlier predictions after David\u2019s sinful actions, its particular nature arose from David\u2019s failure to act. The king who said nothing to Amnon or to his daughter, was left to cry in vain \u201cAbsalom, my son!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: Angelika Kauffman, Thou Art The Man, c. 1797 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":60545,"id":60545,"title":"2sam13-AKauffmann","filename":"2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/explaining-davids-unusual-passivity\/2sam13-akauffmann\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam13-akauffmann","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":60544,"date":"2019-08-03 19:19:42","modified":"2019-08-03 19:19:51","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":544,"height":658,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann-248x300.jpg","medium-width":248,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","medium_large-width":544,"medium_large-height":658,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","large-width":544,"large-height":658,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","1536x1536-width":544,"1536x1536-height":658,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","2048x2048-width":544,"2048x2048-height":658,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","post_full_size-width":544,"post_full_size-height":658,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann-347x420.jpg","home_baner-width":347,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Explaining David\u2019s Unusual Passivity","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The king who said nothing to Amnon or to his daughter, was left to cry in vain \u201cAbsalom, my son!\u201d","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":60545,"id":60545,"title":"2sam13-AKauffmann","filename":"2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/explaining-davids-unusual-passivity\/2sam13-akauffmann\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam13-akauffmann","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":60544,"date":"2019-08-03 19:19:42","modified":"2019-08-03 19:19:51","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":544,"height":658,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann-248x300.jpg","medium-width":248,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","medium_large-width":544,"medium_large-height":658,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","large-width":544,"large-height":658,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","1536x1536-width":544,"1536x1536-height":658,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","2048x2048-width":544,"2048x2048-height":658,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann.jpg","post_full_size-width":544,"post_full_size-height":658,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam13-AKauffmann-347x420.jpg","home_baner-width":347,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60544"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60544"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60548,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60544\/revisions\/60548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}