Excerpt from Chapter 6
On one beautiful spring day, David arose from an afternoon nap and stretched his legs with a short walk on the roof of his palace. From this vantage point he could see a woman who was very beautiful bathing in a courtyard nearby. For the first time, in spite of all his wives and concubines, he looked at this woman with total lust. He did not turn away his glance. But instead, he watched her intently until she finished her bath and left his view.
He decided he must have her sexually. He called for his servant and told him to make inquiries about the woman. The servant reported back that, She is Bathsheba. Her husband is Uriah and her father is Eliam. Both her father and her husband are valiant warriors in your elite guard, the Thirty. Uriah is Joabs armor-bearer. They are both with Joabs army now fighting the Ammonites.
David sent his messengers to bring her to his palace. She bowed, in homage to David and said, I am your servant, Bathsheba.
David said to her, You are a very beautiful woman.
Blushing, she said, Thank you, your highness.
I saw you naked while you bathed yesterday.
Now embarrassed, she said, I am very sorry, I didnt think I could be seen. I will not bathe in my courtyard again.
No, you are so beautiful I decided that I must have sexual intercourse with you.
She was stunned by the bluntness of the proposition, but she was not appalled. She knew the pleasure of sex from her marriage, but her husband now was away at war, and was always away more than he was home. She was flattered that the king, who never had to negotiate for sex, would approach her. The idea of being a mistress to the king was exciting, but she demurred, Oh no, my king! I am married to your warrior Uriah. To have intercourse with you would be adultery. I cannot be unfaithful to my husband. Besides this would be a sin for which I would be liable to death by stoning.
No such thing will happen to you, this will be our secret.
But your palace has many servants who observe you very closely.
They do not reveal any palace secrets for fear of their lives.
But, if it should be publicized, you would be disgraced and you would have to allow me to die.
No such thing will happen to you.
So she submitted to David and they had intercourse. She then returned to her house but was summoned back to the palace frequently. Several weeks later she sent a message to David, Your servant Bathsheba is going to have a child.
David pondered this and decided that he must cover up his sin. So he sent a message to Joab, Send Uriah the Hittite to me.
When he arrived, David received Bathshebas husband and said to him, Give me a report on how the battle with the Ammonites is going. And how is Joab? And tell me of the welfare of all the soldiers.
Uriah gave David a complete report of everything that he had observed at the front and concluded, All is going well.
David thanked Uriah and dismissed him saying, While you are here I grant you military leave so that you are free to go home and visit with your wife.
Uriah left the palace and David sent food from his table to Uriahs home for him and Bathsheba. But Uriah did not go home. Instead he slept with the contingent of other officers guarding the entrance of the royal palace.
The next day, on hearing that Uriah had not gone home, David called him again and asked him, Did I not give you leave from your military duties, so that you could rest up from your journey? Why then, when you have this reprieve from the battles, did you not go home and visit with your wife and enjoy the pleasures of your woman?
Uriah answered David. I left my soldiers as well as the Generals Joab and Abishai camping out in the open in our siege of Ramah. Even the Ark is in a tent. I am consecrated to the battle, so I cannot go home to my wifes cooking and warm bed.
But, I have giving you leave from these duties, while you are here.
I will have no relationships with women while I am consecrated for battle.
All right, I will send you back tomorrow. Meanwhile, this evening, you will eat with me.
At dinner David made Uriah drunk, thinking that he could not then resist going home to his wife. But, after dinner, again, Uriah slept with the officers guarding the entrance to Davids palace.
David was perplexed that his cover-up plan did not work. So, the next day he wrote a letter to Joab, which he sealed and sent by way of Uriah. In it he directed Joab, Uriah is not worthy to be in my elite guard. Send him into battle where the fighting is very intense and then leave him there so that he will surely be killed.
With no idea why David wanted Uriah killed, Joab obediently assigned Uriah to a position, in the siege of the city, where he knew the defenders were fiercely fighting. When the men of the city counterattacked against Joabs army, Uriah and some other officers were killed.
Then Joab sent a battle report to David telling him about the officers who were killed, including Uriah, and that he had not yet successfully captured the city. He told the messenger, The king will become angry with this report, when you tell him of my failure to subdue Rabbah. When you tell him of the officers that were killed he will criticize us for getting too close to the wall, in range of arrows from the top. He will probably say, Dont you officers know that it was a woman who dropped a large rock from the top of the city wall at Thebez killing Abimelech, the son of Gideon? Why did you go so close to the wall? Then, answer him as follows, Your servant Joab regrets his tactical error and regrets to tell you that eighteen men were killed in this battle, including one of your elite guard, Uriah the Hittite.
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