A Prideful Fall

II Samuel Chapter 11, the Strange and the Spectacular

Verses: 27

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: We hear so little of Batsheva’s voice when we’re first introduced to her; the only thing she says in this chapter is “I am pregnant” (Verse 5). She won’t remain silent forever, though.

Basic Plot: David’s most infamous episode begins as he takes a break from military endeavors, staying in Jerusalem while his soldiers fight elsewhere. Strolling on his palace roof, he sees a beautiful woman bathing in a different home. Informed of Bathsheba’s identity (and knowing full well that she is already married), David sends for her and is intimate with her.

After she informs David that she is pregnant, he summons her husband, a Hittite soldier named Urriah, and after a brief conversation, he urges Urriah to go home to his wife. Urriah declines, though, concerned that he can’t think of domestic matters while in the midst of war. Even after David dines with him and gets him drunk, Urriah won’t return home.

David finally tells his general, Yoav, to place Urriah on the front line of the next battle and allow him to be killed. Following the battle, Yoav sends word to David that Urriah is indeed dead, but also questions David’s battle strategy. The king encourages Yoav to press on nevertheless.

After Bathsheba finishes mourning Urriah’s death, David brings her to the palace again, where she becomes his wife and gives birth to their son. God is not happy.

What’s Strange: Two books at the conclusion of the Hebrew Bible, I Chronicles and II Chronicles, retell many stories from the lives of David and Solomon, among others. David’s outrageous behavior in this chapter is, notably, not mentioned in the pages of Chronicles. Hugo Gressman tells us in “The Oldest History Writing in Israel” (from Narrative and Novella in Samuel, David M. Gunn, ed.) that this is because the writer of Chronicles simply couldn’t bear for a biblical reader to see David so negatively. “In his own lifetime David was already Israel’s favourite and later became more and more idolized, unlike Saul, who was increasingly despised,” Gressman writes. “Thus the Chronicler excised the Bathsheba episode from the life of David because he found it simply too objectionable.”

What’s Spectacular: After years of getting away with pretty much everything, David flies too close to the sun this time. This is most evident in his dealings with Urriah, as he tries again and again to encourage him to sleep with his wife so that it appears that he is the father of the child that David had made with Bathsheba. When Urriah fails (or simply refuses) to take the hint, David’s methods turn from subtle to sinister. The king of Israel needs to ensure that the illegitimate child he has fathered seems legitimate, and if that means that an innocent man has to be killed in the process, so be it.

The previous 10 chapters of II Samuel has led to this moment, as David is about to find that his trickery, for once, has consequences. That realization is the turning point of his life, and he never is the same again. While his downfall is not as swift, nor as complete, as Saul’s, it is a lesson that even the most celebrated of Israel’s kings are limited by their pride.

Happy Thanksgiving & Shabbat Shalom!