Thursday, May 13, 2004
2 Samuel 11 – Imperialism and Sexual Morality
Here the unrighteousness of David, the king, is compared with the righteousness of Uriah, the common soldier. At issue is sexuality in an era of military expansionsim. Note the opening phrase of the chapter:
2 Samuel 11:1a In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle,
It was “the time of going out,” in the Greek, the kairos (time) of "exodus." This was not a liberating exodus, accomplished by the mighty hand of God against the imperial army of Pharoah while the faithful have but to wait and see what God will do. Rather this was time of the establishment of David's empire by human effort:
1b David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
But this chapter is not concerned with war. Rather we are asked to look at the moral character that is formed in such times when rulers send ordinary people to foreign lands for conquest:
2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. 3 David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, "This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite." 4 So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.
She became pregnant. The story is familiar. David wanted to get out of the complication by making it appear that Bathsheba was pregnant by her husband rather than him, so he sent for Uriah, expecting that he would take the occasion of being back home to have sex with his wife. Here is where the excruciating irony of the story takes hold, for Uriah (the Hittite) operates with the old fashioned morality of the common believer, in brilliant contrast to the luxury-tainted hedonism of David (the Jew). David can't quite understand what is going on, so he asks Uriah he didn’t go in to his wife:
2 Samuel 11:11 Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths;1 and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing."
Not only that, but even when David makes him drunk he still holds firm. David was not shamed by this into taking responsibility for his actions. Instead, he conspired with Joab, his nephew and the commander of his army, to have Uriah put in harms way, where he was, in due course, killed.
2 Samuel 11:26 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. 27 When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son.
There is judgment coming, but that is in the next chapter. Today, I wonder at the co-incidence of imperialism, luxury, and sexual immorality--embodied by David--and its contrast with the simplicity of Uriah who had the virtues of simplicity and integrity. We see the same moral confusion in the world’s sole super-power today.
2 Samuel 11:1a In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle,
It was “the time of going out,” in the Greek, the kairos (time) of "exodus." This was not a liberating exodus, accomplished by the mighty hand of God against the imperial army of Pharoah while the faithful have but to wait and see what God will do. Rather this was time of the establishment of David's empire by human effort:
1b David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
But this chapter is not concerned with war. Rather we are asked to look at the moral character that is formed in such times when rulers send ordinary people to foreign lands for conquest:
2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. 3 David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, "This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite." 4 So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her.
She became pregnant. The story is familiar. David wanted to get out of the complication by making it appear that Bathsheba was pregnant by her husband rather than him, so he sent for Uriah, expecting that he would take the occasion of being back home to have sex with his wife. Here is where the excruciating irony of the story takes hold, for Uriah (the Hittite) operates with the old fashioned morality of the common believer, in brilliant contrast to the luxury-tainted hedonism of David (the Jew). David can't quite understand what is going on, so he asks Uriah he didn’t go in to his wife:
2 Samuel 11:11 Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths;1 and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing."
Not only that, but even when David makes him drunk he still holds firm. David was not shamed by this into taking responsibility for his actions. Instead, he conspired with Joab, his nephew and the commander of his army, to have Uriah put in harms way, where he was, in due course, killed.
2 Samuel 11:26 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. 27 When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son.
There is judgment coming, but that is in the next chapter. Today, I wonder at the co-incidence of imperialism, luxury, and sexual immorality--embodied by David--and its contrast with the simplicity of Uriah who had the virtues of simplicity and integrity. We see the same moral confusion in the world’s sole super-power today.
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