Bible Verse Lookup

From David the musician, poet, pious practitioner, and warrior, this chapter shifts to David the rapist and murderer. Throughout the narrative, we are repeatedly told about the number of his concubines, but he goes further by stealing the wife of one of his soldiers. When Bathsheba tells him she is pregnant, he calls Uriah, thinking Uriah wouldn’t refuse the chance to sleep with his wife, thus erasing his trace from Bathsheba. However, Uriah sleeps outside the palace gates every night, claiming he’s showing solidarity with the Ark, with Israel and Judah, who live in tents, and with Joab and his officers, who sleep in the open (11). This is a grand gesture from a non-Israelite—remember, Uriah was a Hittite—yet it results in a death sentence. Uriah delivers David’s orders to Joab, instructing him to have Uriah killed. The story of Uriah’s death, David’s receipt of the news, Bathsheba’s mourning, and her move to the palace all seem like normal events. The rebuke and divine judgment for this wicked and treacherous act will come from Nathan, the prophet who also made the dynastic promise to David. Nathan explains that it’s not the king who makes the law, because the human king is a vassal of God; and when faced with profound injustice, God sides with the wronged, the weak.