July 20, 2011

2 Samuel 11-12.14

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking upon the roof of the King's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman.

And one said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

So David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him; and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, "I am with child."

So David sent word to Joab, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house, and wash your feet." And Uriah went out of the King's house, and there followed him a present from the King.

But Uriah slept at the door of the King's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.

When they told David, "Uriah did not go down to his house," David said to Uriah, "Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?"

Uriah said to David, "The Ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths; 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 this thing."

Then David said to Uriah, "Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart."

So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day, and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, "Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down and die."

...

When the wife of Uriah the Hittite heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house; and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, "There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had many flocks and herds; but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up; and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his morsel, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him.

"Now there came a traveler to the rich man; and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; but he took the poor man's lamb, and prepared it for the man who had come to him."

Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity."

Nathan said to David, "You are the man. Thus says the Lord,'I anointed you King over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul; and I gave you your master's house, and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in His sight? You have smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'

"Thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house;  and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor; and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'"

David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord!"

And Nathan said to David, "The Lord has also put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child that is born to you shall die."

4 comments:

JR said...

"The Lord has also put away your sin .. Nevertheless .. the child that is born to you shall die."

We get more hell here than we bargain for. And sometimes get less than we deserve.

“There's been girls that have stolen our hearts” (Marlene Dietrich/Goldfrapp).

Bathsheba can wait.

Right now, I’m seduced by Marlene Dietrich.

What about Cady Stanton? And Susan Anthony? Have they stolen my heart?

“Boys will be boys .. we cheat and we lie .. boys will be boys .. and J. K. Gayle asks, ‘will you .. ?’ .. and I say, ‘Goddamn Marlene Dietrich.’"

http://randomarrow.blogspot.com/2011/07/boys-will-be-boys-we-cheat-and-we-lie.html

I can’t help David. Not with – "The Lord has also put away your sin .. Nevertheless ....”

God help all of us.

JR said...

Bye the bye. I saw your excellent question about the hangar. About dividing the hangar! I was ready to jump in. I got to reading “Tink” Tinker (Native American theologian – liberation theology) about how Native Americans don’t want to be in the hangar! He even makes a crack about how if Marxists or socialists took over, even then, the Indians don’t want it! I’m not done with the book yet. Haven’t gotten to his positive sketch. But he’s huge on land. Categorizing Indian-spiritedness as spatial. Not western-temporal. Spatial and land oriented. And communal.

Also your previous comments about mature squirrels leading snakes out of camp. Then and now your comment (great comment) reminded of bird flocks and how bird flocks have callers. Not all birds are callers. Just a few birds in some flocks are callers. The callers warn the flock of predators. So the callers are at risk. But the flock flees. So animal societies have prophets too? Callers? Mature squirrels as prophets (is this an innuendo?)?

Another point about this ramble about squirrels and birds is that there’s a lot of research going on now about group selection (instead of the standard individual selection). Anyone with common sense can observe how animals as groups – are groups. That’s the easy part. The biologists are playing with their math toys. That needn’t concern us. But the thing – about group selection – is that group selection takes us back up the ladder to your own good interests in the larger and macro political and economic interpretations. I hope you keep posting your comments at that large scale – national and economic. I’m learning a lot from your posts at that level. So thanks. I’m reading a little anarchist stuff too. I’m not really an anarchist. But I do wonder – just wonder – what would have happened (what God had in mind?) if the people did not become a monarchy? – if they did not take a king? – what then? What about group (group-select?) then? Open questions. I’ve no answers.


Jim

forrest said...

I guess we aren't supposed to ask how the kid feels about this. Next incarnation, a bit longer & more pleasant? My experience has been of things working out as they should, best they can considering who I am & whatever I've been doing wrong lately... So I trust this, even though it sure doesn't look like it in the news.

Humans with governments vs humans without? Looks to me like governments become moral hazards, behavioral sinks when the larger society doesn't have much of an ethical custom-base either. Once in awhile someone gets caught... but the game goes on, and only the corrupt get to play. Anarchy with people like that... People would do awful things. Government with people like that: People can use the government to help their gang (corporation, party, whatever) get away with even more loot, do awful things on a bigger scale. But what would Monsanto get away with, with no government, if they didn't even have to pretend they weren't poisoning us?

JR said...

Yes, questions beyond a single lifetime. Such a good response on trust. Thank goodness for trust in general still abiding when the news is selling what sells so well – which is usually not the good news.