continued from my examiner blog at http://www.examiner.com/interfaith-spirituality-in-columbus/spirituality-and-soul-searching
David and Bathsheba . . . the rest of the story. (photo is a manuscript from The Morgan Leaf, Scenes from the Life of King David)
I could not help but think with this tale: 1. ‘What kind of God would have such an insatiable ego? 2. What an awful thing for God to do to David’s wives in revenge. So its okay to just rip them away from their husband (polygamy was common) and give them over to other men to be raped in broad daylight? I’m sure it wasn’t consensual. It is likely Bathsheba’s encounter with David wasn’t consensual either, but a king’s power can sway one. 3. What kind of God deliberately murders (and that’s what it is) David’s first born to get him back and teach him a lesson? A lot of people literalize this and then attribute every manner of awful, untimely tragedy to God’s will. You will hear Pat Robertson do this often re.: earth quakes, Tsunami's and so forth. This is the writer’s theological point of view of what happened, not a verbatim 'automatic writing' from God (which still needs a fallible human scribe).
However, interpreter's points of view are suspect too! I have heard the blame laid at Bathsheba's feet for being a temptress and luring the King. One preacher got positively lurid describing the temptations women engage in. Made one wonder. The nifty little book, 'Preaching Law and Gospel' by Stuempfle discusses 'the mirror of existence'. Recent authors have pointed out that it was a time for ritual bathing ending a time of uncleanliness before worship. Face it, David looked and took it a whole lot further.
The author was probably writing the story during the Babylonian exile from oral tradition as a handful of learned Hebrew scribes attempted to gather (and create) all the ancient history of their peoples together so it would not be lost in assimilation. It is intended to glorify their ancestor King David, who united Israel and started the kingdom which would flourish under his son, Solomon. Many archeologists and scholars question much of the David story as legend, though there are stele with his name and archeological evidence of a tribal leader named, 'David'. Yes, soul searching is in order. What might spiritual practices reveal?
If you follow the lectio divina spiritual practice where you read a story, imagine it in vivid detail and meditate on it, each person in a room full of bible study members might have a different take or derive a different meaning from the text. When you examine the story from each of the character’s viewpoints – say Uriah, the Hittite, you would probably see things differently. Try on the perspective of one of the second string wives who were regarded as the ‘king’s property’ presumably for sexual sport, bearing sons and making Hebrew tortillas. There were probably slaves to do the laundry. Try on Nathan, the prophet, who confronted David with his sin via a folk tale about a poor man with one little sheep who the rich man seizes for dinner for a dinner party meal for a visitor, rather than taking it from his own flock. Those folk tales have a lot of truth and pathos in them. Then, as now, they help us ‘see’ in a different way, which is the purpose of a good parable- not literally true, but a wonderful teaching tool.
Soul searching can lead us to uneasy conclusions. The 'hero' is flawed, but then, is there a hero?
The author was probably writing the story during the Babylonian exile from oral tradition as a handful of learned Hebrew scribes attempted to gather (and create) all the ancient history of their peoples together so it would not be lost in assimilation. It is intended to glorify their ancestor King David, who united Israel and started the kingdom which would flourish under his son, Solomon. Many archeologists and scholars question much of the David story as legend, though there are stele with his name and archeological evidence of a tribal leader named, 'David'. Yes, soul searching is in order. What might spiritual practices reveal?
If you follow the lectio divina spiritual practice where you read a story, imagine it in vivid detail and meditate on it, each person in a room full of bible study members might have a different take or derive a different meaning from the text. When you examine the story from each of the character’s viewpoints – say Uriah, the Hittite, you would probably see things differently. Try on the perspective of one of the second string wives who were regarded as the ‘king’s property’ presumably for sexual sport, bearing sons and making Hebrew tortillas. There were probably slaves to do the laundry. Try on Nathan, the prophet, who confronted David with his sin via a folk tale about a poor man with one little sheep who the rich man seizes for dinner for a dinner party meal for a visitor, rather than taking it from his own flock. Those folk tales have a lot of truth and pathos in them. Then, as now, they help us ‘see’ in a different way, which is the purpose of a good parable- not literally true, but a wonderful teaching tool.
Soul searching can lead us to uneasy conclusions. The 'hero' is flawed, but then, is there a hero?
Our cultural dynamic looks for the flaws in political and Hollywood figures and seems to relish in every fall from Tiger Woods to Brett Farve- especially of the sexual nature. For certain in our biblical story- as in life- there are many layers of meaning, many players, many angles, different contexts than yours, mine, our culture and times. That’s true of life in general. Having a compassionate heart and a questioning mind are important traits in the complex spiritual stew in our world today.
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