David by David Wolpe

Author:David Wolpe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 2014-01-14T16:00:00+00:00

5

The Sinner

WEAKNESSES DO not arrive singly. Like strengths, they are clustered, and each weakness interlocks with other failings in the structure of our personalities. In public life, when some sin or crime is exacerbated by the cover-up, we learn anew that faults seek the shade of others like themselves; all yearn for the company of kindred—even character traits.

So as we unspool the saga of Bathsheba, where one transgression leads on to ever greater ones, it should not amaze us that it was so difficult for a man like David to stop with a single sin. Inertia is a law of spiritual life as it is of physical life. The Rabbis understood our tendencies well when they said in the Talmud, “One is led in the direction one wishes to go” (Makkot 10b).

David is a secure king when the episode of Bathsheba begins. The classical translation of 2, 11:1 is “In spring, the time when kings go to war.” A more literal translation has it “At the turn of the year, the time when kings go to war.” The import is that when the skies clear and the ground hardens, when fighting is promising and possible, nations prepare their armies and the kings go forth. Rashi comments that the fields are full of stalks of grain for horses to eat. The same sense of anticipation, even festivity, attaches to a season for gaming or mating. War was a diversion, a mission, and a sport all at once. But already there is something amiss in Israel:

And it happened at the turn of the year, at the time kings sally forth, that David sent out Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. And David was sitting in Jerusalem. (2, 11:1)

The verse hints at the upheaval to come. Now is the time when kings go to war, but David does not go. The troops sally forth and succeed without him. And should we for a moment misunderstand the import of David’s sending Joab, the Bible reiterates that David sat in Jerusalem. It does not say “sat smugly in Jerusalem,” but we may well read the adverb into the verse.

Saul and Jonathan have died and David is the undisputed king. He is not without enemies and opposition. In the previous chapter the Ammonites insult David’s messengers, leading to a war in which Israel routs the opposition. There are those in Israel who seemingly await the chance to express their solidarity with the house of Saul. Still, for now David is the secure sovereign of all Israel.

He has proposed building a house for God, but God has proposed instead to build a house for David, an everlasting kingship. In short, this upstart, this once neglected child, has accumulated power and women and a divine promise greater than any before him. Perhaps he stays behind in Jerusalem because daring has given way to wonder at the prosperity that he does not wish to risk in war. Perhaps he wants to run his good fortune through his fingers like the gold coins of legend.

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