The Life and Times of

David Stays in Bed (11:2-4)

As I read these verses in 2 Samuel, I am reminded of the Alfred Hitchcock movie, “Rear Window.” If my memory is correct, Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly star in this thriller about a photographer who is recovering from an injury and confined to his apartment. From out of his “rear window,” Stewart watches his neighbors through their windows. Eventually he uncovers a murder and is almost killed himself, along with his girlfriend.

King David makes the mistake of staying in Jerusalem, rather than fighting the Ammonites with his army. He does not stay home to meditate on the Law of Moses or to write another psalm or two; he seems to stay home to stay in bed. We know Uriah went to bed when it was evening (that is, when it got dark), and it is very likely that he got up at first light (see 11:13). With David, it is very different. David does not get up until evening, that is, until it is time for a soldier to go to bed. (As a friend of mine pointed out, this is probably a habit developed over days and not just a one-time event.) It is very unlikely that David is doing any “kingly work” in the wee hours of the night. From all appearances, David is simply indulging himself.

Finally, David can stand his bed no longer. Getting up, he goes for a stroll around the roof of his palace. Most certainly, David's palace was built on the highest ground possible, so that it would afford him a commanding view of the city and the surrounding country. Virtually every other residence and building would be below David's penthouse apartment, and thus he would be able to see much that was out of sight for others. (A friend remarked after this message that a truck driver had told him a whole lot can be seen from an 18-wheeler that people in cars don't see.)

I am not suggesting that David purposed to see something he should not. More than likely he is walking about, almost absent-mindedly, when suddenly his eyes fix on something that rivets his attention on a woman bathing herself. The text does not really tell us where this woman is bathing. We only know that she is within sight of David's penthouse (rooftop). David notes her beauty. He does not know who she is or whether she is married. We cannot be certain how much David sees, and thus we do not know for certain whether he has yet sinned. If David saw more of this woman than he should (a fact still in question), then he surely should have diverted his eyes. It was not necessarily evil for him to discretely inquire about her. If she were unmarried and eligible, he could have taken her for his wife. His inquiry would make this clear.

Word comes back to David about this woman's identity:

3b And one said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” (2 Samuel 11:3b)

The answer comes to David in the form of a question. I take it that no one else actually saw this woman, but only David. The identification of this woman depends then upon David's description of her age, appearance, and location, and no one could be absolutely certain whether this is the woman or not -- except for David, of course, who would recognize her.

The information David receives should be sufficient for him to end the matter. If this woman is married, he has no business going any further. No matter how great his position and power, nothing gives him the right to take another man's wife. The pattern for David's actions is clearly outlined by Joseph, who was hotly pursued by his master's wife:

7 It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, “Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge. 9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:7-9).

The report David is given concerning Bathsheba gives him all the information he needs, and more, if he is intent upon doing what is right. He knows Bathsheba is married and thus out of the question. He also knows Bathsheba is married to Uriah the Hittite. This is no nameless husband, someone David has never heard of before. David has to know Uriah, even if he does not know his wife. In 2 Samuel 23:39, “Uriah the Hittite” is named as one of David's mighty men, known for his bravery and courage as a soldier. If he does not know it, surely someone there among his servants would inform him.

My fear is that David chose to ignore Uriah's military record and to fix his attention upon his racial origins. It is obvious and noteworthy that David refers to Uriah as “Uriah the Hittite,” while the author of Samuel refers to him only as “Uriah.” The expression, “Uriah the Hittite” is a term of derision, I believe, based solely upon the fact that he is of Hittite stock. Never mind that David has Moabite blood in his veins. Let us briefly review the place of the Hittites in Old Testament history.

As early as Genesis 15:18-21, God promised Abram (Abraham) that his descendants would inherit the land of the Hittites (along with that of other peoples as well; see also Exodus 3:8, 17; 13:5; 23:23, 28, 32; 33:21; 34:11; Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 1:4; 3:10). Ephron, the man from whom Abraham bought a burial plot for his family, was a Hittite (see Genesis 23:10; 25:9; etc.). Jacob's brother Esau married several Hittite wives (Genesis 26:34-35; 36:2). The Israelites were commanded to utterly destroy the Hittites (Deuteronomy 20:17). The Hittites opposed Israel's entrance into the promised land (see Numbers 13:29; Joshua 9:1: 11;1-5), and the Israelites had some victories over them (Joshua 24;11). Nevertheless, they did not totally remove them and came to live among them (Judges 3:5). When David was fleeing from Saul, he learned that the king was camped nearby. He asked two of his men who would go with him to Saul's camp. One of the two, Abishai, volunteered to go with David, the other man did not. This man was Ahimelech, the Hittite (1 Samuel 26:6).

It is obvious that Uriah had forsaken his own people and their gods to live in Israel, marry an Israelite woman, and fight in David's army. He is no pagan, to be put to death. He is a proselyte. In spite of all this, I believe David looks down upon him. David has grown accustomed to having the finest of everything. His palace is the finest around. His furnishings, his food, his help, are all the finest. Now, he looks from his penthouse and sees a woman whom he regards as “fine.” How can a woman so “fine” belong to this Hittite? She is fit for a king. And this king intends to have her.

And so David sends messengers to her, who take her and bring her to him. When she arrives, David sleeps with her, and when she is purified from her uncleanness,² she returns to her house. That is that. If she had not become pregnant, I have little doubt she would never have darkened the door of David's house again. David does not seek a wife in Bathsheba. He does not even seek an affair. He wants one night of sex with this woman, and then he will let Uriah have her.

The sequence of events, so far as David is concerned, can be viewed in this way: (1) David stays in Jerusalem; (2) David stays in bed; (3) David sees Bathsheba bathing herself as he walks on his roof; (4) David sends and inquires about this woman; (5) David learns her identity and that she is married to a military hero; (6) David sends messengers to take her and bring her to him; (7) David lays with her; (8) Bathsheba goes back to her home after she purifies herself. This same sequence can be seen in a number of other texts, none of which is commendable. Shechem “saw, took, and lay with” Dinah, the daughter of Jacob in Genesis 34:2. Judah “saw, took, and went in to” the Canaanite woman he made his wife in Genesis 38:2-3. Achan “saw, coveted, and took” the forbidden spoils of war in Joshua 7:21. Samson did virtually the same in Judges 14. Let us not forget that a similar sequence occurred at the first sin when Eve “saw, desired, and took” the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3.