Sunday, August 1, 2010

Bathsheba the Beautiful

Bathsheba’s act of bathing on the housetop is equivalent to a modern woman swimming nude in her backyard pool. She did not see anything wrong with such an act. After all, Bathsheba was on her roof and what a person does in the privacy of her own home is her business – at least, if her solitude is not invaded in some way. And Bathsheba did not think her space would be shared. After all, her husband Uriah, along with most of the other men, was at the war front. The Israelites were fighting against Ammon and Rabbah, and he would not be back for some time. As a soldier’s wife, she probably did not have servants.

People in Bathsheba’s time often retired to the housetops in hot weather to catch the cool evening breeze. They probably had plants or screens to insure some seclusion. The problem that was that the King’s palace was higher than Bathsheba’s and Uriah’s home, and King David had a perfect view of Bathsheba (just like satellite cameras have perfect views of backyards today.) Did she know he could see? Did she suspect he might see her? Did she know he had not gone to war as he should have? Did she care? The Bible doesn’t give the answers to these questions, but it does tell that David saw her beauty. When he learned she was Uriah’s wife, he didn’t argue with himself about the moral issues. He just sent for her.

And Bathsheba? Well, she went. After all, if the king summons a lowly subject, shouldn’t she go? And anyway, what if he had some news about her husband? But when she arrived and learned why he wanted her, she didn’t retreat. Neither did she say any of the following good rebuttals: O King, think of the scandal that would cause if we were discovered. Think of your reputation. Think of my husband and his anger. Think of your testimony before God. She didn’t say any of those things. The lonely little war bride stayed the night and returned home the next morning.

The morning after doubts must have assailed both David and Bathsheba because they didn’t meet again and only God knows why. Maybe David decided to content himself with the seven wives he brought to the throne with him and with all those who had been married first to the former King Saul and now to him. (One wonders why he wasn’t content with them earlier.)

As for Bathsheba, she must have tormented herself with hundreds of questions several times a day? Would he ask for her again? Why didn’t he call back for her? Would David think of her with disrespect? Did he think her at all? Did he care for her? Did he think because she had bathed in the nude that she was just a common prostitute? And finally, she worried about what was she going to do because she soon realized a baby was on its way, and Uriah had been gone too long for him to believe the child was his.

In just a few weeks or less, Bathsheba probably regretted her decision to bathe in the moonlight. Until that night, she had been the respected wife of a soldier in the King’s army. Now her husband would know she had been unfaithful – an act for which Uriah could have her stoned. At the very least, he would probably divorce her and then how would she raise a child on her own? And worse still, everyone would know – no small thing in those days.

Today, counselors who work with victims of sexual assault assure the victims that their dress, or lack of it, does not invite rape – and they are right. A good man will not rape a woman if she walked naked down the street. However, neither does a good man usually want that type of a woman for a wife even though he might be tempted to take what isn’t his – like David did. But the question is: Why would any God-fearing woman want to be naked in public?

And Bathsheba was not raped. As the story unfolds, the reader understands that this was a mutually adulterous affair. She and David both gave in to temptation that brought their world crashing down around them.

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