King David in 2 Samuel 11: Sin, Retribution, and Redemption

Introduction

2 Samuel 11 describes the events surrounding the sin of King David with regard to Uriah, whom David essentially had executed so that his adultery with Uriah's wife would not be made known. This shameful action on David's part displeased the Lord immensely, as the following chapters make clear. Chapter 11, however, reveals a side of David's character that had not previously been explored. Much of what is known about David is celebratory — from his time as the boy who slays the giant Goliath to his handling of the Ark of the Covenant. David is described as "a man after God's own heart" (1 Sam 13:14), and most of his actions support this idea. His humility and innocence in his approach to Saul — playing the lyre for him and soothing Saul's troubled soul — is just one of many examples of David's kindness and gentle spirit.¹

Yet here, in 2 Samuel 11, David shows a particularly abject side of himself — one that has more in common with wicked Saul, whose spirit tended toward machinations and evil plots rather than toward good. In his dalliance with Bathsheba, and then in the shameful manner in which he exacerbates the situation by sending Bathsheba's husband to his death, David demonstrates an abuse of authority and a disregard for God's law that is wholly uncharacteristic of him. That he later repents bitterly and returns to God, accepting the punishment the Lord sends, indicates his ultimately just nature. Nevertheless, in 2 Samuel 11 another side of David is manifested — one that illustrates the point that all men are fallen and in need of redemption.

Note: ¹ Steven L. McKenzie, King David: A Biography (UK: Oxford University Press, 2000), 3.

Function and Context in 2 Samuel

In the larger context of the book of 2 Samuel, chapter 11 begins an examination of David's character that has hitherto been unseen. The first half of 2 Samuel describes David as the king of Judah, who becomes the ruler of all Israel following the execution of Saul's son in the north. David's selection of Jerusalem as the capital, his transfer of the Ark to that capital, and his rise as celebrated ruler over all Israel receive the majority of the focus in the first ten chapters. David is depicted as wise, caring, and above all faithful to God — and for all this he is rewarded with God's favor and promises.

In chapter 11, however — in which David lies with Bathsheba and has her husband placed at the front lines of battle where he is certain to die — 2 Samuel shows that David is by no means a perfect man. The chapter ends with Samuel noting God's displeasure at David's actions. The rest of the book deals with how those actions impact Israel, since David is no longer simply responsible for his own life but for the entire nation. To convey the weight of David's responsibility, God sends Nathan to tell David that the Lord will punish him and Israel in response to his willful transgressions. David's acceptance of this rebuke and his subsequent repentance recast him into the familiar role of celebrant of God's divine goodness, and David goes on to raise Solomon, who will inherit the kingdom after Absalom revolts. The book's final war-torn chapters reflect the ravages the soul endures when it turns away from God, but David's faithfulness perseveres and his kingdom is restored.

Thus the function of chapter 11 is to represent the need for devotion and faithfulness at all times, because — as David shows — it is easy for anyone to slip, fall, and bring harm to his own household, even for one who is after God's own heart. Chapter 11 both humanizes David considerably and illustrates that the House of David is also in need of saving. In this sense, 2 Samuel 11 operates as a transition in the overall narrative — moving the story from David's purity in youth through his transgressions as an adult and into the chapters of repentance that follow. What is depicted here is essentially the "fall" of David, correlating with the transgressions of earlier characters such as Adam and Eve, who sin, pay a price, repent, and receive a new promise from a God who will not abandon them. David's "fall" in 2 Samuel 11 prepares the stage for the coming scenes of retribution, repentance, and renewed covenant.

The Major Idea: David as Sinner and Human Being

The major idea conveyed in the narrative of 2 Samuel 11 is that David is a sinner. The narrative describes the events of his sin, beginning with his desire to have Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:2–4), and continuing through the actions he takes to trick Uriah into going home to sleep with Bathsheba — so that Uriah might believe he is the father of David's child (2 Sam 11:8, 13). When Uriah refuses to lie with his own wife while his master is fighting a war to save the kingdom, Uriah's nobility shines more brightly than David's, and David further debases himself by plotting once more. When that stratagem fails, he contrives to have Uriah left alone on the battlefield so that the enemy may kill him (2 Sam 11:15).

At every step, David moves deeper into sin rather than stopping to reflect, assess his actions, remember his Lord — as Uriah remembers his — and amend his ways. A strictly either/or critical approach to the character of David, such as that described by Bosworth — who notes scholars' tendency to fall into either the camp viewing David as the pious shepherd who becomes a pious king, or the camp viewing him as a murderer and schemer who usurps the throne — is limited, because such critics miss the main idea of the David narrative.² David is not an emblem of humanity's tendency toward virtue or vice, but rather a man whose heart runs the full gamut of human experience. Chapter 11 is but one chapter in the life of David, and to represent him as only a sinner would be to ignore the chapters that follow; to represent him as the perfectly pious king would be to ignore this chapter. 2 Samuel 11 conveys the central idea that David is a human being who leaves the righteous path momentarily.

As Calvin indicates in his commentaries, the purpose behind recounting David's transgressions in 2 Samuel 11 is to establish the fact that he "was born guilty," as the Psalmist declares (Psalm 51:5). Calvin's interpretation of David is consistent with the idea that all men inherit sin passed down from Adam and Eve through the Fall. David's actions in chapter 11 indicate that he too was "born guilty," and that guilt is manifested in his callous and careless behavior regarding Uriah. Calvin uses David's sin to show that he was "entirely depraved" and thus in need of God's sanctifying grace³ — pointing to the Psalm to argue that this depravity resulted from Original Sin rather than from any new defect of his own making. The transgression in chapter 11 is merely the manifestation of Original Sin, and the confession that follows is, as Calvin notes, a model example of how one should reconcile with the Lord.⁴ The chapter thereby establishes the theme of retribution that dominates the latter chapters of 2 Samuel, especially with regard to those who do not turn back from wickedness and repent — such as Absalom.⁵

Notes: ² David Bosworth, "Evaluating King David: Old Problems and Recent Scholarship," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, vol. 68, no. 2 (April 2006), 191. ³ John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1949), 290. ⁴ David Bartlett and Barbara Taylor, Feasting on the Word (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 10. ⁵ Alberto Soggin, Introduction to the Old Testament (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1987), 216.

Conclusion

In the larger context of 2 Samuel, chapter 11 — which describes the transgressions of David regarding Bathsheba and Uriah — shows that David is a sinner, and it serves to demonstrate that when one turns his mind away from God, retribution is not far behind, for the Lord is always watching. The meaning of the narrative for the original audience doubtlessly conveyed the same moral lesson that it conveys to today's readers — but today's readers enjoy the additional benefit of knowing Christ, whereas the original audience of 2 Samuel 11 would not have known Him. They would have had only a sense of the need for the Messiah, as promised through the prophets and through the House of David. Any details about David's life and history would therefore have been of immense interest to the original audience, as David's narrative touched upon common Old Testament concepts such as retribution — the punishment for sin — and the promise of the anointed one to come: the Messiah who would redeem fallen man. David's narrative provides an engrossing tale for today's people of God and a number of lessons that can be applied to their own lives.