Long time no see! Thank you, all you who reviewed!
2 Samuel 11:1-15, 26-27a; NASB
1. Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.
2. Now when evening came David arose from his bed and walked around on the roof of the king's house, and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.
3. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"
4. David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her; and when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house.
5. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, "I am pregnant."
6. Then David sent to Joab, saying, "Send me Uriah the Hittite." So Joab sent Uriah to David.
7. When Uriah came to him, David asked concerning the welfare of Joab and the people and the state of the war.
8. Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house, and wash your feet." And Uriah went out of the king's house, and a present from the king was sent out after him.
9. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.
10. Now when they told David, saying, "Uriah did not go down to his house," David said to Uriah, "Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?"
11. Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing."
12. Then David said to Uriah, "Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you go." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.
13. Now David called him, and he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with his lord's servants, but he did not go down to his house.
14. Now in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
15. He had written in the letter, saying, "Place Uriah in the front line of the fiercest battle and withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
26. Now when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
27. When the time of mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife...
"Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam, wife of Uriah, my king," said a servant, bowing deeply in the doorway to David's gauze-draped room.
He stood up quickly, an unsettling smile appearing on his face as he strode to the doorway to meet the beautiful woman. Her gaze was set firmly on the floor and her eyes were red, puffy. David took her hands in his and grinned, a dangerous glint in his eye.
"What is it, my love?" he said in a low voice, alluring and heavy. "Did you miss me?"
"I—I have news for you, my lord," she said, gulping nervously.
Her hands, encased in his own, twitched, like she had almost pulled them away.
"News that you couldn't send with a servant?" he said, like it was a joke, and put one arm around her waist, drawing her a little closer to him.
"Yes, my lord," she said, stiffening perceptibly when her leg touched his.
"What is it, then," he said playfully, running fingers through her long dark hair.
Bathsheba almost shuddered, and her jaw clenched.
"Tell me, or will I have to coax it out of you?" he whispered, leaning in so his lips touched her jaw.
She did jerk back this time, a reaction that she couldn't control.
"My lord king," she said in a strangled voice, watching his countenance darken with annoyance. "I am pregnant."
The muscles around his mouth went slack and his eyes widened slightly. Bathsheba was relieved when he sat down heavily on a cushion and gave up his pursuits, for the moment. She hugged herself tightly around the middle and her head dropped, ashamed to look at him.
True, it hadn't really been her fault. After all, who could disobey the king's orders? But perhaps she should have put up a bigger fight. Maybe she should have rebelled more. Would it be better to be dead, or be a known adulteress? She would be the first to blame; the righteous king of Israel would get off free, and she knew it. She hated herself for going along with it. She felt unclean, despite the cleansing she had meticulously followed, and she felt violated.
Her trembling fingers rested on her abdomen, where she could imagine the tiny child, and she closed her eyes in a prayer to God.
Please. Please, please.
She could think of nothing else to say.
"I will bring your husband back from the war, and you will lay with him," the king finally said.
She didn't look up, but nodded.
"When the child is born, he will think it his own and no one will know any better."
Her heart clenched at the next sin she was being commanded to commit, but what else could she do?
"Yes, my king."
He brushed her hair out of her face and she started; she didn't hear him stand. His face was smiling again and he tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Everything will be just fine," he promised.
"Yes, my king," she repeated, backing up quickly and curtsying.
Then, she practically fled the room. She couldn't remember the servants escorting her to her own house, but she knew it must have happened when she found herself in the bathroom, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. How it all began.
If she had just drawn the curtain, if she had not longed for the moonlight to illuminate her bathing, none of this would have happened. Her vanity, her wish to see her own beauty reflected in the water alongside the stars, had overcome her heart which had reminded her of the view to the king's roof. He will not come, she had thought, pushing the fabric back from the window. It is night, and he will be sleeping.
She drew the curtain closed after that, every time.
She fasted and prayed while she waited for her husband to return, supplicating the Lord and asking for wisdom, because she could not think of what she should do. If she obeyed the Lord, the king would be shamed and defaced which would bring shame onto Israel, but if she obeyed David, she would be lying, a deadly sin.
By the time her husband returned to the house, she had made her decision. And so it was, dressed up and bold, that she waited in the entrance hall for her husband to enter the house. She would tell him the truth, she decided, and let his decision be what it was, whether to expose her and put her to death, or whatever else the Lord may put on his heart. It gave her strength to know she was making the right decision, but she was also scared to death. And as the hours swept by, she began to grow more afraid. Doubts were pressing in on her firm decision, weakening it. When she was informed that her husband refused to enter the house, because his men were still at war, she didn't know whether to be relieved or more frightened.
She was proud of her husband, for being noble and just, but now how could she tell him? How could she gain his forgiveness if he never saw her? She tried to find him and speak to him for the days he remained in Jerusalem, but she was stopped, either by a servant of the king, or a servant of hers, saying that she mustn't weaken her husband's resolve to do good in the sight of the Lord. All too soon, he left, and she never even saw his face.
She wept bitterly, and her servants tried to comfort her, but they could not. She wanted Uriah to hold her, and say that he forgave her, and everything would be fine. The king's words echoed hollowly in her ears and she clenched her teeth against them. She was frightened, now, for her life. It would not be long before people would be able to see that she was pregnant, and everyone knew that her husband was at war. She would be put to death, and her husband would never know the truth.
The alternative had never occurred to her, and when she received news that Uriah was dead, she was heartbroken. She knew immediately that it must have been ordered by the king, because Uriah's men were loyal to him, and more of his company would have died in a true battle. They would have died to protect him, as he would have done for them. She mourned for an eternity, hardly eating, hardly sleeping, and welcoming death. Uriah had died, and she was unforgiven. The sense of dirtiness intensified and she couldn't bear to look in the mirror.
Her servants, alarmed, told the king of her state, and he sent for her again. She shuffled into his presence, hair smooth and washed by the servants, dressed in a gown that she hadn't even looked at as they helped her into it. She focused on his feet, feeling empty.
"Beautiful," he murmured, and she didn't even flinch at the pet name.
His soft hands gently grasped her face and tilted it up, until her eyes were forced onto his own.
"You have mourned long enough," he said, and it was an order. "I will take you as my wife."
Numbness. She nodded, shifting her gaze to his left. He moved until he caught her eyes again.
"You will have everything you could want."
She nodded again. She didn't care about anything anymore.
"Oh, Bathsheba," he sighed, and let go of her chin. It dropped, and her eyes once again found his feet. "Don't be angry at me."
"I am not, my king," she said emotionlessly.
He slid his hands onto her hips, but she didn't respond.
"You're something," he said, and she could hear the slight grin in his voice.
She crossed her hands in front of her stomach, still flat in appearance, and said nothing. After another moment, he let his hands drift off and she curtsied automatically before leaving.
She still drew the curtain when she bathed.
Final word count: 1346
I replied to you all through the Review-Reply feature, but here are the replies to my anonymous reviewers, if they haven't deserted me. --hope--
CAEJones: Thank you for the more lengthy review, and please do tell me what you think about the characters once you figure that out. More description? Ugh. I'm not so great at that. Was this chapter better?
Floober: Thank you for the praise. I hope you liked this one, too.
I accept any criticism you feel needs to be offered. I don't want to contradict the Bible or anything, so if you could just help me out if you spot discrepancies, I'd really appreciate it.
God bless!
