Did David Rape Bathsheeba? The Importance of Disciplined Bible Reading

Dying to Self as a Key to Understanding Your Bible

It is really easy to allow self focus to interfere with your comprehension of truth. Your will, opinions, hurt, pride, ego, or all the other possible expressions of self can powerfully shape your perception of things around you, in ways big and small. Something that takes you back to a childhood trauma, for example, can be too painful to take in by itself, so your mind can subtly add or take away from it to make it more palatable. Truth can greatly suffer, often unintentionally. A rookie NFL wide receiver recently demonstrated how this works in an innocent manner. After the player caught a dramatic long touchdown pass from the team’s star quarterback, he was delighted to hear chants of “MVP, MVP” raining down from the stands. He went to a teammate and expressed excitement that some fans thought he should win the award given to the most valuable player in pro football about him, particularly because he was just getting started in the league. The amused teammate listened to the young player with a knowing smile, before gently letting him down. The truth was that the chants were obviously for the veteran star quarterback who threw the pass, not him, and everyone in the stadium and watching at home knew it. The player’s ego led him to transform what was evident to everyone but him into what pleased him and he is not alone in falling for this mental trap. You were born with the same “me first” funnel that just as clearly tries to drive, repackage, or misunderstand actions and observations for your own benefit. Don’t believe me? Well, your answer to a simple question may be helpful to see what I mean.

If you are shown a group photo and you are in it, honestly think about who you look for first in the picture? How do you look?

Yeah, me too, btw.:). You would think I would be sick of myself by now.

Your Invitation to Dangerous Discipleship

Feeding the “ME” Monster

This self orientation is the result of your natural inclination as a flawed human. Your innate desire is to love, care for, and please yourself – to feed the “Me Monster”. As a result, no one had to teach you to throw a fit as a small child when you did not get what you wanted. A toddler wants what he wants and judges everything around him in relation to getting what he wants until he does. This self focus becomes less powerful as you grow and mature. It is also the target for Jesus’ pointed words to all of His disciples:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25

Yet, despite this clear direction, the powerful urge to follow “You” may subtly sneak its way back into your life, particularly when reading challenging passages in the Bible. You can be tempted to insert self driven conclusions, motivations, and certainty of one viewpoint into the Bible, rather than allow the passage to define itself. The term for this in the Bible world is eisegesis, defined as:

Where the interpreter imposes their own beliefs, feelings, or conclusions onto the text, making the text conform to their views instead of the other way around

Understanding the story of David and Bathsheeba is a prime example of both this temptation and the damage that is possible when you fall victim to it. More specifically, the urge that comes with the difficulty of answering the questions of what exactly happened in the early relationship between the two and what were their motivations:

Did David rape Bathsheeba? Did Bathsheeba seduce David? Did David wrongfully use his power to coerce Bathseeba?

It is really tempting to answer these questions based on how you feel about the incredibly challenging issues raised in these questions, rather than what is in the Bible.

33 Blazing Hot Bible Verses on Sexual Immorality

Honoring the Lord, not the Sinner(s)

You probably know the basics of this sin drenched moment in David’s life. It starts off on a subtly negative, possibly critical note:

 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.

It appears that David is not where he is meant to be as King and that this is not good, but you cannot put too much on that fact since God does not give more details. The part that comes next is as well known as it is tragic and ugly. David sees Bathsheeba bathing on a rooftop near the palace, lusts after her, and a sexual relationship of some kind follows. Bathsheeba becomes pregnant with David’s child and he responds by first trying to trick her husband, Uriah, one of David’s bravest soldiers, scheming and maneuvering things to make sure Uriah dies in battle.

Obviously, any Bible story that involves the married King committing adultery, at least, and what amounts to murder is awful, but do you note my lawyerly equivocation in the recap? This was intentional because of the enormous amount of heated debate over the rest of the story. Have you heard any of these claims presented as fact in a teaching or sermon?

David was frustrated by his being at home rather than at war, therefore, when he saw Bathsheeba, he took out his frustration by sexually assaulting her.

David was the King and a man who was immensely powerful. When he sent his messengers to Bathsheeba, he wrongfully used his power and Bathsheeba was forced into a sexual relationship with him.

Bathsheeba knew that her roof was overlooked by the palace and she, therefore, was bathing naked in order to seduce David.

Bathsheeba should have known David was there and should not have been bathing naked, therefore, she bears partial responsibility for David’s actions.

Just the other day, I heard what was claimed to be a summary of this passage that alleged that David sent hulking, armed soldiers to Bathsheeba’s door to seize her and, in doing so, he left her without a choice, essentially, using his position to force her to have sex with him. These are just a few of the examples and, make no mistake, they are often offered with good intentions.

So what is the problem?

Coloring Where God did not Color

The Bible is like an amazing and complex word of God, crafted by the perfect artist, God Himself. As with any great work, God made a huge number of choices regarding highlights and colors to use as well as subjects and shades not to include. Just as you would never consider whipping out a brush and some paint to add a bit more color to a Monet, it is equally clear that you cannot add a bit of tint to God’s Word, particularly when dealing with challenging subjects. In other words, no matter how strongly you feel about any issue, you must resist the temptation to shade Scripture to suit your biases.

37 Bold Bible Verses on False Teachers

This can look like trying to lessen David’s responsibility if you have a particular affinity for this king by blaming Bathsheeba for all the evil that follows. “The wicked woman with the Jezebel Spirit is to blame!!!!!!” you can assert as fact based on the mention of her nudity. This can also show up with leadership that is authoritarian and excuses it bad actions, can’t blame a king without endangering yourself, or with groups that sinfully emphasize the power of men, as you can’t blame David without admitting his terrible decision making. The result is sermons, articles, and rhetoric dripping with accusations and even scorn toward that scheming Bathsheeba.

Bible Testing the “Jezebel Spirit”: What is the Truth about this Popular Claim?

On the other end of the spectrum, particularly as the culture and the church grapples with the real issues of sexual assault, unloving leadership, and abuse, it is tempting to use Bathsheeba as a picture of all those who have been truly harmed by abuse and David as the prototypical abuser. It is tempting to color in certain parts of the passage in order to clearly make what you feel is an important point for today.

Let me say again that the entire passage is one filled with sin. I do understand and agree that married women (and men) do deliberately seduce others with a goal, so real people have done and still do what some allege Bathsheeba did. I also understand that married men (and women) do commit terrible acts of sexual violence or abuse their positions of power to exploit others, so real people have done and still do the sins for which David stands accused.

I am not and would not try to excuse or downplay any of these sinful actions. The Bible and the world are filled with examples of these terrible problems.

These were huge issues in David and Bathsheebas’ day and they remain so today.

So, again, what is the problem?

Silence does not Demand a Verdict

Well, as the residents of the America’s likely tried to explain to the early explorers trying to get to China and India, “Sure, they are real places and you have a good goal, but you just can’t get there from here.”

You cannot arrive at these ugly conclusions about David and Bathsheeba without inserting your own opinions and conclusions as fact into the passage. A disciplines reading of the passage simply does not support these sort of editorial additions to the text. Take a look at the relevant passage with me:

 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,  and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”  Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home.  The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” 2 Samuel 11

To start off, what does the Bible say was Bathsheeba’s motivation in going out to bathe on her rooftop?

SILENCE

What is said about her knowledge of David’s location or sightlines?

SILENCE
Is anything at all said about Bathsheeba planning an encounter with David before that night?

NO, SILENCE, again.

The Bible does not provide any details.

I have heard some argue that she should have known that the palace overlooked her roof and she chose to flaunt herself. I have heard others respond saying that it was the normal practice of the time and she did not know David was there. The simple truth, though, is the Word is entirely silent on these questions – it simply says she is out there and beautiful.

So can you remain faithful to the Scripture and call Bathsheba a seductress and force her to bear all the blame as a matter of fact?

The clear answer is no. To do so, is to try to add something that God did not provide.

Then, what about David?

A similar examination of the passage, without adding anything yields similar results.

David saw Bathsheeba from his rooftop and sent someone to find out information about her. He then sent messengers to get her and bring him to him and they had sex. The language of the passage does seem to focus on David as the initiator and his actions, but this makes sense within the structure of the book focusing on the kings and nation of Israel. Despite this, the passage also includes the fact that:

She (Bathsheeba) came to him, and he slept with her.

which would possibly, but not certainly, point to her taking definitive action. However, there is no specific indication of force or coercion, particularly when compared with other similar passages where sexual assault is clearly described. The accounts of Dinah in Genesis and Tamar only two chapters later in 2 Samuel 13, both use different and specific wording to make clear the presence of violation and use of force. As a result, there does not appear to be anything that would support the claim that a rape took place. There is not only silence but also indications to the contrary.

God’s Mercy Always Tears Down Our Idols…but Are We Willing to Leave Them?

This does not get David off the hook, though, regarding the allegations of abuse of power and sexual assault through that abuse. What about the emotionally provocative picture of the heavily armed brutes taking away the agency of Bathsheeba and forcing her compliance?

With this part, more than silence. The original word used in Hebrew that describes David’s men is consistently translated as messengers, envoys or ambassadors. It is not the word for armed soldiers or guards, usually an entirely different term. It is the same word that is translated as messenger for the person sent to find out the identity of Bathsheeba in the prior verse, where there is no suggestion of intimidation or violence. Did they have any weapons? You simply cannot know from the passage – one way or the other – so putting spears or swords in their hands (or not) and then drawing conclusions from there is impossible.

What does the Bible say about Bathsheeba’s feelings when David’s men showed up at her door or as she went to the his palace?

SILENCE. This question is also left blank.

What about the power differential? Did David’s role as king leave Bathsheeba no choice and force the issue?

You can predict the answer – SILENCE.

These are all valid questions to ask when reading the account of David and Bathsheeba. They involve issues that are weighty and important and injustice that God Himself despises. People have been using God given power to exploit, abuse, and demean people since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden and Jesus is well aware of these terrible wrongs. There is no reason to shy away from deeply examining all of God’s Word and His people and clearly identifying sin – even when it is hard.

Yet, where the evidence either does not support a claim, there is silence, or contradicts the assertion, the original author does not want you to fill in the blank. The risk of doing so is transforming God’s perfect reflection of Himself into a flawed picture of you.

After all these words, you may be left wondering why God left these blanks that you are tempted to fill in. Why did God not tell you what Bathsheeba was thinking or, for an always fascinating example, what Jesus wrote when He stooped down and wrote in the dirt while defending the Adulterous Woman in John 8?

The answer is as simple as it is somewhat frustrating to that same self will – they are not the part of the passages God wants you to know.

The blanks are not the point – the full revelation of God in His Word is. You know that David was a great king in many ways. You know he was called the man after God’s heart. He is a forerunner of the Messiah. Yet, because he is just a man, he was a sinner and he could never save you. Only Jesus is enough to do that – and He is revealed clearly and completely.