Shabbos 56
“David sought to do evil but did not do so.”
Today’s reading comments on all the ways human beings fail to live up to God’s expectations: they take bribes, pervert justice, collect inflated fees, misappropriate tithes, use excessive force, engage in slander, participate in adultery. We were told yesterday that even the great men in the bible sinned. King David was famous for his affair with Bathsheba and for arranging to send her husband to battle and ultimately, his death. In today’s portion of the Talmud, Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani and the great Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi whitewash King David’s behavior.
We all know the story of King David, who despite all his battle successes and slaying of a giant single-handedly with just a slingshot, was deeply flawed. He fell hard for Bathsheba who ended up pregnant with his child. She was married at the time to the soldier Uriah who was away at battle. King David called home her husband in hopes they would have relations and the child could be explained, but Uriah was a committed soldier who refused to have relations with his wife while his comrades were fighting on the front. King David sent him back into battle and Uriah was killed. King David proceeded to marry Bathsheba.
It is a sensational account of a man who was considered a hero and conquered the giant Goliath according to legend (which was probably as accurate as the tale about George Washington and the cherry tree.) In today’s reading Rabbi Shmuel felt compelled to defend David: “Anyone who says that David sinned with Bathsheba is nothing other than mistaken.”
Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who we are told descended from the house of David, defends his ancestor with the explanation that Uriah would have likely executed a divorce decree before he left for battle, which was customary at the time in order to allow a widow to remarry if her husband did not return home. Rabbi HaNasi says that David’s intentions may have been improper, but his actions were not. All of a sudden, in an attempt to defend a flawed hero, intentions do not matter as much as we thought.
David sent Uriah to battle hoping he would not come back alive and with the intention of marrying his wife. We are offered yet another defense of King David. Although Uriah seemed like an upstanding soldier who was devoted to his calling and died on the battlefield in defense of the throne, we are told that he was traitor. For this reason, David was allegedly not guilty for the death of Uriah.
So why would two learned Rabbis defend King David who in his encounter with Bathsheba and Uriah appears scheming, self-centered and narcissistic with little regard for a human life. Perhaps they were willing to go to the lengths they did in order to preserve the image of a hero who they deeply wanted to believe in, just like today we are all looking for heroes to provide leadership during this difficult time. Maybe the Rabbis were so desperate to believe in a hero that they were willing to rationalize David’s more egregious transgressions. The story of David slaying the giant Goliath is an important one in the Bible. It provides faith that the little guy can win in a battle against a giant if he has faith in himself and perseverance.
It is our deeply flawed heroes who are the most interesting and provide for good movie scripts. Here is a link to a 1951 movie about David and Bathsheba with Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward:
https://www.tcm.com/watchtcm/movies/72381/David-and-Bathsheba/