Solomon Becomes King

1 Kings 1-2

At the beginning of 1 Kings, David is old and not doing so well. He has trouble staying warm, and so his servants find for him a young virgin to attend to him and sleep with him. Her name is Abishag. She is very beautiful, but the king does not "know her sexually" (1:4). The next sentence states that the next son, Adonijah, now declares that he will be king (1:5).

Taken as they are written, these are just statements of a sequence of events, not necessarily linked. But in the notes to the edition of the Bible I am reading (see sidebar for complete reference), the commentators say that this indicates that the king is impotent "and therefore no longer fit to be king. The knowledge of David's impotence spurs Adonijah to declare himself king" (OT 415).

I find that an interesting interpretation. Was that really the primary reason? Or was it just that David was getting old and was no longer in good health?

At any rate, Adonijah is the next son. One listing of David's first sons appears at 2 Samuel 3:2-5. The listing include Amnon, Chileab, Absalom, and Adonijah first. We heard what happened to Amnon and Absalom. Chileab is not mentioned further: the commentators suggest that he may have died young. But after Adonijah there are other sons too: Shephatiah and Ithream. Then later offspring (both sons and daughters) are mentioned at 2 Samuel 5:13-16. These include Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, and others.

I mention this because what happens next in 1 Kings is that it turns out that Solomon becomes king. No mention is made of the other brothers between him and Adonijah. And recall that Solomon is Bathsheba's son, and the union between David and Bathsheba began as adultery.

But, back to the story: While Adonijah makes preparations to succeed his father as king, the prophet Nathan (not the same Nathan as David's son, I don't think), goes to Bathsheba to warn her and encourage her to talk to David about this. Adonijah seems to be worried that his father favors Solomon, because he did not invite him (or Nathan) to his big party. So Bathsheba and Nathan tell David about all of this to encourage David to quickly appoint his own desired successor before Adonijah declares himself king.

David does spring into action, ordering a procession and ceremony anointing Solomon as king (1:28-40). Adonijah and his guests at his party hear the trumpets, inquire, and learn that Solomon has just been made king. The guests all depart uneasily, and Adonijah goes to the altar and grasps the horns, seeking sanctuary (1:50). Solomon summons him and lets him go.

David does die soon thereafter, but first gives Solomon advice: keep the ways of the Lord, and get rid of a few people... (2:1-9). He then dies (2:10). Now Adonijah asks Bathsheba to ask Solomon if he can have Abishag (the beautiful virgin whom David never knew sexually) for his wife (2:13-18). According to the commentators, this is really a power move. Elsewhere too, sleeping with a king's wives and concubines is a symbolic way to try to grasp the king's power. So, Solomon has Adonijah killed (2:25).

The rest of chapter 2 has Solomon banishing or putting to death others who threaten his power (because they had sided with Adonijah), including Joab, even though Joab asked for sanctuary. In fact, this was one of the people David advised Solomon to put to death, because of the killings Joab had intiated on his own (not commanded by David), especially of Abner and Amasa (2:5-6). The commentators seem doubtful that David had really suggested this, because those killings had happened so long ago. They think that this was merely a rationalization for killing Joab, but that the real reason was that Solomon felt threatened by him since he sided with Adonijah. But I think it is plausible that David may have advised Solomon to do this, since David and Joab did seem to have an uneasy relationship. I think David found Joab dangerous but valuable, and may well have held a lasting grudge towards him for those two deaths. And David may also have felt that while he could handle Joab, Solomon might have difficulty. It certainly was not a good sign that Joab sided with Adonijah. That did not bode well for his future relationship with Solomon.

Anyway, now that all of the enemies are cleared away, Solomon is ready to rule. Yes, I am appalled at this grisly side of power in those days (the killing off of one's enemies), but, well, this is not the first time I have seen such things in the Bible.

What's interesting from here is that there now seems to follow a substantial period of peace, for a change! We'll see that in what follows.

2 Samuel Draws to a Close

2 Samuel 21-24

2 Samuel 21:1-14 tells the back story behind why all of Saul's heirs were killed except for Mephibosheth. Apparently, it is a more complicated story than the brief version we earlier saw, involving three years of famine, and the realization that it was due to a past fault of Saul (his trying to wipe out the Gibeonites). Wanting now to make amends to the Gibeonites, David asked them what he should do, and they responded that he should round up seven sons of Saul and have them executed. So he did, but he did also honor their bones, along with those of Saul and Jonathan. And the famine lifted.

2 Samuel 21:15-22 tells of a battle with the Philistines in which David was finally showing his age and was almost killed, so his men told him he had better not go out and fight himself any more. In this and mention of other battles, giants (or descendents of giants) appear again, one with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.

2 Samuel 22 is a poetic passage, a song. It is portrayed as David thanking the Lord for helping him and protecting him. The image is of a person regarding himself as righteous in the midst of lots of drama and violence, grateful for the Lord's strength in carrying him through, helping him to conquer his own enemies, and delivering him from violence.

Clearly, David himself was quite violent, having no qualms about killing those he felt he should kill. We know enough about his life story to realize that he wasn't as perfectly righteous as this passage makes him out to be (see 22:21-25). And so I find myself reading this as the inner view of a person who tries to be righteous (even if not always succeeding) and tries to be a good ruler, honoring God as he rules, and accounting for his success by giving credit to God.

2 Samuel 23:1-7 gives the last words of David: more words of thanks to the Lord.

Then 2 Samuel 23:8-39 honors the best of the brave soldiers who fought for David. The numbers do not add up correctly, if you count the actual names. And Joab is not listed among them, even though he is mentioned back at the end of chapter 20 as being in command of the whole army of Israel. It makes me wonder whether chapters 21-23 up to this point were added in later, breaking up this discussion of Important People in King David's Administration. I'll have a closer look to see whether that makes the numbers add up any better.

Finally, 2 Samuel 24 tells a story of a census, at first portrayed as commanded by the Lord (though Joab is doubtful that this could be so) and then becomes the cause of the Lord's anger. It is mysterious why this would be a problem. The building of an altar saves the day.

So, the end of 2 Samuel has these bits and pieces collected together, signalling that we are getting close to the end of David's reign. It will be interesting to see what happens next.

Why the First Two Sons Do Not Become King

2 Samuel 13-20

David's first son, Amnon, does not become king, because he falls in love with his half-sister, Tamar, rapes her, and thereby becomes hated by Tamar's full brother, Absalom, who ends up killing Amnon.

Absalom is the second son. He flees after killing Amnon, but David forgives him and calls him back, and yet initially will not see him. Resentment brews, and Absalom plots to overthrow David and gain power. David hears of this and flees. Absalom pursues. A battle ensues. Although David does not want Absalom killed, Joab does kill him. David's mourning the death of his second son now creates confusion and more resentment. Judah is happy to call David king again, but the rest of Israel is not so sure.

David returns to Jerusalem, but someone else, Sheba, tries to take control of Israel. In the end, he is defeated. David is fully back in power.

Throughout this story (much longer and more interesting than my summary here!) are other stories of complex relationships and tales of loyalty and betrayal.

First of all, it is interesting that for all of David's displeasure with Joab's harshly violent and vengeful ways, they stay together in alliance. At times, David places others in higher command, but Joab continues to play a major role, taking it upon himself to kill those he finds problematic, even when he knows David will be displeased. It seems that Joab is just fierce and scary, and manages to hold on to a prominent place because of a mixture of his being too dangerous to ignore but also because these characteristics make him a valuable fighter and commander. Joab and David often argue, yet David never actually fires him, as such.

David's wise adviser, Ahithophel, does betray him and sides with Absalom in Absalom's revolt. The notes suggest that it may be that Ahithophel was Bathsheba's grandfather (see 11:3 and 23:34), and maybe he was displeased at how David took Bathsheba and had her husband killed. Ahithophel's good advice to Absalom gets bypassed in favor of Hushai's advice. Dismayed, Ahithophel leaves and kills himself.

Hushai is a "good friend" of David who pretends to defect to Absalom, but really plots to turn things around to give David the advantage. He counters Ahithophel's advice with advice of his own while meanwhile sending a warning to David, giving David and his army a chance to regroup and plan for the attack. So, Hushai does stay loyal to David.

Most interesting of all is a little side-story: As David flees from Jerusalem, a man named Shimei comes out of his house cursing at David and throwing stones (16:5-6). Joab's brother, Abishai, offers to kill him, but David stops him. "If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, 'Curse David,' who then shall say, 'Why have you done so?'" (16:10). "Let him alone, and let him curse; for the Lord has bidden him. It may be that the Lord will look on my distress, and the Lord will repay me with good for this cursing of me today" (16:11-12). So the man trails along for a while, continuing to curse and throw stones.

Later, after David is victorious, and is returning to Jerusalem, the same man meets them again. Now he is contrite and begs for David's forgiveness (19:16-23). Abishai again wants to kill him, but David says no, and allows him to live.

Often David's position of refraining from killing is set against Joab's and Abishai's tendencies to kill whoever displeases them or gets in their way. So there emerges a picture of a new kind of leadership, grounded in a new ethic: one that involves some restraint. David wields a kind of power that comes from not killing when he could, and this power is shown to be superior than that of Joab and Abishai. After all, it is David who is king. For all of Joab's fierceness and mercilessness, still, even his position as chief commander of David's army is not stable. His kind of power only gets him so far.

David has the capacity to show mercy and even affection. He is not naive. He keeps a strategic eye on all of his relationships. But he appears to be able to transcend just a strategic stance and is alert to real loyalty and affection wherever it may appear. While not naive, he is also not cynical. He seems to hold the relational complexity in an effective balance.

The Complexity of a King's Relationships

2 Samuel 8-12

In Chapters 5, 8, and 10 there are more battles, as King David consolidates his power. The victories are seen as signs of the Lord's favor.

Chapter 9 tells the story of David's bringing Jonathan's son Mephibosheth into his household, out of loyalty to Jonathan. Mephibosheth is the last surviving male heir of Saul. He is described as being lame in both feet. It's unclear whether David is motivated by loyalty to Jonathan, or wants to keep Saul's last heir under close watch.

There is a lot of ambiguity throughout the story of David's life whether his relationships are grounded in personal affection or whether they are strategic alliances. Perhaps those in power themselves have difficulty differentiating between these two.

Then Chapters 11-12 bring a new story of relational complexity. David becomes attracted to a woman who is not his wife: Bathsheba. He sleeps with her, and when he learns that she is pregnant, he arranges to have her husband killed in battle. Then he marries Bathsheba. The Lord is not pleased, and so the son that is born dies. But another son is conceived and born: Solomon. We know that Solomon is destined to become the next king, but how? David already has other wives, and other sons. How could it be that this son, born later on, from a marriage that began in such a problematic way, is the one who becomes the next king? We'll have to wait and see how this comes to be.

The story of David's relationship with Bathsheba is interesting. On the one hand, it breaks all the rules of morality. On the other hand, that union in particular holds special status in David's lineage. While the Lord is displeased with the obvious immorality of the situation, David does not fall out of the Lord's favor. (Meanwhile, recall that Saul did fall out of the Lord's favor, apparently for inappropriately performing a sacrifice and/or for not annihilating conquered groups completely.) David continues to show real affection for Bathsheba. Yet even their relationship turns into a strategic alliance of sorts, since we know that it is their son who becomes the next king.

But what I find especially interesting about this story is that it does not start out as a strategic alliance -- it is far too risky for that. This suggests that David is not just motivated by pragmatic and strategic considerations in his relationships. And, in the long run, he is in fact rewarded for this. Even though the start of the relationship is not ethical, and the Lord is portrayed as unhappy with him and as punishing him for this, David does not fall out of the Lord's favor, and ultimately the relationship turns into one that is good and important.

And so there is the suggestion here of the beginning of a change in attitude about relationships. There is now a kind of love in some relationships that transcends both ethical rules and pragmatic or strategic considerations. Suddenly, the divine punishment for an ethical transcendence is reduced and specific (the child born from the initial adultery dies); but the relationship is allowed to turn into marriage and continue; the next child born then in fact becomes the next king. This unexpected turn of events suggests not just a weary tolerance for human fallibility: it looks more like an actual reward for not letting the rules of society or the pragmatics of kingship undermine something emerging as more important: love.

So, I am starting to see a pattern emerge in David's life: an ability throughout to assess and care about relationships in new ways. His loyalty to Saul despite Saul's jealousy towards him; his affection for Saul's son Jonathan, carried through to his care for Jonathan's son (even though all of the rest of Saul's heirs are killed), and now his love for Bathsheba -- all of these relationships show David balancing the demands of his power and responsibility with compassionate concern for certain key people in his life: regarded as unique individuals, deserving of special consideration. David is able to take on personal risk for some of his relationships: risking his power, his reputation, and even his life. Something about these special relationships stops him from a kind of ruthlessness that might seem justified for one in his position. And so we see a place being made for affection, caring, and love. These are not contrasted with power or regarded as weak. On the contrary, David's appeal and perhaps even effectiveness as king are enhanced by these qualities.

We see David as complex and as human, but what is human about him is not portrayed as weak and problematic, but as worthy of a new form of admiration. He loves, and stands up for his love, and the Lord Himself seems to take notice and respect this.

The Promise Reaffirmed

2 Samuel 6-7

In Chapter 6, the relationship between David and the Lord comes more clearly into focus again. David wishes to bring the ark of God to the city of David. So they begin to bring it, with dancing and music along the way. But then a man named Uzzah accidentally touches the ark and is stricken dead. This show of angry power angers David, and he pauses, letting the ark stay in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. It stays there for three months, "and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household" (6:11). When David hears of this, he decides to bring it to the city of David after all. Again, he dances before the Lord "with all his might" (6:14) as they bring the ark. His wife Michal sees him and "despised him in her heart" (6:16), later chastising him for demeaning himself in that way. But he insists he did this for the Lord, and says, "I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in my own eyes" for the Lord (6:22). Meanwhile, Michal ends up not ever having any children (6:23).

David now decides that he would like to build a house for the ark. But the prophet Nathan receives word from the Lord that this is not necessary at this time. Chapter 7 is an important and moving dialogue first between Nathan and the Lord, and then between David and the Lord. It is a reaffirmation of the promise from the Lord:

I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel, and I have been with you wherever you went. ... And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more (7: 8-9, 10).

Instead of needing a house Himself, the Lord promises David a house. It is David's offspring who will build the Lord a house (7:13). The Lord promises to remain with his people: "I will not take my steadfast love from him" (7:15).

This is the true moment of arrival. After power is consolidated, the kingdom reunited, and the ark brought into the center, there is this moving time of prayerful appreciation for all that has happened, and what this moment means.

A Complex Transition of Power

2 Samuel 1-6

The story now seems more focused on human struggles for power. As we watch David transition into power, we see him still concerned about living righteously, but guided more from his own ethical stance (perhaps supplemented by political strategizing?) and less directly by God; yet consideration for the will of the Lord is not entirely lacking. But there seems to be a subtle change in how it is determined. David is not consulting with spiritual leaders. Occasionally he consults with the Lord directly himself.

David is sad at the news of Saul's and Jonathan's deaths (2 Samuel 1). He even has the messenger killed, since the messenger (an Amalekite living in Israel -- the son of a resident alien) said that he had killed Saul (supposedly at Saul's request, seeing defeat at hand). David is upset that someone living in Israel would kill the anointed king.

After Saul's death, David does not immediately become king of all Israel. He first becomes king of Judah. He rules from Hebron. Meanwhile, Saul's son Ishbaal rules over Israel. But it is really Abner, the commander of Saul's army, who seems to be in control. David's people and Isbaal's people fight. In the process, Abner kills one of the brothers of Joab, who seems to have a leadership role over David's army. The struggle between the groups continues (2 Samuel 2).

A fateful moment arises when Abner sleeps with one of Saul's concubines. Ishbaal catches him, and is angry. So, it looks like Abner decides to switch sides. He arranges to meet with David, to help him gain power over Israel and combine the kingdoms. David asks him to bring his (David's) former wife Michal (Saul's daughter) along with him. (Her new husband follows, weeping.) When Joab hears of Abner's meeting with David, he is angry (remember that Abner killed one of his brothers), and tells David that Abner was probably spying. He goes off in search of Abner, finds him, and kills him. David is not happy about this, and makes clear that he had nothing to do with this. He makes sure the people realize that this was Joab's doing because Abner killed his brother (2 Samuel 3).

Meanwhile, Ishbaal became alarmed at hearing of Abner's death -- for good reason. Without that protection, in fact other commanders of his own army now kill Ishbaal in his sleep. They bring his head to David, hoping for praise. David is horrified that they would kill a righteous man in his own bed while he was sleeping, and has them killed (2 Samuel 4).

Now David becomes king of Israel as well as of Judah. He moves to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5). And so now at last we see the kingdom united under one king based in Jerusalem.

Saul's Reign Ends

1 Samuel 18-31

The rest of the story of 1 Samuel is troubling. After David's heroic deed, Saul starts to become jealous of him, and fearful of him. His fear and jealously turn out to be his own undoing, because the additional deeds of David are really in Saul's best interest, and David never himself appears to plot against Saul for the throne. Yet everyone seems just to know that David will eventually somehow become the next king.

What's puzzling is why Saul is so jealous and worried, given that David is not in a rush to become king. He respects Saul as king. He regards Saul as the one anointed by the Lord to be king, and in fact David does not become king himself until after Saul's death. The person who should be jealous and worried is Saul's son, Jonathan. But instead, Jonathan loves David, and seems happy at the thought of David's becoming king and looks forward to serving him in this role (something that never happens, because Jonathan gets killed in the same battle in which Saul dies).

In fact, while Saul pursues David (who is in hiding, having been helped in his escape by Jonathan), David gets two chances to kill Saul (Ch. 24 and 26), and declines. Both times, Saul is grateful and admits that David is the better man. Yet he continues to pursue David until David finally flees to the land of the Philistines. His being there and gaining the trust of their king (King Achish) seems to play into that king's desire to attack Israel -- that is the battle in which Saul and Jonathan die.

Meanwhile, Samuel too has now died (25:1).

And marriage conventions continue to be, er, interesting. After David conquered Goliath, Saul promised David his elder daughter Merab in marriage (18:17). But he ends up actually giving her in marriage to someone else (18:19). David is not reported as being dismayed or upset about this -- instead, it is next reported that another daughter of Saul loves David: Michal (18:20). Saul is pleased, because he thinks that offering her to David in marriage might work as a snare (18:21). David does marry her, after performing the requisite heroic deeds to earn this honor. Since Michal really loves him, and he succeeded in his heroic deeds, Saul is now more afraid of him than ever: "So Saul was David's enemy from that time forward" (18:29). Michal ends up helping David to escape from one of Saul's plots to kill him (Ch. 19). David never quite comes back, and, later, Michal is given in marriage to someone else (25:44). By then, David has two other wives: Abigail and (25:42) and Ahinoam (25:43).

The story of Abigail (Ch. 25) is an interesting one, framed between the two stories of David's declining to kill Saul. Abigail prevents David from killing her own people. David was angry at her then-husband Nabal for not appreciating the fact that David and his soldiers had been protecting them. In his anger, David was now going to attack them, but Abigail met them with gifts and talked them out of killing everyone. When Nabal heard this story, "his heart died within him; he became like a stone" and he died ten days later (25:37-38). When David heard this, he asked Abigail to be his wife.

These stories of mercy are moving, framed as they are within so many stories of wars and jealous pursuits. It's nice to finally see some stories of mercy celebrated as good: it was good that David did not kill Saul; it was good that Abigail talked David out of killing her people; it was good that David admired her for this, and even married her. The fact that these stories are portrayed as good gives some hope that the glorification of war after war is finally starting to falter a bit.

But we shall see. The story is not over yet...