Abstract
David's rise to the monarchy and the early consolidation of his dynasty connect directly to several of his wives, most notably Michal, Abigail, and Bathsheba. These women were not his only wives; however, they were pivotal figures in establishing and maintaining his place on the throne, and certainly the particular direction of his dynasty. David's relationships – at least initially –with these three women are characterized respectively by the words love, power, and lust.
David is Israel's second king. He establishes a reign that will last for over four hundred years. David's rise to the throne and the direction of his dynasty is first described in the books of Samuel and Kings. Further information is found in Chronicles, which covers a similar period. David's successful royal trajectory is enhanced and abetted through several of his wives. David's relationship with women is surprising and problematic as a model for a revered ruler in Israel. With eight wives and ten concubines, he seems to resemble a profile of an Oriental Monarch rather than that of a righteous leader. One critic describes his biography as “the first full-length portrait of a Machiavellian prince in Western literature” (Alter 1999: xviii). This article deals with David's three most prominent wives: Michal, the daughter of King Saul; Abigail, the wife/widow of the wealthy landowner Nabal; and Bathsheba, the wife/widow of Uriah the Hittite, and the mother of David's successor, Solomon. In terms of these wives, even though there are only
fragmented episodes about the women, there are full reports of how David gains these wives: Michal through violence against the Philistines; Abigail through withholding violence against Nabal; Bathsheba through violence against Uriah [Bach 1990: 36].
David's relationships—at least initially—with these three women are characterized respectively by the words love, power, and lust.
David's Eight Wives
Michal, Abigail and Bathsheba are not David's sole wives. They are pivotal figures in both establishing and then maintaining his house. David has several concurrent wives. The first is Michal, one of the daughters of King Saul. Ahinoam of Jezreel, the mother of Amnon, follows her. Then, he marries a wealthy widow, Abigail. Next is Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur, ruler of a neighboring tribal nation. Maacah is the mother of Absalom and Tamar. Haggith, mother of Adonijah, in turn is followed by Abital and Eglah, and then finally, David's last wife, Bathsheba, who gives birth to Solomon. (In addition to Bathsheba, two wives are related directly to contenders for the throne. Maacah's son Absalom tries unsuccessfully to usurp the throne from David but then is killed [2 Sam 15, 18]. Haggith's son Adonijah, by then David's oldest living male heir apparently believes he could and would succeed his father David [1 Kgs 1:5 ff.] Nonetheless, Bathsheba and Solomon outmaneuver Adonijah. Later, Solomon orders his execution for treason).
David's marriages are not motivated by the concept of lifelong affection, or some kind of romantic ideal. In many or most cases, they are politically motivated.
In the societies of the ancient Near East, a woman's sexuality was generally under the control of a man in her family. A father controlled his daughter's sexuality, and a husband his wife's. The marriage of a young woman was a matter of negotiation and financial arrangements between the groom and … the father or leading male of the bride's family…. Among royal families, not only financial but also political matters had to be negotiated [Hackett: 156].
David's marriages, and certainly his marriages to Michal and Abigail are motivated by politics and power. Early on in his career, he has his eye on the throne, and these marriages are ways for him either to gain influence (Michal, Abigail) or later to exercise control (Bathsheba) of his self-perceived destiny. The statement above, that a man in her family generally controlled a woman's sexuality is particularly ironic in the cases of Michal, Abigail, and Bathsheba. Michal, Abigail, and Bathsheba are strong personalities; they are often quite assertive in their behaviors. Bathsheba may be passive at least in her early relationship with David, but she changes by the time she is promoting her son Solomon as David's successor. David marries powerful women. Yet, in terms of how the biblical text refers to them, Michal remains the daughter of Saul (2 Sam 6:23), Abigail remains the widow of Nabal (1 Sam 30:5) and Bathsheba's lasting legacy is as Solomon's mother (1 Kgs 1:11–13, 30 and 2:13–25); none becomes David's sole Queen (Berlyn argues that Israel did not really have “queens,” Athaliah's reign notwithstanding. Whether Athaliah was termed malkah or g'virah, she did exercise great power in a unique way. Bathsheba may never have been “the queen,” but she had a seat near her son, and Solomon publically honored her (1 Kgs 2:19). (Berlyn: 26–35).
Michal: Love/Love's Labor Lost
The Early Michal
David's first marriage is contracted in the days when he is a young hero at the court of King Saul. The Bible tells us that Saul initially loves David (1 Sam 16:21, 22), as do the people (1 Sam 18:16). Yet, before too long, David's successes and popularity among the people distresses Saul, for the women, sing, dance, and chant, “Saul has slain his thousands! David, his tens of thousands!” (1 Sam 18:7). Saul fears that David seeks the crown. In an attempt to suborn David, Saul initially offers him one of his daughters, Merab, in marriage. Later, Saul offers Michal. David understands that this is a way for him to get closer to the seat of power. Since the monarchy is so new an institution for Israel, it is not clear that a direct dynastic succession through the male biological line is the only way to become the ruler. Furthermore, some time earlier, the king maker/king breaker, the prophet Samuel secretly anoints David (1 Sam 16:11–13). In the meantime, Michal “loved David” (1 Sam 18:20). When Saul learns of this, he is pleased, because he thinks that he can bribe David through Michal. Saul conveys the message that her bride price would be the foreskins of a hundred Philistines. Saul expects that David would either fail in this endeavor, or fall in battle, thereby eliminating what Saul sees as a serious threat to his rule. “Saul thought: ‘Let me give her to him that she may be a snare for him, so that the Philistines may be against him’” (1 Sam 18:21).
Commenting on this situation, J. Cheryl Exum notes that from Saul's viewpoint, why should it matter that Michal loves David? Women's feelings are unimportant. Saul had already tempted David with his older daughter Merab, “where love is not mentioned—but he gave her to another (1 Sam 18:17–19).” Michal's feelings are gratuitous for Saul, and for David as well. “The situation is one in which the men's political considerations are paramount, while regarding the woman, we hear only that she loves. Already the text perpetuates a familiar stereotype: men are motivated by ambition, whereas women respond on a personal level. It would be much more to Saul's advantage if David loved Michal—but that is precisely what the text leaves unsaid, suggesting that David's motives are as purely political as Saul's” (Exum: 50). The text focuses on David, he is pleased to be the king's son-in-law; not he is pleased to be married to Michal. Her expressed affection for David (1 Sam 18:20, 28) is not reciprocated on David's part. The text says only that he is quite willing to wed the princess in order to become the king's son-in-law (noted three times—1 Sam 18:18, 23, 26), and thus enter into the royal family. This alliance does not make him an heir apparent; Saul's son Jonathan holds that place, but he holds David in great affection (see below). It does, however put David in a powerful position, and a dangerous one from Saul's viewpoint. As P. Kyle McCarter observes, “Each man sees the marriage prospect as an opportunity to further his own cause” (McCarter 1980: 317; see also R. Klein: 189, comment on vv 20–27). Many people love David, but nowhere does it say that David loves Saul, Michal, Jonathan, or the people.
Later, Michal actively assists David to escape. She is brave and strong. She physically lowers David out of the window, and then lies to her father's messengers, fabricating a story that David threatened her. Michal risks her father's unpredictable and often violent wrath (1 Sam 19:10). Michal herself remains in the palace. Did Michal expect her husband to return shortly? David, despite meeting with Jonathan presumably near the palace, does not come back for her for many years (1 Sam 20:1–42). David's grief at having to leave the royal entourage, and his upset at losing Jonathan's company, is heartfelt (1 Sam 20:41). David understands that this diminishes his chances to acquire more power. He values his connection with Jonathan. Moreover the biblical text says that Jonathan loved him (1 Sam 18:1, 3; 20:17). Several years later David once again seeks out Michal. By that point, Saul and Jonathan will be dead, and David will be negotiating for the throne of all Israel.
In the meantime, the biblical narrative turns to other matters. It follows David at various locales. David's marriage to Abigail comes in these chapters, as does a note that Saul gave Michal to Palti son of Laish as a wife (again, controlling her sexuality, if not her loyalty). The book of First Samuel concludes with the death of Saul and Jonathan amidst the ongoing battles with the Philistine enemies. When Jonathan and Saul are killed, David laments their deaths (2 Sam 1:23, 26). He may have been sad that his friend and ally Jonathan had died; he certainly is pleased that Saul is no longer alive. To mourn their deaths only makes David more appealing to the people.
When the text turns again to Michal and David, the focus is negotiations aimed primarily at attaining reconciliation following internecine battles between Judah and the northern tribes (later known as the kingdom of Israel) who follow the Saulide dynasty, supporting Saul's son Ish-boshet, also known as Ish-Baal.
The Later Michal
Abner, Ish-boshet's general, wishing to defect to the House of David (2 Sam 3) promises to bring all Israel to David's side. David suggests that as part of this defection Abner needs to bring Michal with him, which he does. (In the event, Michal's brother the monarch Ish-boshet does not seem to object, as he orders her to be taken to David, seemingly giving David authority over him [2 Sam 3:15]). David expects Michal to be valuable to his gaining the allegiance of the northern tribes. In addition, his demand for “the return of Michal was certainly the hope that that a male issue [a grandson of Saul] would unite the claims of his house and Saul's—a vain hope as it turned out” (Bright: 198). Shortly after Michal rejoins David the text explains that “David took more concubines and wives” and that he fathered sons and daughters (2 Sam 5:13). When Michal is brought back from Palti she is identified as the daughter of Saul, and not as the wife of David (2 Sam 3:13). Earlier she was referred to as David's wife (1 Sam 19:11; 25:44). Michal's dilemma is that she is the daughter of Saul the former ruler, and the wife of the present sovereign. During her lifetime, Saul and David fought bitterly over the kingdom, and as noted before, following Saul's death there was a long, drawn out civil war as to who would be Saul's legitimate successor.
Nothing more is said of Michal's relationship with David until the great day when, with great ceremony, the Ark was brought up to Jerusalem. David led the procession, dressed in a linen ephod worn by priests. “Michal daughter of Saul looked out the window and saw King David leaping and whirling before Y
Some suggest David was scantily clad. The text says that David was wearing an ephod, a priestly robe. As described in Exodus 28:6 ff. priests wore the ephod, which is a garment composed of a couple pieces of linen and connected by straps at one's shoulder. Originally it served as a kind of loincloth in contrast to the cultic expressions of pagan nations. As he was leading the procession of the holy Ark to Jerusalem, David would have chosen to be appropriately clothed. Michal's anger may derive from her feeling that David was not properly dressed as a king for this occasion. In addition she may have felt lingering anger that David had illegitimately usurped the monarchy from her family. Or David's improper clothing was not the issue. Michal may sense that David's demand to bring her to Jerusalem is not out of love for her as a person but rather as valuable dynastic property and a pawn in his political game. She feels an inner conflict between her loyalty to her father, and his memory, and her two husbands, one loving (Palti, 2 Sam 3:14–16) and one manipulating. David is mortified and angered. His response to Michal matches her bitterness and sarcasm. He says that God had chosen him over her father and over her father's house, and made him prince over all Israel. David adds that he would find honor among those she had scorned (2 Sam 6:21, 22).
Michal appears as an agent in her own right here, and in 1 Samuel 19, where she saves David's life. Elsewhere she neither speaks nor initiates action but is rather the object of the political machinations of the two men, her father and her husband, locked in bitter rivalry over the kingship. When used as a symbol to represent their conflicting interests, Michal is referred to as both Saul's daughter and David's wife (1 Sam 18:20, 27, 28; 25:44; 2 Sam 3:13, 14). The intense nature of the Saulide-Davidic rivalry, however, the exclusiveness of each's claim to the throne, makes it impossible for Michal to belong to both houses at once. She becomes a victim of their prolonged conflict, and her two attempts to act autonomously by choosing her own allegiances result only in her own losses [Exum: 51].
In each case she is identified with the weaker side. When she is still in Saul's palace (1 Sam 19), Michal is called “David's wife,” for while she allies herself with her husband over against her father, it is Saul who has the power. “In 2 Samuel 6, she becomes once again ‘Saul's daughter,’ for she speaks as the representative of her father's house, and by doing so, forfeits her role in the house of King David” (Exum: 51–52).
The passage concludes with a remark that Michal remained childless all her life. Is there a connection between these matters? Was her infertility God's punishment for her attack on her husband and king? Alternatively, perhaps David never cohabitated with her again, or she chose not to sleep with David. The biblical text is ambiguous.
Abigail: Power / As You Like It
Abigail the wife of Nabal, a wealthy landowner in the area of Hebron, is the centerpiece of 1 Samuel 25. Termed “extraordinarily enterprising and practical” (Alter 2011: 151), she is her own person. Her husband certainly does not “control” Abigail's sexuality. At one point David offers “protection” for Nabal's shepherds when they are off with their flocks in the wilderness. Nabal rudely dismisses this request, saying, “Who is David?” and “Why should I pay attention to him?” David intends to punish Nabal for his impudence (1 Sam 25:12,13). One of Nabal's own servants learns of David's anger and he goes directly, not to Nabal, but to Abigail. It is clear that Abigail is in charge of the household. Abigail immediately takes charge of the situation. Without informing her husband, she packages up a generous amount of food, loads it, and sends it to David. She then follows, riding an ass, and meets David along the trail. She placates David, praising him and prophesizes that God will reward David with an everlasting house. She also predicts that he will rule over Israel. Through her efforts, she prevents David from taking on a bloodguilt. Abigail calls her provisions a “blessing” to David (1 Sam 25:27) and he responds using the same language a few verses on. (NJPS, NRSV, and NEB translate Abigail's statement as the “present” which your servant has brought, but the Hebrew reads V'atah habrakhah hazot asher heivi shifhatkha—“Here is the blessing which your servant….” NIV uses the word “gift.” Fox uses the term “token-of-blessing.”)
Abigail is the first person to declare publicly that David will rule as king, since Samuel's anointing of David in chapter sixteen, was done secretly and in private (1 Sam 16:1ff.; 11–13). Abigail is beautiful, intelligent, cunning, and brave. She is a “take charge” person. She recognizes power, and she understands power.
Alice Bach sums up Abigail's impressive rhetorical encounter with David as a tour de force. Bach points out that Abigail controls “her life verbally while appearing socially dependent and compliant. The moment she encounters David, she speaks. Her determination is reflected in the series of active verbs (v 23) which rapidly move the narrative…. She hastened and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground” (Bach 1990: 26). Even before David can respond to her presence, Abigail then takes charge of the scene. She uses several self-deprecating phrases in verses 24 and 27. “Upon me alone, my lord, be the guilt; please let your servant speak; hear the words of your servant; let this present that your servant has brought.” Abigail self-defines as a servant, someone without power, but her actions belie those words.
The scene continues to belong to Abigail. After offering the gift of nourishment for him and his men, she proffers a greater gift: spiritual nourishment in the form of the prophecy endorsing David's destiny to reign as the chosen one of God. Once she is assured that David has no further violent intentions toward Nabal, she dissociates herself from this husband, who she concedes has no hope of survival (vv 25–26), and seeks to link herself with David [Bach 1990: 27].
Abigail's speech highlights David's influence and authority and her lowly position, words that highlight a power hierarchy. In the meantime Abigail's
actions show that she is accustomed to controlling situations, her words assure David that she is handing over power to him. Abigail's cloying humility is a result of her belief in her own words of prophecy. Her … words have a … powerful effect on David … they stop him from committing a violent act” [Bach 1990: 27].
Abigail's repetition of the phrase “my lord”—used just short of fifteen times—explains Fox, “may seem overly groveling to modern ears but which serves to accomplish her purpose” (Fox: 394). David listens carefully and blesses her. The next day she informs Nabal, who appears to suffer a stroke, and who then dies ten days later. David marries her and inherits Nabal's valuable estate. David through Nabal's widow gains some legitimacy and for a time rules the territory of Hebron.
Bathsheba: Lust / All's Well That Ends Well
The Early Bathsheba
The events of David's liaison with and subsequent marriage to Bathsheba are among the most morally problematic events in David's life. The terms rape, coercion, power imbalance, seduction, sexual harassment, never mind adultery, treachery, betrayal, and outright murder are all relevant words to describe what certainly begins as a very sordid time in this monarch's life. The fact that the Bathsheba affair and the succession narratives appear only in respectively, the books of Samuel and Kings, and not in Chronicles, which as noted earlier essentially covers much of the same timeframe, suggests just how problematic this part of David's history was for the Chronicler.
“Bathsheba came from a politically influential family” (Bailey: 87). Her father is part of The Thirty, David's Counselors/Special Body Guards (2 Sam 11:3; 23:34). Briefly described, Bathsheba's rise to power as David's wife begins when the monarch literally sees her from his rooftop. Although married to one of David's warriors, Uriah, she soon is in David's bed, and pregnant with his child. David tries unsuccessfully to fool Uriah that he is the child's father (Nicol 1998: 130–45). When that tack fails, David send a message to his chief general Joab, that Joab should place Uriah in the thick of the battle so that the Hittite will be killed, and so it happens.
After a brief mourning period, Bathsheba becomes David's wife and bears his son (2 Sam 11:26, 27). How Bathsheba understands the relationship between her husband's death and David, and how she reconciles herself to her husband's death/murder is unknown. The prophet Nathan reprimands David (but not Bathsheba) for this adulterous union. Some time later the child becomes seriously ill and dies. Subsequently, David sleeps again with Bathsheba and she bears a son, whom she names Solomon.
What of this young and beautiful married woman who was taken to David's bed? Did she go willingly? Was this an example of a person who lusted for the charismatic David, or lusted for power, even as David clearly lusted physically for her? Was she a latter-day Abigail (who also was married when she met David), who saw this as an opportunity to become the king's mistress, and perhaps his wife? (“David sent messengers to fetch her [Bathsheba]; she came to him and he lay with her” [2 Sam 11:4]). Broadly, there are two schools of thought on this subject. Some scholars, both male and female, suggest that Bathsheba is at least as interested in David, as he is interested in her. They suggest that it is unclear whether any force, or minimal persuasion was exerted on the part of David. A contemporary scholar writes of “Bathsheba's complicity in the sexual adventure” but notes that her motivation may be to become a mother—for she seems to be childless before her encounter with David—“rather than merely participation in an adulterous (lustful) act” (We do not know how long Bathsheba had been married to Uriah but she appears to be without issue until David—L. Klein: 56). Another raises the “possible element of female flirtation” (Hertzberg: 309). Did Bathsheba plan, or agree to this liaison; thus is she equally guilty of adultery? Did she not know that the king could see her bathing from his roof? Why would she stand naked and bathe potentially in sight of the king if he were on his roof? Might it be considered that she seduced him? Those who see her complicit in this affair follow the reasoning that the text “suggests a woman who has her eye on the main chance, and it is possible that opportunism, not merely passive submission, explains her behavior here” (Alter 1999: 251). Perhaps she is working toward a “political marriage” and so is “a willing and equal partner to the events which transpire” (Bailey: 88). Another author writes that there “is no evidence that she is ever less than a willing participant in their adultery” (Nicol 1977: 50). Yet, a different source hints at the power differential between David and Bathsheba. Although “she came at his request and without any hesitation … in any case the greatest guilt rests upon David … that he did not resist the temptation to the lust of the flesh” (Keil & Delitzsch: 624).
Other scholars see the early Bathsheba as someone caught up in an intrigue not of her own making.
Bathsheba is pictured as almost entirely passive in this episode … she is [almost] always spoken of in the third person…. The narrative does not seem to hold her responsible for her actions with David, and the punishment that is meted out, that their child should die, is aimed by Y
A common interpretation is that David abused his power as ruler, and simply took Bathsheba because he could do so. In short, he sexually exploited, even raped Bathsheba (Bach 1997: 137, 149–50. See Jobling (160), who writes of “David's rape of Bathsheba, a married woman, and his murder of her husband.” As one scholar noted, “David is hardly passive: He is a taker…. The king who takes is the king of I Sam 8:11–17, about whom the prophet Samuel warned the people” (McCarter: 290; emphasis in original). Put another way, “Bathsheba [is] a casualty of David's sexual imperialism” (Bach 1990: 36). That she is a victim of Power Rape is argued convincingly by Davidson (81–95, see in particular pp. 82, 87–89). The Hebrew of 2 Samuel 11:4 is so ambiguous, that either explanation is possible. As has been suggested, there is
an elaborate system of gaps between what is told and what must be inferred [and this] has been artfully contrived to leave us with at least two conflicting, mutually complicating interpretations of the motives and states of knowledge of the principal characters” [Alter 2011: 18].
Alter writes that it is “one of the richest and most intricate examples in the Bible of how ambiguities are set up by what is said and left unsaid in dialogue, of how characters reveal themselves … [and] what they repeat, report, or distort” (Alter 2011: 96; see also Sternberg: 190–222).
The Later Bathsheba
Perhaps twenty or more years pass. Bathsheba and Solomon drop out of sight. The biblical text focuses instead on the complicated life of David, including wars and rebellions. Then, in the opening two chapters of 1 Kings, Bathsheba reappears. Through some careful machinations she is aided and abetted by, of all people, the prophet Nathan (who earlier had harsh words about her liaison with David). Bathsheba sees to it that her son Solomon will succeed David upon the monarch's death. Over the decades, Bathsheba certainly finds her voice. The mature woman presented in Kings is very politically astute. A good case can be made that the early Bathsheba was an innocent, or at worst, a bit naïve. The Bathsheba of the book of Kings is someone who knows how to make her way through the corridors of power. She clearly has friends, and knows how to influence events. One motivating factor for her was she understands that if she does not act for her son Solomon, and for herself, their very lives are in danger. It likely is act or be killed so that they will not be a threat to another faction who desires the throne.
The context for Bathsheba's reappearance (in the first chapter of First Kings) is that her stepson Adonijah is boasting that he will succeed his father who clearly is in decline (1 Kgs 1:5, 7–10). The prophet Nathan now urges her to inform David of Adonijah's attempt to usurp the succession without the monarch's knowledge. He tells her to act, lest she forfeit her life and that of Solomon. Nathan urges Bathsheba to go to King David and say to him, “Did not you, O lord king, swear to your maidservant: ‘Your son Solomon shall succeed me as king, and he shall sit upon my throne’? Then why has Adonijah become king?” (1 Kgs 1:13). This seems to be insider knowledge, for there is no such previous dialogue in the biblical text. Nathan then shrewdly follows with the statement that as soon as she has said this to David, Nathan himself will join Bathsheba and David and confirm this conversation. Nathan becomes a co-conspirator in the Solomon ascendency. In the next scene, beginning with v 15, Bathsheba goes to see her aging husband in his inner chambers. She bows low before the king and then suggests to him that his will is being usurped by Adonijah's hasty action, naming himself as the monarch. Bathsheba then makes it clear to to David he must act decisively now or she and her son may well face their death.
“In Bathsheba's repetition of Nathan's instructions, she introduces one small but revealing addition: she claims that David swore to her about Solomon's succession “by the Lord [his] God,” which would indicate a higher order of binding solemnity to the vow…. David, carrying this particular incremental repetition a half-step further, will announce to Bathsheba (after he has been persuaded by her and Nathan that he did make such a vow), “As I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel, ‘Solomon your son will reign after me’” (1 Kings 1:30) giving that solemn vow the concluding flourish of an official pronunciation” (Alter 2011: 124).
Solomon then succeeds his father, and soon thereafter David dies.
Adonijah's naive but overweening desire to become king evidently clouds his common sense. He foolishly and fatefully approaches Bathsheba and asks her to intercede with Solomon; he desires to marry Abishag, King David's last “bed partner” (1 Kgs 1:1–4; 1 Kgs 2:13 ff.) but with whom, however, David did not have sexual relations. “Adonijah's marriage to Abishag would signal he was indeed fit to become king” (Howard: 168). Sleeping with the former king's wives or concubines was one way to claim legitimacy to power (cf. 2 Sam 16:21 ff.; 2 Sam 3:7; see also Reuben's lying with Bilhah (Gen 35:22).
Bathsheba promises to pass on this request to Solomon, which she does (I Kgs 2:18 ff.). One imagines Bathsheba rolling her eyes even as she passes this request on to her son. It is incomprehensible that she is “trying to bring about a reconciliation between the brothers” (Fox: 572). To do so would likely mean her own death-warrant and that of Solomon. Adonijah certainly would fatally dispatch any further likely contenders to his rule. Granting Adonijah's wish would have totally undermined Solomon's legitimacy on the throne, which he immediately understands. Solomon then sees that his rival is killed (vv 22–25).
When Bathsheba entered the biblical stage, one way to understand her role is that of a passive figure, overwhelmed by the call of the king. Whether she welcomed David's approach, or even sought out his attention, is a matter of speculation, as noted earlier in this article. Here, in First Kings she acts decisively and judiciously. She is a woman on a mission. She knows what she wants, and she is determined to achieve her goals. In protecting her son (and her own life), Bathsheba is direct, resourceful and calculating. As noted she clearly outmaneuvers Adonijah and his supporters. In the final scene where she appears, Solomon bows to his mother and has a throne brought for her to sit on his right (1 Kgs 2:19). Bathsheba is clearly the most successful of David's wives. In the opening scenes, David's lust for Bathsheba is unquestionable. Bathsheba's initial lust for David, or her lust for power, or her lust for both David and power, is a matter of speculation. In the matter of the royal succession, Bathsheba's lust for power, and certainly her strong desire to have Solomon succeed his father on the throne, is evident.
Conclusion
David's early marriages assist in his rise to power. He begins his ascent with Michal, a royal princess, and then subsequently with his marriage to Abigail, resulting in his coming to power in Hebron. These marriages increase his status and help him gain ascendancy over Saul and Saul's descendants. Samuel had anointed the young David in view of David's entire family and “the spirit of Y
The biblical text does not use the terms of love, power, and lust, to characterize David's march to attaining the throne and his subsequent rule. The book of Samuel does speak of Saul's love for David (1 Sam 16:21); Jonathan's love for David (1 Sam 18:1, 3); Michal's love for David (1 Sam 18:20, 28); and the people's love for David (1 Sam 18:16). Conspicuously missing is any description, or even any hint, of David's similar sincere affection for Saul, Jonathan, the people, much less for his wives! In the cases of Michal, Abigail, and Bathsheba, David's motivation is his own personal view of his destiny. Michal loved David, but then grew to despise him; Abigail recognized David's potential for power, and placed herself at his disposal; David lusted for Bathsheba, and in time, she may have reciprocated those feelings. Love, power, and lust are potent motivators. These are three strong women. They were attracted to David, and he saw something attractive in each. Ecclesiastes observed that the “dead know nothing … even the memory of them has died. Their loves, their hates, their jealousies have long since perished” (Eccl 9:5, 6). David, Michal, Abigail, and Bathsheba have all died. Yet the memory of them, their loves, their hates, their jealousies, remain with us as lessons to learn, if not necessarily to emulate, in the areas of love, power, and lust.