Greater Men and Women of the Bible by James Hastings: 316. The Family of David

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Greater Men and Women of the Bible by James Hastings: 316. The Family of David


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The Family of David



1. A large portion of the Book of Samuel is devoted not to the glories, but to the disasters, of David's reign. As a soldier he seems to have enjoyed almost uninterrupted success; but as a monarch, especially in his own family, David had but little happiness. His kingdom was now secure from the pressure of external enemies, but new dangers threatened it from within. Troubles arose in the king's family-troubles which were unhappily due to David's own sin and weakness. He, like other Oriental despots, had gradually gathered round him a numerous harem, thereby introducing into his capital the usual abuses of an Eastern court. He had at least seven wives, who, with their children, lived each in a separate establishment of her own. The princes, whether the cousins or sons of the king, dwelt near, each with his royal mule. The princesses, as they moved to and fro among their companions, were distinguished by the long sleeves of their robes.



The eldest born was Amnon, the son of Ahinoam, whom, as the heir to the throne, the king cherished with a regard amounting almost to awe. His intimate friend in the family was his cousin Jonadab, one of those characters who in great houses pride themselves on being acquainted with all the secrets of the family. This was one group in the royal circle. Another consisted of the two children of Maacah, the Princess of Geshur-Absalom and his sister Tamar, the only children of purely royal descent. In them the beauty for which the house of Jesse was renowned-David's brothers, David himself, Adonijah, Solomon-seemed to be concentrated. Absalom especially was in this respect the very flower and pride of the whole nation. “In all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.” The magnificence of his hair was something wonderful. Year by year or month by month its weight was known and counted. He had a sheep-farm near Ephraim or Ephron, a few miles to the north-east of Jerusalem, and another property near the Jordan valley, where he had erected a monument to keep alive the remembrance of his name. He had, however, one daughter, who afterwards carried on the royal line in her child, called, after her grandmother, Maacah, and destined to play a conspicuous part in the history of the divided kingdom. This daughter was named Tamar, after her aunt. The elder Tamar, like her brother and her niece, was remarkable for her extraordinary beauty, whence perhaps she derived her name, “the palm-tree,” the most graceful of Oriental trees. For this, and for the homely art of making a peculiar kind of cake, the princess had acquired a renown which reached beyond the seclusion of her brother's house to all the circle of the royal family.



2. Luxury and self-indulgence lured David on to the commission of a terrible crime. He committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, an officer in his army, and to conceal his guilt procured the death of her husband. Though the repentance of the king, when he was denounced by the prophet Nathan, was deep and sincere, the long train of miseries which resulted from David's evil example forms a kind of Divine commentary on the heinous character of his crime. When we hear the narrator describe the way in which this evil deed produced evil fruit in David's household, it is as though we were witnessing a Greek tragedy enacted before our eyes. Crime was heaped on crime, as if in obedience to an awful destiny. The father had begun with open adultery, and had then endeavoured to veil his guilt with hypocrisy and to cover it with blood. He need not be surprised if his children did not shrink from rape, if not incest, and were led on to murder and destruction.



It is not retribution that establishes the moral law, but the moral law that establishes retribution. The shadow falls not backward from that world to this, but forward from this world to that. It is our nature and our conscience that demand and must determine our future lot; not our future lot that is to create our conscience and regulate our nature.1 [Note: James Martineau.]



3. Brought up in an evil atmosphere, David's sons leave a record of nothing but evil. To the impurity, violence and guile of an Eastern court was superadded the criminally foolish indulgence of their father. Besides, we may well believe that the great sins which David had committed became known to his subjects and his household; the king's authority and influence for good would be impaired to such an extent that he would be compelled to gaze in helpless anguish on the vice and misery his own sins had caused. We cannot wonder that the sons of David went astray, brought up as they were amid the temptations of an Eastern court, unchecked and unrestrained-and, alas! with their father's own example to point to in defence of their crimes.



The following is a description, taken from the Chinese classic called The Great Learning, of the means adopted by the ancient princes for promoting virtue throughout the Empire. “With this object they were careful to govern well their own States. In order to govern well their States, they first regulated their own families. In order to regulate their families, they first practised virtue in their own persons. In order to arrive at the practice of virtue, they first rectified their hearts. In order to rectify their hearts, they first sought for sincerity of thought. In order to obtain sincerity of thought, they first extended to the utmost their knowledge. The extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things.”1 [Note: James Legge, Chinese Classics, i. 357.]