Sotah 014

Jim Feldman has presented a reading of Absalom's behaviour together with a critique of David (and Solomon). As promised, here is my own reading of these characters and their behaviour.

It all began when David ruined the life of a family because of his lust for a woman he had only see from afar. Batsheva was a married woman and she consented to an adulterous union with King David, by whom she became pregnant. Having failed in an attempt to create a situation in which the child might be presumed to be that of the woman's husband David now set about adding sin to sin and, by abusing his role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, encompasses the death of Uriah, Batsheva's husband.

When the prophet Natan confronts David with the enormity of these sins he is contrite, and realises that he must be punished. His punishment is 'measure for measure': just as he, because of his uncontrolled lust, ruined a happy family, so from henceforward will his family happiness be ruined. He is told by Natan [2Samuel 12:7-12]:

It is against this background that we must understand David's reaction to the events within his own family. Amnon is his eldest son and his presumed heir. Amnon, a chip off the old block, an apple that did not fall far from its tree, lusts uncontrollably for his half-sister, Tamar, and rapes her. Jim presents Absalom's murder of Amnon as 'necessary vengeance' on behalf of his full sister, since David does nothing apart from wagging his finger at Amnon. I think that there are certain indications in the story that Absalom is not free from other, much more selfish motives. His reaction to his sister's rape is incredible. It is obvious he has known all along that Amnon was a 'ticking bomb' and had done nothing to prevent his sister's tragedy. But far worse is his callous reaction to her sobbing distress [2Samuel 13:19-20]:

David feels powerless to act since he knows that this is part of his punishment for his own misdeeds. All he can do is to keep Amnon and Absalom as far apart as possible, since he knows what is in Absalom's mind. Absalom bides his time and two years later creates a situation in which he can murder Amnon far from home. Judging by his callous treatment of Tamar we can assume that revenge was only a cover for his real motive: with the death of Amnon Absalom is now heir apparent.

Absalom goes about reinforcing his position like a true politician. The bible [2Samuel 15:1-6] describes how he would hang around chatting up people waiting for the king's justice, telling each party the same thing: if I were king I would surely find in your favour… When people would bow down to him he would prevent this and instead would kiss their hands… 'And thus Absalom stole the heart of the men of Israel'.

Eventually Absalom breaks out into open rebellion against his father, a rebellion which is for some time successful. David is loathe to act against his son since he sees himself as the ultimate cause of all this situation (apart from a father's natural affection for his son). Joab, David's cousin, does his dirty work for him and, as we have seen, brings about Absalom's downfall and David's restoration to power.

It is against this background, I believe, that we must judge the charges that Jim levelled against David and his exculpation of Absalom. That I shall attempt to do in our next shiur.