The Legacy of King David
Question
Today, the legacy of King David is quite honorable. So much that he is considered one of the greatest figures in Jewish history. Many people don’t know his “dark side”, that he seemingly caused the deaths of hundreds of people in order to fulfill his selfish desire to have a certain woman. Even if he had not caused so many deaths, he fully intended for one man to die in order to marry this woman. Murder is a most egregious violation of the Torah, one that virtually cannot be atoned for. What makes it so David remains such a special man who was able to maintain his heroic status and the title of tzaddik, despite doing something so evil?
Answers
The Babylonian Talmud states, Tractate Shabbat 56a, the famous statement of Rebbi: “Whoever states that King David sinned is mistaken”, and if one studies the various Laws pertaining to war in those days it is clear that King David’s actions were permitted and correct. Not a dark side.
Without going into all the fine detail, Tosefot, Tractate Ketubot 9b, explain that at the time, when a person left his wife to go to war they would leave a “get”, a bill of divorce, in case they never returned. This was a precaution to avoid a situation where the husband has disappeared, and there are no witnesses to say that he died. Without proof the wife cannot remarry, and she is known as an Aguna.
It is only after King David ascertained that the “get” had been written, that he had Bat Sheva brought to him. It is absurd to think that, whilst in the throes of overwhelming desire, King David made investigations as to the exact status of Bat Sheva.
The most impelling proof is the fact that Natan did not rebuke King David at any time for committing adultery. Instead, he reproved him for having caused the death of Bat Sheva’s husband. Even then, the Talmud does not hold King David culpable of outright murder; rather, he is found “guilty” of an oversight in Jewish Law.
Once Bat Sheva’s husband refused to return home, which was an indication the his real loyalty lay with Yoav and not to King David, he was guilty of treason, “mored b’malchut”. The mistake that King David made was to have him killed on the battlefront – he should have been returned to face trial in front of the Sanhedrin, the ultimate legal body in Jewish Law.
Rebbi, in Tractate Shabbat 56a, states that the “evil” spoken about in chapter 12 verse 9, is different from the other times that evil is mentioned in the Tanach. The language is the indication: Here it says “la’asot harah”, which means that he wanted to do it but he did not. The other evils say “vaya’as harah” – and he actually did the evil.
The only real question that remains is why the Tanach does not state explicitly that King David did not sin. The Ran, Rabbeinu Nissim in Drashot HaRan 6, gives two answers:
(i) Hashem expects more from the righteous than from others. King David’s actions were like the sins of a lesser person.
(ii) To teach us the incredible power of repentance. The Talmud, Tractate Avoda Zara 4b, states that if a person sins he should “…go to David and repent as he did.”
The Tanach is teaching us that if a person sincerely regrets his actions and does complete repentance, it is possible to erase even the grossest of sins.
Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team