The Skeptics Annotated Bible (294 page)

9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

11 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and
I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

(12.11) “I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.” God is angry at David for having Uriah killed. As a punishment, he will have David’s wives raped by his neighbor while everyone else watches. It turns out that the “neighbor” that God sends to do his dirty work is David’s own son, Absalom (2 Sam 16.22).

12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David,
The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

(12.13) “The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.”

(12.14-18) To punish David for having Uriah killed and causing others to blaspheme, God kills Bathsheba’s baby boy. (According to Lev 20.10, David should have been killed.)
God’s 82nd Killing
41 Are we punished for the sins of others?

14 Howbeit,
because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

(12.14)
“Because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.”

15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And
the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

(12.15)
“The LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.”

16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth.

17 And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them.

18 And it came to pass
on the seventh day
, that
the child died
. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?

(12.18) “On the seventh day … the child died.”

19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead: therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead.

20 Then
David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he
came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he
did eat.

(12.20) “David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped: then he … did eat.” After the baby died, David washed, got dressed, and had a nice meal after worshipping the God who killed his son.