Why Bathsheba Wasn’t Raped and Why It Matters
Answering the odd impulse to impugn David as a rapist: A Truthscript article
The prosecutors’ certitude about David’s status as a rapist is broadly shared by a swath of evangelicals who seasonally break out in Twitter (or X) storms rehashing the charge, using it as a shibboleth, and shaming any dissenters.
To read the answer to the charge that David raped Bathsheba, click: “Why Bathsheba Wasn’t Raped and Why It Matters” (< click to read the Truthscript article)
If you deny that David raped Bathsheba, now some will accuse you of being an abuser or an enabler of abusers. They’ll try to shame you into compliance. But what does the Bible say? Read the article linked above.
“She Came to Him” (2 Samuel 11:4)
David’s latter-day prosecutors claim it’s simply a “fact” that David raped Bathsheba. But it’s not. She came, not “was brought” or “compelled.” The object of the action is “him,” in this case David. “She came to him.” For more careful interpretation of the Hebrew, click on the article linked above.
Terminology of Rape
The 2 Samuel 11 account has none of the terminology of rape unlike the rape described in 2 Samuel 13:14. To see the differences, read the article linked above. It’s not long.
Duty to Protest
Deuteronomy 22:24 requires a woman being sexually assaulted to “cry for help” if she is in a city.
Lex Rex
Carmen Joy Imes, in Christianity Today, insists, “No one can refuse the king.” The truth is that in Israel anyone with God’s Law on their side can refuse the king because in Israel the Law was king (lex rex.) For more examples of how in Israel the king was subject to the law, click on the Truthscript article linked above.
The Parable
The point of Nathan’s parable is David’s guilt, not Bathsheba’s status. For more on the meaning of Nathan’s parable, click on the Truthscript article linked above.
The Prosecutors’ Community
“We all miss things, because we’re all embedded in communities that have shaped what we notice and what we don’t.” — Carmen Joy Imes
The claim that David raped Bathsheba shows that a fundamental suspicion of authority is embedded in the heart of the community that makes it. Like economic Marxists assume that whenever there is an imbalance of wealth it is due to exploitation, “cultural Marxists” assume that where ever there is an imbalance of power, there is exploitation. For more on “cultural Marxism,” click on the Truthscript link above.
But Jesus tells us to seek first the Kingdom — the rule, the authority — of God (Mt. 6:33), to be gladly and trustingly subject to Him. In the Bible, authority is good.
John B. Carpenter, Ph.D., is pastor of Covenant Reformed Baptist Church, in Danville, VA. and the author of Seven Pillars of a Biblical Church (Wipf and Stock, 2022).