1 Chronicles 20
It’s interesting that this chapter is so brief. This is a re-telling of the battle that was given more detailed coverage in 2 Samuel 11. In this account, there is no mention of Uriah, Bathsheba, or David’s behavior, other than the fact that he remained in Jerusalem for this battle, which was “in the spring, when kings go off to war.”
It does give a little more detail in one aspect. After Joab’s victory in the war that cost Uriah his life, “David took the crown from the head of their king—its weight was found to be a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head.”
Does that hit you the way it does me?
He had just committed adultery—not with a stranger’s wife, but with the wife of a man who had stayed by his side and had his back while Saul was trying to kill him. A man who had been part of his elite squad of thirty men who protected and served him. His platoon, his posse, his peeps. When his betrayal threatened to go public with her pregnancy, he tried to lure his friend to sleep with his wife so David’s sin could remain hidden. But his friend’s honor wouldn’t allow him to enjoy even one night with his wife while his fellow soldiers slept in a field of battle. So David orchestrated an even more heinous betrayal—he sent his friend back to the battle field carrying the instructions for his own demise.
And when the battle was won, David allowed the crown of the defeated king to be placed on his head. I imagine that its actual weight was far more than a talent of gold.
It’s interesting that this chapter is so brief. This is a re-telling of the battle that was given more detailed coverage in 2 Samuel 11. In this account, there is no mention of Uriah, Bathsheba, or David’s behavior, other than the fact that he remained in Jerusalem for this battle, which was “in the spring, when kings go off to war.”
It does give a little more detail in one aspect. After Joab’s victory in the war that cost Uriah his life, “David took the crown from the head of their king—its weight was found to be a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head.”
Does that hit you the way it does me?
He had just committed adultery—not with a stranger’s wife, but with the wife of a man who had stayed by his side and had his back while Saul was trying to kill him. A man who had been part of his elite squad of thirty men who protected and served him. His platoon, his posse, his peeps. When his betrayal threatened to go public with her pregnancy, he tried to lure his friend to sleep with his wife so David’s sin could remain hidden. But his friend’s honor wouldn’t allow him to enjoy even one night with his wife while his fellow soldiers slept in a field of battle. So David orchestrated an even more heinous betrayal—he sent his friend back to the battle field carrying the instructions for his own demise.
And when the battle was won, David allowed the crown of the defeated king to be placed on his head. I imagine that its actual weight was far more than a talent of gold.
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