Family Affairs and Power Struggle in the Succession Story of David: A Narrative Ethical Interpretation

Family Affairs and Power Struggle in the Succession Story of David —A Narrative Ethical Interpretation

Jonathan TSOI

How to distill clear ethical teachings from the Old Testament has always been a challenge to exegetes. The essay first defines narrative succession as a literary device used to answer the question posed by Bashebath: “Who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?" (1 Kings 1:20). The narrative starts with the downturn of David's life, ie, with the David-Bashebath affair. It continues with a series of family tragedies: the Amnon-Tamar incest, the murder of Amnon by Absalom, usurpation of the throne by Absalom, and finally the contest for the throne between Adonijah and Solomon. The first two family affairs are the turning points in the life of David, and greatly influence later developments in the succession narrative. The essay aims to interpret these two stories from a narrative, ethical point of view.

These stories tell us something important about the nature of Old Testament ethics. First, there is no such thing as abstract ethical dogma that one can appropriate as universal principle to solve problems in daily life. Whether a character is ethical or not has to be inferred from the context and interpreted accordingly. For instance, both in the Abigail story and the Bashebath affair David plunders other's wives. In the first story David's action is acquiesced, while in the second one the sophisticated scheme on Uriah by the same protagonist is condemned. Moreover, both stories illustrate a basic technique of Old Testament narratives in which the narrator often recedes to the background and invite readers to pass their own judgments upon the characters. In the Bashebath affair the narrator utilizes a contrast technique to show the sinister side of the apparently benevolent David. The narrator seldom judges the protagonist. Yet between the lines the readers are given many clues to accomplish the job. Lastly, when two similar stories are placed consecutively they are meant to be compared and interpreted together. The second story often becomes the direct consequence of the first one. Thus, the Amnon-Tamar incest story, no matter how unrelated it may seem, is a result of the David-Bashebath affair. They are followed by a series of power struggle stories involving complicated threads of family relationship and affairs. We believe that the treatment of ethical problems in the Old Testament narratives concurs with the current trend of narrative ethics. These Bible stories are loved by readers of different generations. This is because they are more realistic than dos and don'ts commandments.