The David and Batsheva Episode

We will examine the David and Batsheva episode - a very difficult episode in Tanakh, and our focus will be its aftermath. The child that is conceived dies – David prays for him to survive, but the child dies. Why, though, does Shlomo live? He, too, is born in the immediate aftermath. Not only does Shlomo live, but Gid seems ecstatic about his birth.  Is there another dimension to the Tanakh's emphasis on the urgency with which David prays for the first child to survive? To find answers, we look for clues through a close reading of related Tanakh texts.

 In the prophet Natan's  analogy of the "poor man's lamb," who is the lamb in the story, and does it hint at Uriah's childlessness? We compare the story of Yitzhak's birth to that of Shlomo. Both  are "miracle children" who survive after seemingly-impossible situations whose destiny is to carry on a dynasty of sorts. Finally, we look at Shlomo's dream and the story of the two women in the court case that Shlomo solves. The court case with the two women may be the final key to explaining why Shlomo ultimately survived, if we look at it as yet another parable.  Shlomo asks for wisdom, and God grants him wisdom - but perhaps not in the way Shlomo expects.