Week 3 Storytelling: Love Triangle

In the beautiful land of Israel, there was a king by the name of David. He seemed to think he could get whatever he wanted, including women. One day, King David was walking the land when he saw a woman bathing and could not keep his eyes off of her. The woman was the most beautiful he had ever met since his last four wives. He then walked a little closer to see that the beautiful woman was none other than Uriah's wife Bathsheba. King David thought to himself "I will have her!" Although he did know it was wrong to go after a married woman, King David sent for Bathsheba to come to his living quarters, and that night they made love together, and Bathsheba was to soon carry King David's child. 

Several months later, Bathsheba's husband Uriah returned to Israel after fighting in a war. She was so nervous to tell him that she was with child. Bathsheba cooked her husband Uriah a very big meal that night in preparation of telling him about King David's child she was carrying. 

"Uriah, are you ready to eat?" said an antsy Bathsheba. Uriah appeared in the doorway, and noticed that his wife seemed like she was flustered. 

"Is there something wrong, Bathsheba? Because you look like you have something on your mind," said Uriah as he sat down at the table to eat and also worried about his wife. "Actually, Uriah, I do have something to tell you." But Bathsheba was interrupted by a knock on the door. Bathsheba got up and went to open the door and saw two of King David's guards. 

"King David will speak to Uriah right away!" said the one of the guards. Bathsheba wondered what King David would want with Uriah, but she went and got him from the dinner table. "Uriah, King David would like to speak with you, this instantly!" Uriah then made the trek to see King David right away. When Uriah finally made it to the castle, King David greeted him.  

"Hello there Uriah." said King David.  

"Good evening, King. What can I do for you?" said an eager Uriah. 

King David sighed, contemplating whether or not he should tell Uriah about the baby or let Bathsheba tell him. After thinking for a short time, the selfish King David decided to tell Uriah anyway.  

"Bathsheba, you wife is carrying my child." said a forthright King David. 

Uriah stood in place, utterly shocked with no words. He felt a mix of emotions. He felt angry and hurt that his wife would stray while he was off fighting in a war, but he also understood that she was lonely. Uriah loved Bathsheba with all his heart, and he wondered why King David decided to tell him. So he voiced his concern. 

"Why have you told me this, your Highness?" said Uriah. 

"Because I want you to leave Bathsheba, so I can make her my fifth wife!" King David said boldly. 

Uriah was furious. How dare King David take his wife from him? So Uriah defiantly responded "I will not leave my wife, because I love her, and she will remain with me." And so Uriah left to go home to Bathsheba. He did not speak to Bathsheba about his conversation with King David or her infidelities because he had to go back to fight again. He planned to talk to her when he returned, but little did he know he would not be living much longer. 

Uriah died during the war, at the hands of King David putting him in the front line to be killed. Bathsheba mourned her husband's death, and in this moment of weakness King David married Bathsheba. The Lord heard Bathsheba's cries and learned what King David had done all in greed. To pay for what King David had done, Bathsheba lost their child, and they were both sad. Later they had a wise son by the name of Solomon. 

(Bathsheba, King David, and their son Solomon)

Author's note: This story was inspired by the King James Bible (1611): 2 Samuel 11. I chose to retell this story because I thought the original story was very interesting and different from other Bible women stories. My goals for this story were to keep the general theme, but put a little twist on things. In the original story King David sees Bathsheba bathing naked and lays with her. She is then carrying his child, and when her husband returns, King David tries to get Bathsheba's husband to quit fighting in the war to be at home, but Uriah does not enjoy the comfort of being at home while the army is still fighting. Uriah feels it is wrong to stay at home, and does not comply with King David's wishes. King David then has Uriah killed by giving him a letter to give to his general that says for Uriah to be killed. When Uriah dies, King David marries Bathsheba. The Lord learns of what King David has done and punishes him, with Bathsheba losing the baby. They soon have another son by the name of Solomon. I chose to change the story by making King David a selfish man who is not concerned with other's feelings and who is only out to get what he wants. I also wanted to make Uriah more a part of the story by showing the he loved and understood Bathsheba, even though she made a mistake, and it ultimately cost him his life.  

Extra Reading Diary: Noah and the Ark

(Source)

For the Noah storybook I particularly liked the first three episodes about Noah and the Ark to After the Flood. As a young child I always found this story to be pretty cool. Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth found grace within the Lord, and followed the words of the Lord when he asked them to make an ark to protect themselves from the impending flood. And so they followed the Lord's instructions to build an ark strong enough to withstand the flood. When they were done, Noah was to also gather two (one male and female) of every animal and bring them onto the ark. He also brought along his wife and his sons wives, and they were to stay on the Ark for forty days and forty nights. When the forty day and night passed, Noah sent out a bird to check and see if the land was dry. It was awhile before the bird returned. However the land was not dry, for the bird could not find dry land to place its feet. From there, Noah waited another seven days and released the bird. The bird came back with leaves. At last, they were able to leave to ark because the land was dry and not flooded with water. Noah also let all the animals off the ark so they could multiply. Then the Lord said that he would not cause any more floods to smite the earth of all that is evil.

Noah and the Ark 

Reading Diary B: Bible Women

(Bathsheba, by Gerome)

The stories of women in the bible are very intriguing. The story of Bathsheba was not one that I expected. When reading a little about what it was about and how it was love at first sight, I expected a different story than what I read. The story starts off with David who sees Bathsheba while she is bathing and instantly falls in love with her. The crazy thing is she is already married, and while she is married she bears the child of David. David realizes that he is wrong and tries to convince Uriah (Bathsheba's husband) to say that the child is his own, but he will not do it. So David has him killed, and then marries the widowed Bathsheba. Because of this though, David is punished and Bathsheba loses their first child, but they have another child names Solomon. Never read a love at first sight story quite like this, but I did find it pretty interesting. 

(Susannah and the Elders, 15th-century)

Yet another good chapter in this storybook is about Susannah. Susannah was bathing while two elder were watching her. The elder then walked up to her and attempted to rape her, but she refused them. When she had her trial everyone believed the words of the elders and sentenced Susannah to death, but the Lord head her cries and Daniel rose up to prove that the elder had lied. This story kind of reminded me how everyone always says to respect your elders and that they are always right and truthful. I do agree that I should respect my elders, but I do not think they are always truthful. They can be deceitful and lie just like anyone else. This story made me think of a time I watched a show about this singers mom saying a lot of bad things about her daughters husband that were not true, but because she was the elder no one objected her opinion.  

Bible Women

Reading Diary A: Bible Women

(Delilah and Samson, by Lucas Cranach)

For the first part of the reading I was most fascinated about the story about Delilah. The story is about a woman named Delilah who falls for a man named Samson. Although, she does not really fall for him. She tricks him into falling for her just for money. When the Philistines come for Samson, she let them cut his hair while he was sleeping at her knees. Delilah then let the Philistines take Samson, and they took his eyes out and shackled him to take him to the prison house. This story was interesting because Delilah was very tricky. She used a man to get money, and Samson fell for her false affection. I feel you see that happen a lot today. People use each other for money, or they are willing to turn someone over for money. One thing that comes to mind is when people kidnap someone for ransom, and demand large amounts of money for their return. 

(Abraham and Hagar, by Guercino)

Another story in this first series of reading that I like is the story of Hagar. She was the maid of Sarah and Abram. Sarah was not able to bear a child, so she handed over Hagar to Abram to bear his child. After Hagar had Abram's child, Sarah was jealous of Hagar and dealt with her harshly. Because of this Hagar fled with her son, but eventually returned. When Sarah was finally able to bear a child, she had Abram send Hagar and her child, Ishmael away with only bread and water. When they ran out of water Hagar cried for her and her son. The Lord heard Hagar's cries and gave her water, and they made it to another city wear they settled. This story can relate to many situations today. The most obvious being the when men find themselves in a love triangle and have children from more than one woman and sometimes there is jealousy there and the father ends up abandoning one child to be with the other. 

Bible Women