Bathsheba and the King of Israel: A Historical Romantic Novel

By Barbara Young Singer

Follow the adorable Bathsheba from six years old bathing in the pool under the waterfall at Ein Gedi to the palace as coregent with her son, Solomon.

Startled at first, when David dives into the pool from the top of the waterfall, she loves him from the very first moment. David adores the child too and tells her he will marry her someday.

Readers of the Bible will be familiar with the story of adultery and the grave sin David committed. He repents immediately when approached by Nathan the prophet. Bathsheba repents, too, as Nathan becomes her best friend and spiritual counselor.

The story of David and Bathsheba opens as Ichabod, advisor to the king, meets the ships carrying the exotic Egyptian bride-to-be for Solomon. Ichabod escorts the long magical caravan with the princess and her maids to the City of David, Jerusalem. At the royal princess' command, he tells her the long love story of the Bathsheba and the king of Israel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9781638442066

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Bathsheba and the King of Israel

A Historical Romantic Novel

Barbara Young Singer

ISBN 978-1-63844-205-9 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63844-206-6 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Barbara Young Singer

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

List of Characters and Terms

A

Adonijah: David’s son born to his fourth wife, Haggith. He requested to marry David’s woman, and it set off a rift between him and King Solomon.

Asahel: Joab’s brother who was killed by Abner, head of Saul’s army.

Amnon: son of David.

Amasa: David appointed him to replace Joab to appease his people. Joab murdered him.

Abiathar: remaining priest at Nob, after all the others were slaughtered, who went to David with the priest’s garments containing the Urim and Thummim. He remained loyal to David.

Abner: captain of King Saul’s army

Abigail: the famous wise woman who took supplies to David and his men after her husband insulted him. She was David’s second wife.

Ark of the Covenant: the Container built to the Lord’s specifications which held the Ten Commandment tablets.

Abiathar: the only priest who escaped Saul’s killing rage of the priests and all living things at Nob, taking with him the Urim and Thummim for divining God’s will.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: the famous patriarchs of Israel.

Ahimelech: head priest at Nob.

Abishai: a soldier in David’s army and brother to Joab the captain.

Ahithophel: Bathsheba’s maternal grandfather. He was a trader and adviser to the King David and Solomon.

Abiathar: Son of Ahimelech and Priest. He was the lone survivor after the massacre of Nob, and he brought David the Urim and Thummim.

Achish: Philistine King.

Ahinoam of Jezreel: David’s first wife, mother of Amnon.

Ahimelech: priest at Nob who gave David Goliath’s sword when he was in flight from Saul.

B

Bathsheba: the beautiful daughter of Eliam and Rebecca. She was the granddaughter of Ahithophel, trader and advisor to King David.

Benaiah: one of David’s mighty men of thirty.

Benjamites: the tribe begat of Benjamin son of Jacob and all his descendants. There were twelve tribes, all begat by Jacob’s sons (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob).

C

Chileab David’s son by Abigail

D

Doeg: the foreigner who was willing, when Saul’s men were not, to kill all the priests and all living creatures in Nob.

King David: youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem. A shepherd, a psalmist, a warrior, and the king of Judah. Later he was king of all Israel. He was famous for killing Goliath and writing Psalms.

E

Eliam: Bathsheba’s father and one of David’s mighty men.

G

Gath: one of the Philistine cities.

H

Hittites: a fighting people who fought the Philistines and Egyptians before David’s time. Some of them stayed behind after battle and blended in with the locals.

Hushai: one of David’s trusted advisors.

Huia and Tuia: Bathsheba’s Egyptian maids.

Hiram: king of Tyre and Sidon.

I

Ichbosheth Son of Saul who ruled from Mahanaim after Saul’s death.

Ittai: one of David’s chief captains and his most faithful friend during the rebellion of Absalom.

Ichabod: the boy who worked for Ahithophel and later was adopted by him. He became adviser to King David and King Solomon.

J

Joab: the very capable, if not brutal, captain of David’s army who met an untimely death when Solomon became king.

Jonathan: son of King Saul who was David’s bosom buddy.

Jacob: Bathsheba’s older brother who joined David’s army.

Tribe of Judah: there were twelve tribes of Israel of which Judah was one.

Jesse: King David’s father, a respected elder in Bethlehem.

M

Mephibosheth: the lame son of Jonathan and grandson of King Saul.

Michal: the daughter of King Saul of the Benjamite tribe who David married.

Midwife: the midwife from Tekoa was referred to in the Bible as the Wise Woman of Tekoa.

Makir: Bathsheba’s younger brother.

N

Nathan: the prophet who said to David, That man is you! For purposes of this novel, he was Bathsheba’s half brother, by David.

Nabal: the deceased husband of Abigail, David’s second wife.

P

Philistines: a technologically advanced people who were originally known as The Sea People who acclimated themselves to Israel and were their worst enemies.

Priests at Nob: priests who lived in a commune near King Saul.

Pharaoh: the supreme leader of Egypt.

Princess from Egypt: the Pharaoh’s daughter.

R

Ruth: ancient ancestor of King David (and later Jesus Christ) who had come from Moab where David sought refuge for his mother and father when he had to flee from the jealous King Saul.

Rebecca: Bathsheba’s mother for the purposes of this novel.

S

Sheba: the man who first welcomed David to return to Jerusalem after he had fled Absalom.

Shimei: the man who curses David and throws stones at him as he returns to Jerusalem.

King Saul: the first king of Israel appointed by Samuel the prophet.

Samuel: the prophet of Israel who named Saul and then David king of Israel.

King Solomon: the son of David and Bathsheba who became noted as the wisest of men.

T

Tekoa: a town on the route from Bethlehem to Ein Gedi.

U

Uriah: the Hittite husband of Bathsheba who had totally acclimated into the tribe of Judah.

Urim and Thummim: mysterious stones hidden inside the priest’s ephod garment, which were used for divining the will of God.

W

Way of the Sea: the trade and travel route vaguely following the sea shore of the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to Tyre and Sidon.

Way of the King: the trade and travel route that led from the sea at Elath onto the north of Damascus on the east side of the Jordan River.

Z

Zadok: was a son of Ahitub and a priest under David.

Chapter 1

Meeting the Egyptian Princess

Ichabod shook his head back to consciousness and looked around to see if anyone had been witness to his humiliation. He was advisor to the king of Israel and had been thrown from his wretched camel! The beast—Benjamin—had then attacked him, left him for dead, and run off in the direction of Damascus. He had done it a dozen or more times before and would most likely continue doing it just to show his contempt for servitude.

They had not gotten along from the beginning. Still, it was a challenge, and Ichabod loved a challenge. He shouted at the distant runaway, I knew not to depend on you. Go ahead! Run to Damascus where you will be sold to some desert rat who will one day cut you open and use your carcass for a shelter in which to sleep and your bowels for a savory supper. I still have my trusted donkey. I don’t need your sorry flea-bitten hump.

To add insult to injury, the half dozen youths Ichabod had picked up in Joppa, where he had always found temporary workers, also fled like buzzards to a dead body. He had taken the six youths he knew best, but though they had scattered in fear of being blamed for the incident, they would, by thundering storm clouds, return, or suffer the severe consequence. These hungry little dog’s ears wouldn’t want to be in mortal danger of King Solomon’s wrath, especially on this historic occasion.

As for the camel, Benjamin, it was a growing concern for Ichabod as to who would kill whom first. You are the bloody worst camel in the kingdom, Ichabod shouted again. He longed for his turban, but he knew it would be in threads by now. Just before passing out from the blow to his head, he had thrown it at the wild animal, in an effort to save himself, and then watched in horror as the wicked beast delighted in killing the cloth as if it were he himself. Benjamin had shaken the turban, stomped on it, and ran off over the dunes with it trailing from his mouth.

Never mind, I will find another among the baggage. I will sleep before the big day ahead and not because my head is bursting. I have very important business for the King, he said to no one but himself.

Ichabod lay down on the seaside sand dune overlooking predawn Joppa. He was now the king’s most important advisor, other than the prophet Nathan. At the request of Queen Bathsheba, he now helped her in the chronicling of David’s life. He let his mind wander back to recent events in the history of Israel and his part in it all.

The old man found himself contemplating, of all things, if he knew the difference between good and evil. He thought he must be getting close to death to be thinking such thoughts. Was not Israel God’s chosen people? Did they not live by the laws given to Moses? He had to be honest with himself as he had always been the cynical one when it came to judging the official stories about kings and kings’ men. Ichabod knew all of their hearts were easily swayed by power and lust and could justify the most hideous deeds in the name of the gods.

As Ichabod lay waiting for the king’s new bride to arrive by ship from Egypt, he wondered, How were they different from their Canaanite, Egyptian, and Assyrian neighbors? It was true that Israel didn’t have temple prostitutes, orgies, and human sacrifices involving the killing of their babies desperately seeking Baal’s blessing. But in truth, many of the twelve tribes had been mightily influenced by the ways of their neighbors. If Ichabod was anything, he was honest (at least with himself).

Israel had come under the rule of King Saul; King David; and now, the beautiful Bathsheba and her son, King Solomon. They had transformed the lives of the Israelites who had been nothing more than a marginal bunch of Yahwist tribes, easily led into Canaanite ways and away from their God’s commandments. The whole world had begun to change as Egypt lost power, and the important land bridge, Canaan, was left for the strongest and best to rule and control. It had been a terrible bloodbath. Ichabod felt sick when he thought of his deeds alongside those of David and his men.

Had truth been told, and he would make sure it never was, David was the most ruthless power-driven man any nation had ever begat. The vulnerable, virtually weaponless Hebrews lived in fear of their hostile neighbors; the desert rats; and the Philistines, who stole the fruits of the Hebrews’ honest labors and took Yahweh’s people as prisoners and slaves. No wonder they begged for a king like other nations had, and in doing so, they had accepted the ruthless killing in whatever fashion David saw fit.

They knew something had to be done to save the twelve tribes which worshiped the one true God. Something had to be done in the name of Yahweh to judge the pagan nations around them. The priests had consulted the Urim and Thummim, giving the word of Yahweh as to when to go to battle against these pagans as well as providing permission to punish without quarter.

As a young man, Ichabod never took much stock in the ways of the priests. But now, as he surveyed these matters, it was a comfort to believe their actions had been right and good in God’s eyes. After two generations, David’s wife, Bathsheba and their son Solomon, were now positioned to say who could travel the great trade routes. Only at the pleasure of the king could one journey from Tyre and Sidon via the Way of the Sea to Egypt. Even the desert route up from Ezion-Geber, where travelers from Egypt would connect to the King’s Highway going north to Damascus, was in their control. Now finally the coveted Jezreel Valley, the principle east–west trade route across the Jordan, could no longer be the battle ground for enemy armies with chariots and thousands of heavily armed warriors.

Luxury goods were a part of Israel’s daily life thanks to the robust and safe trade routes throughout the area. The savvy aging trader and king’s advisor knew they would soon monopolize most of the goods coming and going through the Fertile Crescent. All of this, thanks to his mentor, Ahithophel, who preceded him as advisor to King David.

The aging Ichabod would continue to serve in his place for at least a while longer. The old traveler rolled over in the sand to ease the pressure on his aching backside. He thought he might prefer to spend the rest of his life under a tree, telling riddles and tales of the men he had jokingly kicked dust on in his youth rather than worry about the king’s business.

The official word from Jerusalem was that these worldly changes had been a good thing, blessed by Yahweh, because Israel was his chosen people. The battles Israel fought were with pagans ripe for God’s judgment. As each was eliminated, the land from Dan to Beersheba—which God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—became more of a reality. Ichabod’s master storytelling had seen to the spinning of the narrative, just as