Don't become a tyrant
A unique literary parallel in Old Testament Scripture. All Rights Reserved, 2023.
The first great tyrant in Israel’s history was not King Saul but a man named Abimelech in Judges 9. At the time, the twelve tribes of Israel were something of a confederacy, working together when needed, but otherwise governing themselves. Abimelech sought to unite the tribes of Israel - under his brutal, despotic rule.
In II Samuel 11, Israel’s first true king, David, a “man after God’s own heart” ruled in Jerusalem. After years of being on the run, finally in II Samuel 6, his rivals vanquished, David entered Jerusalem with the Ark of the Covenant to rule as God’s viceroy in God’s holy city. The man who was “inaugurated” as king by Samuel’s anointing in I Samuel 16, has finally been “consummated” as king in Jerusalem.
The problem was, once having arrived, David grew complacent. David grew selfish. David began to turn into a tyrant, just as Saul had before him. This pride led David to then commit adultery (some say actual rape), deception and actual murder. David was well on his way to becoming no better than Saul - and no better than Israel’s first tyrant, Abimelech.
How did David grow complacent and selfish? He did not go out to lead his troops in battle as he had before. Then, while living in comfort in Jerusalem, David saw something he wanted - another man’s wife, Bathsheba - and he seized it, simply because he could as king. And when Bathsheba got pregnant, he sought to cover up his crime by de facto murder - using his kingly authority to send Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, into the most dangerous part of an assault on an enemy city.
David used the levers of government to micromanage his military from afar for his own selfish ends, rather than for the good of the nation. David acted every bit the tyrant in II Samuel 11, just like Israel’s first tyrant, Abimelech.
We had already seen clues of this inclination in David back in I Samuel 25, when David had determined to slaughter Nabal’s family for being slighted. Thankfully, Abigail the Wise confronts David and he repents of his wrathful plan by listening to Abigail. It is ironic then that the respect David shows to women in I Samuel 25 is reversed in his treatment of Bathsheba in II Samuel 11.
There are important literary clues in II Samuel 11 which lead the reader to make this comparison to Abimelech - unique details that occur only in II Samuel 11ff and Judges 9, even if many of them seem tertiary to the stories themselves. But that is rather the point - why else would the author put these details in there if not to invite the comparison of David to Abimelech?
But more than that, Joab himself makes a direct reference in II Samuel 11:21 between the two military situations. Clearly, he at least saw the similarities, and may have been an oblique objection to David’s unethical orders:
“Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone upon him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’”
Many of the other details (e.g. the three companies of soldiers) seem insignificant, but are also not frequently found anywhere else in the Old Testament. And while we may not be as familiar with Abimelech’s story as we are with David’s “great sin” in II Samuel 11, ancient Jewish readers would have been.
Here then is a list of the literary parallels between Judges 9 and II Samuel 11ff. The last two details are by way of contrast, to show David’s soft, repentant heart after being confronted by the prophet Samuel in II Samuel 12. What keeps David from becoming a full tyrant is that when he was confronted, he sincerely repented. There is a great cost to his sin; from that point on, his earthly kingdom will decline. But his own heart becomes more merciful and more Christ-like towards the wayward.
Abimelech David
DIRECT REFERENCE (Judges 9:53) II Samuel 11:21
Both Murderous Judges 9:5 II Samuel 11:15
One woman “causes” downfall Judges 9:53 II Samuel 11:2 ff
Both judged by a parable Judges 9:7-15 II Samuel 12:1-6
Parable explained as a lawsuit Judges 9:16-20 II Samuel 12:7-9
Both reciprocally judged Judges 9:20, 56 II Samuel 12:10-14
Alienation of their subjects Judges 9:23 II Samuel 15:6
Sins result in rebellion Judges 9:26 ff II Samuel 15:12 ff
Both have a loyal informant Judges 9:31 II Samuel 15:32-37
Both deceived by their informant Judges 9:36 II Samuel 17:5-14
Three companies of soldiers Judges 9:43 II Samuel 18:2
Treatment of the rebels (contrast) Judges 9:45-49 II Samuel 19:9-40
Phrase "bone and flesh" (contrast) Judges 9:2 II Samuel 19:12-3
THE MAIN POINT: King David was well on his way to becoming a tyrant like Abimelech. What saved him was his profound repentance (II Sam. 12:13-23), so that in the end, he remained a man of mercy and not vengeance (II Sam. 18:33). David’s earthly success decreases - but his spiritual riches increase because he repented.
So for us, when we see ourselves becoming selfish, manipulative, deceptive or abusive, their may be consequences but we are still to rapidly and deeply repent that we may remain people of mercy, rather than of wrath. Don’t become a tyrant.
And what is more, we can give thanks for the King of Kings, who has been inaugurated as King of the world and whose full consummation we still await, our Lord Jesus Christ. He will never fail us. He will never sin. He will never become a tyrant.
For as Jesus himself taught his disciples in Mark 10:42-45:
You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
-- C. A. Hutchinson, 12/94, reworked 7/23