Quote:
Originally Posted by Cindy
Did David already have a wife when he coveted Bathsheba?
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Yes, David was already married. However, so was Bathsheba. And her status is what made David's actions adulterous, not David's.
I'll explain...
The OT is culture is structured on an entirely different paradigm than the NT. I have several good books on ancient biblical marriage practices, culture, and behavior. Adultery was largely dependent upon the status of
the woman, not the man. A man could take several women to wife and not commit adultery. A man could even have concubines (mistresses) and not be considered adulterous. Why? They were not married to other men. However, if a woman was married to another man both she and her partner would be guilty of adultery. The perspective is largely grounded in the notion that a wife or concubine is legally considered a man's property in the ancient world. Adultery was unlawfully using or exploiting another man's property. It also endangered his entire estate. Because if a woman gave birth to a male child that wasn't her husband's, part of his inheretance would be shelled out to a line of decentents that wasn't his own. It was about protecting what belonged to a husband, including his estate.
Now, in the NT both the husband and the wife have authority over the other's body. Now things are a bit equalized under the NT Covenant. This ensures that NT marriage mirrors the relationship between Christ and His bride. So it's far more spiritual and moral instead of social, as it was in the OT.
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