ellauri156.html on line 269: I am not suggesting that David purposed to see something he should not. (I bet he did, peeping Tom. You actually come round to the same conclusion below, Bob.) More than likely he is walking about, almost absent-mindedly, when suddenly his eyes fix on something that rivets his attention on a woman bathing herself. The text does not really tell us where this woman is bathing, and why at this time of the night? We only know that she is within sight of David's penthouse (rooftop). David notes her beauty. He does not know who she is or whether she is married. We cannot be certain how much David sees, and thus we do not know for certain whether he has yet sinned. (What the fuck? How much do you need to see to sin? Are boobs enough, or do you need to see the pudendum or the fanny?) If David saw more of this woman than he should (a fact still in question), then he surely should have diverted his eyes. It was not necessarily evil for him to discretely inquire about her. If she were unmarried and eligible, he could have taken her for his wife. His inquiry would make this clear.
ellauri156.html on line 633: David has become king of both Judah and Israel. He has, in large measure, consolidated his kingdom. He has taken Jebus and made it his capital city, renaming it Jerusalem. He has built his palace and given thought to building a temple (a plan God significantly revises). He has subjected most of Israel's neighboring nations. He has done battle with the Ammonites and prevailed, but he has not yet completely defeated them. The Ammonites have retreated to the royal city of Rabbah, and as the time for war (spring) approaches, David sends all Israel, led by Joab, to besiege the city and to bring about its surrender. David has chosen not to endure the rigors of camping in the open field, outside the city. He has chosen rather to remain in Jerusalem. Sleeping late, David rises from his bed as others prepare to go to bed for the night. David strolls about the rooftop of his palace and happens to steal a look at a beautiful young woman bathing herself, perhaps ceremonially, in fulfillment of the law.
ellauri156.html on line 635: It is not due to any intent on her part, nor even any indiscretion. She is bathing herself as darkness falls, and being poor (see 12:1-4), she does not have the privilege of complete privacy, especially when the king can look down from the lofty heights of his rooftop vantage point. David is struck with her beauty and sends messengers to inquire about her identity. They inform David of her identity, and that she is married to Uriah, the Hittite. That should have ended his interest, but it does not. David sends messengers who take her, bringing her to his palace, and there he sleeps with her. When she cleanses herself, she goes home. (Or was it the other way round? Can't remember.)
ellauri219.html on line 1012: Underworld is a novel, quite simply, about what was experienced in the United States in the second half of the 20th century. An era shaped by the advent and then cancellation of the Bretton Woods agreement. Nuclear proliferation. The withering away and relocation of American manufacturing, and the rise of global capitalism. Jazz. The Cuban missile crisis (through the voice, as DeLillo has it, of the smirking standup comedian Lenny Bruce). Civil tights. The CIA. Bombs on university campuses. Artists on New York rooftops, and around them, the old industrial framework of bygone city life, something aesthetic and exotic, either marvelled at or ignored, take your pick.
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