Michal, the youngest daughter of King Saul, a political tool for her father and husband, the cast-off wife of King David and the barren woman, is profound in the early development of David’s leadership ability to map out the big picture and align situations for success. The story of David and Michal begins, not with mutual love or passion, but the two are linked by King Saul’s nefarious plan to have David killed by the Philistines.[1] Saul initially offers his eldest daughter to David, but learns that his next born daughter, Michal is in love with David and so he capitalizes on her love for David to lure him into a dangerous situation. Of course, David is successful in completing his side of Saul’s bargain and takes Michal as his wife.
Michal is not given a voice during this particular piece of text, but it is worth imaging how she might interpret David’s leadership style. Here she is, a young woman, silently in love with the handsome and brave warrior, David. She is offered the fulfillment of any princess’ dream -- marriage to a future King of Israel. David is challenged by her father to bring back the foreskins of one hundred Philistines and in return he will receive her hand in marriage. What should be an impossible task, David accomplishes by bringing back double the amount Saul had requested. Michal witnesses the courage and determination of her husband to be. Her presence within the David story may be as a political tool between the two men, but because of her, David is able to demonstrate the ideal qualities that the nations of Israel and Judah will want in their king and leader – bravery and determination.
We next see Michal and David together when Saul has begun his pursuit and campaign to kill David. David returns to his home with Michal to seek refuge.[2] Perhaps knowing that she will provide him with protection from her unstable father, Michal does indeed save David’s life. It is here, when Michal is in total control of the situation, that the reader learns that David is capable of heading direction from another. Michal instructs David of his impending doom, “If you do not get yourself away tonight, tomorrow you’ll be dead.”[3] Being an enterprising character, Michal devises an escape plan for him to follow. David is completely silent throughout the scene and it is apparent that he has the ability to not only lead, but also be led by another. It seems almost fanciful for David to take orders from his wife, but when his life is at stake he knows how to lean on others to help him through an extremely tough time. Michal, however, is not destined to bask in the glory of saving her husband and enjoy a life with him in harmony and peace.
A curiously brief line at the end of chapter 25 in 1 Samuel changes the course of Michal’s relationship with her beloved David. The narrator says, “And Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.” It is clear that according to the text that Michal is still David’s wife and yet, she will be living in the home of another man. Directly preceding this line is a recounting of David’s acquisition of two more wives, Abigail and Ahinoam. It is unknown if Michal is aware of David’s marriage to the other women, but regardless, what does his actions (or lack thereof in regards to Michal) signify about his ability to safeguard and protect his constituents. David’s lack of action in this situation is out of character and should concern the reader (and Michal as well) that his focus on priorities can shift without any warning or explanation. The end of chapter 25 effectively displaces Michal from the central narrative surrounding David’s journey to the throne in Jerusalem.
Michal reenters the narrative after David has defeated Saul and established the seat of his kingdom in Jerusalem. Michal is again used as a political tool, this time by David as he requests that she be brought back to him by Abner to ensure his fealty to David. David’s instructions are, “you shall not see my face until you bring Michal daughter of Saul when you come to see my face.”[4] David refers to Michal, not as his wife, but as Saul’s daughter. His abandonment of Michal for all these years has rendered her more Saul’s daughter then his wife. Robert Alter’s commentary on this piece of text interprets that by naming Michal as Saul’s daughter, David is able to claim reign over the tribe of Benjamin – the tribe of King Saul.[5] While David is a deeply political being, it might be possible that there is also a parallel meaning to naming Michal as he did. By defining Michal as Saul’s daughter, David could be omitting his wrong in not reclaiming her from Palti son of Laish. Perhaps he feels that he does not have the right, at this time, to call her his wife since he did not act has her husband. It is a self-aware and compassionate leader that can admit his/her errors.
Michal’s final contribution to understanding the leadership of David, comes at a joyous moment in the narrative. Michal has been returned to the house of David in Jerusalem and is waiting for David to arrive. David makes his way into the city by leading a procession to honor and celebrate the return of the Ark of the Lord to the City of David.[6] David is out among his people in celebration and is described as, “leaping and whirling before the Lord,” through the eyes of Michal. Michal, so embittered by her years of abandonment and neglect by David, confronts him in public. In the only dialogue between David and Michal, Michal accuses David of improper behavior (exposing himself to his people) and chastises him for not being kingly in public view of his people. David responds that he is the chosen king of Israel and only he can judge when his behavior is improper. Michal has only known how a king behaves through observing her father, King Saul. David has had an entirely different path to kingship and this moment of tension between the two characters evidences that David plans to be quite a different king than Saul. David sees himself as one of the people and is comfortable leaping and whirling with them in celebration. Michal perceives David as a spectacle to be scorned, when it is possible that he is exhibiting a style of democratic leadership previously unknown to her.[7] This scene bears witness to the transformation of David from a warrior to a king.
David enters a new era of kingship when his soldiers implore him to stay at home as his life is too valuable to risk on the battlefield. David heeds their concerns and remains back in the City of David while his army goes off to battle.[8] He struggles with this new responsibility of leadership, as it is evident in his dealings with the woman, Bathsheba.
The narrator of the David and Bathsheba episode, the famous love story, uses quick precise language to document the actions of King David. Early one evening as David arises from bed (infer a afternoon nap) he happens to see a lovely women bathing atop a roof. He then, “sent messengers and fetched her and she came to him and he lay with her…and she returned to her house.”[9] This quick, almost militaristic account of David’s sexual encounter with Bathsheba reveals a David not yet seen in the narrative. His decisions, while not always predictable, usually seem to be well throughout and rooted with intention. Here David acts like a child seeing something he wants and taking it without thinking of his actions and the consequences. Bathsheba, in this initial encounter has no voice and the reader is left to ponder what she must be thinking about David, the man and the king.
The text quickly reveals that Bathsheba is pregnant and David is forced to confront his own misdeeds. David could have taken the steps to admit his wrongdoing and somehow make amends to both Bathsheba and Uriah, her husband and an elite warrior in David’s army. However, he chooses to capitalize on his power as king and send Uriah to his death during battle. Not only are his actions harmful to Bathsheba and Uriah, David’s actions put his personal interests above the national interests, potentially endangering the entire nation of Israel. It is clear that David once so focused and intent on establishing and building the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, is floundering in his role as a sitting monarch. It would seem that King David is in need of an “executive coach” or an advisor.
God, absent from the text during this episode, reappears at the conclusion to cast judgment and pronounce David’s actions as evil. Because all leaders stumble at some point and need help in setting a new course, God sends Nathan the prophet to the house of David. Bathsheba has become David’s wife and has borne him a son. Nathan brings the warning that while God will not kill David for his offense, he will discipline him by taking from him his newborn son.[10] Yet again, Bathsheba does not have an active voice in lamenting the loss of her son nor able to cast blame on David. However, it is interesting to note that the text does not have Bathsheba absolve David for his part in the death of her son either. Bathsheba could have eased his guilt, but instead allows him to bear the full brunt of responsibility. The death of his son eventually catapults David back onto the battlefield where he feels most comfortable and is able to best serve his people.
Bathsheba bears David another son, named Solomon. Her story is not yet complete. She will play a pivotal role in establishing Solomon as David’s heir and shaping the leadership of yet another biblical figure. In the meantime, however, David’s adult children are in need of his leadership and guidance.
The story of Tamar, daughter of King David, is explicit in its leadership lesson: people are always watching their leader and using their leader’s behavior as a model for their own. Tamar’s half brother, Amnon is infatuated with her and lusts to have her. Through a scheme using David as a messenger (much like David used Uriah) Amnon lures Tamar to his bedside and rapes her. Before Amnon sexually assaults her, Tamar pleads with him to, “speak, pray, to the king, for he will not withhold me from you.”[11] This plea indicates that Tamar views her father as a leader who is (or perhaps once was in days past) able to be flexible and judicial given the context and circumstances of the situation. Unfortunately, for Tamar, her faith in David is misplaced.
After being brutalized by her half-brother, Tamar is cast out of his chambers and is left to lament the injustice inflicted upon her in isolation. Neither her full brother, Absalom, nor her father, King David, stand up to right the wrong that was done to her. The text relates that King David, “had heard all these things, and he was greatly incensed,” but it does not describe him consoling Tamar nor meting out judgment on his son.[12] This episode in David’s life is horrific. It unveils that his progeny is debased as well as his own glaring blind spots when it comes to his sons. David’s lack of leadership, for which he should have taken control of the situation, acutely signifies that his time as an effective king has come to an end.
Tamar’s brutal and unfortunate story brings to the forefront of the text a picture of David that is less than kingly. It is unknown if David is aware of his part in Amnon’s plan to rape Tamar and it is certainly not stated that he feels anything about Amnon’s actions beyond being “greatly incensed.” The reader must ask: Where is the David that used cunning and strategy to kill the giant Goliath; where is the David that changed the course of Israelite history by building the City of David and rooting his people to the land as they had never been before; and where is the David that continued to respect the aging and senile King Saul even though he knew he was God’s chosen one?
The biblical text of 1 and 2 Samuel presents readers with the life and story of King David. Here the writers and canonizers of ancient Jewish texts are able to discuss and portray different leadership styles and qualities. King David’s life, as it is told through Michal, Bathsheba and Tamar, unfolds as a laboratory for testing out theories and ideas on how one might be a successful or unsuccessful as a leader. David is God’s chosen one to lead the Israelite people through the leadership position of king and it becomes apparent to any reader that God chooses people who are imperfect. David, it turns out, has difficulty in sustaining his position of leadership throughout the duration of his life. As a warrior, strategy, planning, collaboration and bravery characterize his leadership. Yet, when his success as a warrior positions him to be king, he is unable to leverage his previous experience to maintain that same level of accomplishment. His family is in disarray, he uses national interests for personal gain and innocent people are collateral damage for his erratic behavior. This beautifully written text communicates the message that a leader must always be self-aware and see the connections between their thoughts and actions and what is best for his or her people. When this is not the case, the leader is doomed and his/her people will suffer the consequences.
[1] 1 Samuel 18: 25 – 30.
[2] 1 Samuel 19: 8 – 17.
[3] 1 Samuel 19: 11.
[4] 2 Samuel 3: 13.
[5] Alter, Robert. The David Story. New York: WW Norton & Company, 1999. 210-11.
[6] 2 Samuel 6: 12 – 13.
[7] Reimer, Joseph. Class discussion. HRNS 304F. Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. 19 July 2010.
[8] 2 Samuel 11: 1 – 2.
[9] 2 Samuel 11: 4.
[10] 2 Samuel 12: 14.
[11] 2 Samuel 13: 13.
[12] 2 Samuel 13: 21.
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