Hush Money – Catch and Kill by king David (II Samuel 11-12)
There is always a motive when hush money is involved. Different similes of hush money show that an ulterior motive is the reason for an attempt or thought to make such a payment. Often such motives are either consequential or fatal. It could either be to hide embarrassing details of something disgraceful or terrible that happened that would tarnish someone’s name, image, or religio-politico ambitions or cover up an affair that could destroy someone’s marriage, status, or social influence.
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In this writing, king David will be used as a case study of what could lead to what in this stone age is described as “hush-money” and “catch and kill.” The two phrases are like Siamese.
What is a hush money?
A hush money can be
described as a term about an arrangement where a person or party offers another
person a huge sum of money or other valuables in exchange for their silence
about something illicit, unlawful, shameful action or other fact about the
person or the party who is making the offer.
Hush money is not
illegal, depending on the circumstances, but it is a way of buying an aggrieved
person’s silence to avoid any embarrassing details of a consequential, shameful
or stigmatizing action.
Hush money when paid
means that the recipient is gagged by a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA) and
punishable by court actions which also can be breached under a court order.
What is catch and kill?
This is secretive
method used by some news and media outlets to keep a damaging information of a
third party from going public. It may be described as a “cloak and dagger”
technique of concealing a damaging story. The media buys the story from an
individual exclusively and ensures that the story is never published. The
individual is made to sign an NDA and will not speak to anyone about the story
again. Not without a court order, anyway.
While a hush money
involves bribing the individual by the culprit to intentionally keep quiet
about the damaging information, catch and kill ensures that the story never
gets published in any newspaper or media.
The next question to
ask is: how does this relate to king David?
In second Book of
Samuel chapters 11-12, there is a narration of the encounter between king
David, Bathsheba, Uriah, and prophet Nathan. The entire narration shows similes
of hush money, catch and kill, criminality, sin, murder, repossession, and
punishment.
King David and Bathsheba
In the Old Testament,
kings were known to join their military in battles. But in that spring, king
David remained in Jerusalem. While loitering on the roof of his palace, David
saw Bathsheba, a beautiful woman bathing. He was ravished by her beauty. He
inquired about her and was told that she was Uriah’s wife, the Hittite. Being a
king and knowing fully well that it was against God’s commandment, he slept
with her.
After a while, Bathsheba
sent words to David that she was pregnant. Now, as king, David began to cover up
his tracks. Because he knew that what he did was shameful.
King David plot to kill Uriah
King David planned to
cover up his affair with Bathsheba. He sent letter to his army commander, Joab
to send Uriah back home. He thought and hoped that while at home Uriah would
sleep with his wife and believe the child was his.
But Uriah being a man
of integrity, a loyal soldier, who loved his nation and people refused to go to
his home nor see his wife while his fellow soldiers were battling in the field.
He slept at the palace gates with the king’s officials.
When David was told
that Uriah did not go home, David invited Uriah for a sumptuous meal where he
got him drunk with the intention that he would go home and sleep with his wife.
That was David’s evil technique to pay Uriah a ‘hush money.’ But Uriah did not
go home but slept again at the palace gates.
Finally, David sent
Uriah back to the battlefield with a signed and sealed death warrant. In the
letter, David ordered Joab, his army commander to place Uriah in a dangerous
battle position and he was killed in the ensuing fight. That concluded David’s
evil plan and that is the way he planned to kill the story from getting out. He
murdered Uriah.
No crime goes
unpunished. Even the king is subject to the same law, both human and divine.
God saw all and sent his prophet, Nathan to David who confronted David with a
powerful imagery about a rich man and a poor man.
Prophet Nathan and King David
God sent Nathan to
deliver a message to David. Nathan used a parable of two men: one rich and one
poor to relay the message. The rich man had many sheep and cattle, while the
poor man had only one little lamb that he loved and cared for as if it were his
only daughter. Nathan continued and said to David, when a traveller came to the
rich man, instead of using one from his many animals to prepare a meal for the
traveller, he took the poor man’s only lamb. David sprang up to his feet and
was outraged about the rich man’s action. He declared that the rich man
deserved severe punishment.
Nathan looked at him
and said: “You are the man.” He told David that his actions were like the rich
man’s who took something very dear and precious that belonged to another
person.
The Punishments of King David
Nobody is above the
law in the eyes of God and his judgement is fair. Nathan then passed on to
David God’s verdict on his actions for committing adultery with Bathsheba and
plotting Uriah’s death:
- The sword would not leave from David’s house
- The child born to David and Bathsheba would die
David’s Repentance
David fell to his
knees and wept bitterly asking for God’s forgiveness saying: “I have sinned
against the Lord.” Nathan assured him of God’s forgiveness but insists that the
consequences of his sins must happen.
The child born to
David and Bathsheba died to fulfil God’s judgment and the sword never left
David’s house. Absolom, one of king David’s sons bore deep hatred for his
father and plotted to kill him. Already, Absolom had murdered his half-brother,
Amnon. Until his death, his hatred for David made him conduct several plots to
dethrone his father, David.
Summary: Relevance of king David’s Story to today’s “Hush
Money” and “Catch and Kill” Saga
As noted above, no
one is above the law, and no one is exempt from moral accountability, legal
scrutiny, and public probity. The story paints a picture that there are
consequences for transgressions or crimes, even for a powerful and chosen king,
president, or religious leader.
It emphasizes the
need of repentance and the importance of acknowledgement of one’s sins to get
forgiveness. It brought to the fore that God sees and knows of any abuse of
power, such as coveting your neighbour’s good or wife and murdering your
neighbour to cover up the crime or sin.
Therefore, leaders
and people in authority must be accountable and use their authority wisely.
Nathan’s role is
imagined in the roles of honest judges, magistrates, attorneys, and other
arbitrators of justices of our day to highlight the supremacy of truth-telling
and confronting wrongdoing as against truth-killing, and political cult
worshipping.
The story of David
also brings to the fore the balance between justice and compassion. It
emphasizes that humans err and that no one is righteous but God alone. It
signals that human imperfection should be their humbling points which should
lead to self-reflection, accountability, and dependence on God’s grace in the
face of many human imperfections.
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