"Thus saith the Lord ... I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour,
and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun." -- 2 Samuel 12:11
Second Samuel for Skeptics
Second Samuel is about divine justice. Here are a few examples.
God kills Uzzah for trying to protect the ark from falling. 6:6-7
To punish David for the Bathsheba/Uriah affair, God killed the resulting baby and had David's wives publicly raped by
David's son, Absalom. 12:11-12, 12:15-18, 16:21-22
When David had a census (that God "moved" him to have), God gave him a choice of three punishments: seven years of famine, three months of war, or three
days of pestilence. David couldn't decide, so God chose for him and 70,000 men died in a plague. (The details are different in
1 Chronicles, but the principle is the same.) 24:1-15
Other highlights:
David tells Jonathan that he has given him pleasures more than that of woman.
1:26
David has his "young men" kill people, cut off their hands and
feet, and hang them up over a pool. 4:12
Whoever kills the lame and the blind "that are hated of David's
soul" shall be made "chief and captain." 5:8
"And David took him more concubines and wives." 5:13
Absalom "goes in unto" his father's [David's] concubines. 16:21-22
To punish his ten concubines for being raped by his son (See 2 Samuel 16.21-22), David refuses to ever again have sex
with them and forces them to "keep house" for the rest of their lives. 20:3
To appease God and end the famine that was caused by his predecessor (Saul), David agrees to have two of Saul's sons
and five of his grandsons killed and hung up "unto the Lord." 21:6, 9
When David had a census (that God "moved" him to have), God gave him a choice of three punishments: seven years of famine, three months of war, or three
days of pestilence. David couldn't decide, so God chose for him and 70,000 men died in a plague. (The details are different in
1 Chronicles, but the principle is the same.) 24:1-15
God's 72nd Killing:
God kills a couple hundred thousand people to punish David for having a census. 24:15