Biblical Story retold Review

David And Bath Sheba
by Aida Bode
ISBN-10: 1419606689
Review by Heather Froeschl

Take a story from the bible and make it so that people of today can really relate to it. This is what Aida Bode has done. "David and Bath Sheba" is based on the bible story of David, the shepherd boy, the one who faced Goliath, and became king. What readers take away from the story is a very personal thing.
David is the king and Uriah is one of his most able and trustworthy military leaders. While Uriah is away at war David looks down from his castle and sees the beautiful Bath-Sheba, Uriah's wife. Unable to resist her beauty he has her brought to him, and being the king, does what he will. It is soon discovered afterward that Bath-Sheba is with child from this adulterous union. What should they do? The law says that they should be put to death. Put the king to death? Unlikely.

David attempts to get Uriah back into bed with Bath-Sheba by calling back the military party for an update and "reward" for their good work, in hopes that the truth will never be known. Uriah though, is a man of honor and will not take pleasure in even the company of his wife when there is work to be done, other men in the trenches of combat. That plan foiled, David resorts to, what is in essence, murder. He sends Uriah into the depths of the battle. Will Uriah survive? What will happen to Bath-Sheba and her unborn child...the child of the king? Will the sins of the king be punished?

The text is well written, telling the story in rich detail and respectful tone. What the reader comes to understand is a matter of personal belief and opinion. "David and Bath Sheba" is an interesting tale and has been given a fresher voice.