And these were the children born to him [David] there [Jerusalem]: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. These four were by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel. – 1 Chronicles 3:5

Today's Scripture Reading (June 24, 2025): 1 Chronicles 3

From 1950 until 1997, Reader's Digest published a series of abridged or condensed novels. Each book, published between four and six times a year, contained four or five stories. The stories had been condensed, meaning that they were much shorter than the original. I remember the advertising at the time stating that "you won't even know what's missing." I suppose that's true if you've never read the original. However, if you had read the original, why would you bother reading a condensed version of the same book?

Admittedly, as an avid reader, some books could be shortened a little without sacrificing the story. One of those might be Herman Melville's "Moby Dick." Moby Dick has several editorial chapters that address the political situation of the day. These chapters serve as asides that essentially preach a brief sermon but don't significantly advance the plot. Unless you have read the book, you probably won't miss these "asides." But even with "Moby Dick," I don't think you could make it short enough that you could put it in a book with three or four other novels without leaving out something essential. On the other hand, Stephen King's "The Stand" is over a thousand pages, and I can't imagine wanting to shorten it at all.

There might be reasons for shortening a novel, and first among those reasons might be expanding their readership beyond the avid reader. However, if you want everything the author envisioned for the story, I would recommend ditching the condensed book and reading the original author's intended story.

Does the Bible condense the story? The surprising answer is yes. There are several instances where the Bible condenses the story, and one of those instances would seem to be regarding the children born to David and Bathsheba. (Note: Bathsheba in this text is actually "Bethshua," which we assume is an alternate spelling of Bathsheba.) Here, we find that David and Bathsheba had four sons: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. The surprise isn't the number of sons the couple had but the order in which they were listed. Shammua, the oldest, might have been the child that David and Bathsheba conceived on the day David saw Bathsheba bathing on the rooftop unless that son died before he was named. But the reality is that we know relatively nothing about Shammua, Shobab, and Nathan. But if these sons are listed in order of birth, one of the big surprises is that Solomon is listed as the youngest. That is not what Samuel seems to tell us. In the aftermath of the death of the first son born to David and Bathsheba, Samuel says this:

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah (2 Samuel 12:24-25).

Some argue that in the light of this passage, Solomon must have been the second son born to David and Bathsheba. That might be true, although then we have to decide why the order is presented as it is here and in 2 Samuel 5, which reads, " These are the names of the children born to him there [Jerusalem]: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet" (2 Samuel 5:14-16). In both passages, Solomon is mentioned in the fourth spot.

Why? I think the account in 2 Samuel 12 may be abridged, just as the chronology given in Matthew 1 is also condensed. It might even be that none of the Shammua, Shobab, and Nathan lived past their childhood. Solomon might have been the only child of David and Bathsheba to survive childhood, thereby strengthening the cherished relationship that David had with Solomon, who was even chosen to succeed him rather than one of his older brothers. It might also be that the tragedy that is told in 2 Samuel 12 is much more profound than just the death of one child and the life of the next. However, there was a pain in the relationship between David and Bathsheba that was much deeper and more unspeakable than the narrative lets on. And a suffering that matches the depth of some of our worst pains.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 4