David forges an empire
During the early days of Israel, the religious capital was considered to be Shiloh. Saul had ruled his kingdom from Gibeah, according to First Samuel the city of his birth. David ruled the Kingdom of Judah from Hebron, and Ishbaal the Kingdom of Israel from Mahanaim. Under King David, the monarchy was strengthened and David moved the capital of the Kingdom of Israel to the fortress at Jerusalem. According to the biblical stories of David’s kingdom, all of Israel was united under David, an assertion disputed by modern scholars who believe that the regions of the two former kingdoms retained their unique identities and cultures.
The Bible recounts the expansion of Israel led by David to absorb the lands of the Philistines, Moab, and others as a means of securing the borders of the kingdom. During the remainder of his reign, Israel absorbed vassal states, including Aramean city-states. It was during one of the wars of conquest, against the Ammonites, that the biblical story of David and Bathsheba occurs. Uriah the Hittite was serving with David’s army at the siege of Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites. David remained with his court in Jerusalem. When David saw Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, bathing he ordered her brought to him, and soon after it became apparent that she had become pregnant.
David first attempted to cover his sin by recalling Uriah for a period of rest, as the siege of Rabbah was ongoing, but Uriah showed no interest in his wife, and David was obliged to arrange for Uriah to die in battle, after which he took the widowed Bathsheba as his wife. The child of their union was a son, named Absalom in some accounts. According to the Hebrew Bible, Absalom was the son of David and his wife Maacah, and there are other conflicting accounts of his lineage and youth, but Absalom grew into a rebellious and headstrong youth, who killed his half-brother (and son of David) Amnon, after learning that Amnon had raped his sister.
Absalom fled to the home of his maternal grandmother for protection and remained in exile for three years before he returned to Jerusalem, where he began to foment dissent over David’s reign among members of the court and public who were unable to obtain an audience with the king to obtain redress for wrongs. Absalom pointed out the inadequacies of the legal system and the entire government, which was paralyzed when David was absent from Jerusalem, with no single person authorized to hear grievances or deliver judgments. After four years of creating dissension, Absalom went to the former capital at Hebron.
In Hebron, Absalom declared himself to be King of Israel, and occupied his father’s property, taking his concubines as a sign of his new authority as holding the throne of the kingdom. He also called for revolt, and raised an army as most of Israel joined in his rebellion. David, with support of only a few clans and his bodyguard, was forced to withdraw from Jerusalem and retreated across the Jordan, though he left behind spies to keep him informed of Absalom’s plans, and to provide false information concerning his own. Absalom, regarding the advice of one of these spies, remained in Jerusalem for a time preparing for an attack, giving David a respite in which to build his own forces.