Question: What Sort of Weird Justice Is This?

I'm sure many people are familiar with the story of David and Bathsheba in the Book of 2 Samuel. King David sees the beautiful Bathsheba and the two commit adultery. The king sees to it that Bathsheba's husband is killed in battle, so that David can add her to his brood of wives. The prophet Nathan informs David that God is displeased with David's actions and so will mete out divine punishment.

According to this story, the two people who sinned were Bathsheba and David. Yet, who does the Lord punish? Their newly born son!! The innocent babe is afflicted and dies seven days after birth.

And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him. (2 Samuel 12:24)

Now I'm certainly NOT suggesting that losing a child is not a heart-wrenching experience. Any parent who has gone through this sad affair would attest otherwise. However, the child was innocent of the sin of his parents, yet he is the one who suffered the ultimate punishment -- death.

David and Bathsheba, on the other hand, picked up where they left off and soon she bore another son.

Since adultery supposedly is one of the big ten sins that, generally speaking, equates to the death of one or both of the participants, it would appear that David and Bathsheba got off with a mere slap of the hand. Is this a weird sense of justice or what?

To see what other questions I've asked about the Christian Bible, go here.