The Untold Story of Uriah the Hittite

[Olulu]

CHAPTER ONE

"Hey bro, welcome back," Gareb said as he entered the tent. "I heard them hailing you earlier but I was depositing manure into the soil. How you dey?"
They shook hands and hugged.
"I dey alright my brother, all correct, no shaking," replied Uriah.
He sat down on his bed facing Gareb, who leaned on the table.
"How was the City and home front?" Gareb asked.
"Fine."
"So what did the King want to see you for?"
"To be honest, I really don't know. We did not talk about anything serious or discreet. We did more drinking than talking. I guess he misses the Warfront," Uriah replied.
They both laughed.
"But at least you got to gum body and had a nice time with madam, " Gareb said as he smiled and winked.
"Nah, I did not go home. I slept at the door of the King's house with all the servants of my King."
"Kilode? Why? You for go enjoy wifey's company"
"My guy, the King suggested that too. But I told him that the ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my Lord Joab and the servants of my King are encamped in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As the King's soul lives, I will not do that," said Uriah.
"Wow," exclaimed Gareb as he looked at Uriah in astonishment.
Uriah added, "I just did not feel right about it. I had a bad feeling about the whole visitation and insistence that I go home. I would rather be here at the battlefront with you guys then be at home frolicking with wifey."
They both laughed.
Just then, Zaharai, the armor-bearer of Joab, entered into the tent. "Uriah, my Lord Joab will see you now."
Together they marched to the tent of Joab.
"Good day sir," Uriah said as he entered the tent.
"Welcome back Soldier," Joab replied and added, "how was the home front?"
"All correct Sir."
"I am sure you enjoyed Madam's cooking and the after-hours things," Joab said with a smile.
Uriah smiled but said nothing.
"Any news from my King David?" Joab asked.
"Yes sir, he said to give you a letter," Uriah replied. He removed a sealed letter from the waist pouch and placed it in Joab's outstretched hand.
Joab checked to be sure the seal was unbroken. He then opened the letter, read it, and frowned. He looked up to see Uriah watching him and their eyes locked for a few seconds. Out of respect, Uriah blinked and looked away.
"Anything the matter sir?" Uriah asked.
Joab turned his back on him and said, "Go back to your tent soldier; I will call you if I need you."
Uriah hesitated for a moment. He was sure Joab's voice sounded like a man in pain and in tears. "Ok sir," he said and left the tent.
Joab held the letter in both hands and raised it above his head. "Why my King? Why?" He muttered as tears flowed down his cheeks.
Joab cried all night and found no sleep or rest to console his troubled soul.

 

[Olulu]

CHAPTER TWO
(About 30 years earlier)

"Hey Uriah, no farm today?"
He looked to his right and saw Inarahsu and Daraksu walking towards him. They were twin brothers and the sons of one of the richest merchants in their village.
"No, no farm today," he replied, looking at Inarahsu as the twins stopped in front of him.
"Why? Don't you want to be a farmer like your father?" Asked Daraksu.
"I don't want to be a farmer."
"But your father is a farmer, you will probably end up a farmer," insisted Inarahsu.
"No," responded Uriah sternly.
The boys looked at him strangely.
"Why don't you want to be a farmer?"
"I've not seen myself as a farmer in my dreams."
One of the boys laughed and said, "so you think you are now like Joseph the dreamer because your papa give you Hebrew name. No deceive yourself, you be Hittite, not a Hebrew."
Daraksu added, "I can't wait to see your papa's face when you tell him you don't want to be a farmer."
Uriah looked at them and said slowly, "someday you will hear and see my greatness."
The 2 boys looked at each other and then laughed so hard, they fell over rolling on the floor.
Uriah walked away from them, he knew he wanted more than this life of being a farmer. He just was not sure what else he would do.
Uriah was the 3rd boy out of 5 children. He had two elder brothers and two younger sisters. It was less than two years between the ages of each of the children.
His father had a farm and his two brothers were already working with his father, as well as, developing their own farm. It was expected that Uriah would also start on his own farm once he reached the age of 18. For now, he was mainly in charge of the two Cows that lived in their home.
'You are back early," his mother remarked as he stormed into the common room.
"I don't want to be a farmer," he replied with teeth clenched.
She turned and looked at him. She then moved close to him and hugged him. At five feet 9 inches, he was the shortest male in the family but he was still taller than his mother.
She held him close and said softly, "when the voice of greatness calls you, be unafraid to answer." She drew back, smiled, and said aloud, "now go milk the Cows else you no go chop tonight."
He smiled back and went to milk the cows.

 

[Olulu]

CHAPTER THREE

"Today we are going to war," they sang.
"But," cried one.
"Today is not a good day to die," they responded.
"Why," shouted one.
"The Lord of Host is with us," they responded.
"And so," cried another.
"We will slash, hack and bash," cried all.
"And then," came the cry.
"We will take the spoils of war," they sang.
"And?"
"Go back home praising our God."
"And then?"
"Go home to "know" our wives," the men cried out and then shouted loudly.
It was the battle cry they usually sang before a major fight.
"It is time to bleed or be bled," said Gareb as he and Uriah helped each other put on their armor.
"It's never a good day to die," responded Uriah, as his mind wandered back to the strategy meeting that held early that morning.
"What do we know about the people of Ammon? Joab asked.
"We know they will come out to fight and not hide behind their walls," came the reply from Zelek.
"Their most valiant soldiers are usually sent after their archers. But in this instance, we expect them to stay back to repel our attacks if and when we get past the archers," added Eliam, the father of Bathsheba.
"How do we get past the archers with minimal casualty?" Joab asked.
"We can do a mock charge to engage their archers. That way we ascertain their shooting range and brig our archers into play," suggested Joseb.
"Hmm, I like the mock charge," stated Joab.
"I think we should do 3 waves of mock charge. 1000 men each, to really get them worried. Since we outnumber their 10,000 soldiers 5 to 1 or thereabout," said Abishai, brother of Joab.
"Numbers don't win wars," stated Shammah.
"Yes, they don't, the superior strategy does. So we will also flank them on both sides. Once their archers are actively engaged with the waves of mock charges, we will attack them from both sides. This should confuse them and allow us to bring our archers in range and into play," said Abishai.
"This sounds good to me. Or what do you say?" Joab asked.
The men nodded in agreement.
"I will lead the first mock charge," stated Abishai, brother of Joab.
"And I the second wave," said Eleazar.
"No, Abishai and Eleazar will be in charge of the 2nd and 3rd wave respectively," responded Joab.
"So who leads the first charge?" Eliam asked.
Joab looked at him and said, "Uriah."

 

[Br. Bear]

@Olulu
Greetings,

thank you for sharing your writings with us.
I see you have tried to capture in words some of the story that might have been Uriah's life and presented it in story telling form.

For those who know who Uriah was, your story finishes with a finality.
Is there another Chapter?


Bless you ....><>

 

[Olulu]

@Olulu
Greetings,

thank you for sharing your writings with us.
I see you have tried to capture in words some of the story that might have been Uriah's life and presented it in story telling form.

For those who know who Uriah was, your story finishes with a finality.
Is there another Chapter?


Bless you ....><>

Thank you for your comment.

Yes, there are 12 more chapters.
I will post two additional chapters for your reading pleasure.

The story is actually excerpts from the book I wrote titled, The Untold Story of Uriah the Hittite.

 

[Olulu]

CHAPTER FOUR

(About 30 years earlier)

Uriah headed to the edge of the forest to check on the traps. The boys in his village usually played at the edge of the forest and also set traps to catch small animals.

"You be thief," the boys shouted.
"I no be thief," the boy in their middle replied.
"Yes you are," they shouted at him, hitting him with sticks.

Uriah saw a boy he had never seen before surrounded by 7 boys from his village. The 7 boys were hitting him with sticks.
Without thinking, he ran into their midst and used his body to shield the boy.

"Enough," he shouted, "una wan kill am?"
"He is a thief, I saw him close to the traps," screamed one for the boys.
"I did not steal from you. I was unsure of how you treated strangers. So I hid to wait for night time to continue my journey. I swear I did not touch your meat nor your trap," the stranger replied, wiping the blood flowing down his forehead. He was on his knees breathing heavily from the blows he had received.
"Liar, Uriah get out of the way so we can kill him," shouted Daraksu. He and his twin brother were part of the 7 boys.
"Enough," repeated Uriah, "you have no right to kill him."
"Who made you the lawyer of a Hebrew?" Inarahsu asked.
"And who made you guys the judge, jury, and executioner?" Uriah asked. "Don't you know the Hebrews conquered our forefathers when they fought against each other. The Hebrews only allowed us to stay on this land because we agreed to serve them."
"The more reason we should kill him to atone for the sins of the Hebrews against us Hittites," said Daraksu.
"What do you think would happen if word gets out that you killed a Hebrew?" Uriah fired back.
"Dead men don't talk. Now stand aside Uriah or die with him," shouted the twin brothers.
"No," said Uriah, facing the boys with fist clenched by his side.

Inarahsu moved forward from Uriah's left and swung a stick at his head. Uriah ducked under the swing, sidestepped to his left, and threw a punch with his left hand. The punch connected with the right cheekbone of Inarahsu and he went down screaming and holding his face.
His twin brother, Daraksu, rushed forward to hit Uriah. He was already swinging his stick as Uriah turned to face him. So Uriah stepped closer to him and blocked the blow with the inside of his right arm. He then threw a left punch at the nose of Daraksu, who went down like he was hit by a truck.
There was a hushed silence as Daraksu slowly stood up and touched his blood-spewing nose in shock. He then turned and ran towards home screaming in agony. His twin brother ran after him crying and touching his right cheek.
The other boys did not wait to receive their own punches. They dropped their sticks and ran off in different directions.

Uriah lifted up the stranger who was still on his knees. "Can you walk?" He asked.
"Yes."
"My name is Uriah. What's your name?"
"Joab."

 

[Olulu]

CHAPTER FIVE

"Today can be the end of our lives, our freedom, our nation, and our future if the Israelites defeat us in battle," said the King of Ammon.
He looked at the faces of his 7 most senior military officers and his 3 sorcerers. He continued, “Or today can be the beginning of our total domination of the Israelites.

"The gods favor us, dear King," said the sorcerers in unison, "victory is certain."

“How do we defeat them?” The King asked, “do the gods have a battle strategy to give us.”

He glared at the sorcerers, they avoided his gaze.

Baasha, the oldest military officer cleared his throat and said, “we can hide behind our walls and repel their attacks.”

"What if their God breaks down our walls like that of Jericho?" Shanip asked, who was also a high ranking military officer.

"We can't hide, so I suggest we go out and hide. We can outmatch, outmuscle, outfight, and overrun them. Our army is committed, courageous and competent," said Zacchur, a younger military officer.

“Our spies said they outnumber us by about 4 or 3 to 1. Also, the Israelites are known to be giant slayers; we can't match them with mere brawn. We need to outwit them," said Shanip.

“So what do you suggest we do?” Baasha asked.

“I think we are asking the wrong question sir,” stated Peduel, the youngest of them all.

“So what’s the right question?” The king asked.

“We need to put ourselves in their shoes and ask, what would we do if we were the Israelites,” said Peduel.

“Well, at about 3 to 1, I will surely attack at the flanks to weaken the center,” said Shanip.

“Exactly,” responded Peduel.

“Also, given the pedigree of their fighters, it will be a death wish to attack them. So they will try to outmaneuver our archers to get at our fighters,” added Shanip.

“Thus, if I may summarize, they will start the attack at the center to divert attention from the flanks. Then they will attack at the flanks to cause panic. If they see that we are panicked, they will launch a full assault at the center,” said Peduel.

“So what do we do to counter them? We can’t abandon the flanks,” said Zacchur.

“We will ensure we defend our flanks with obstacles which will limit their advance. Then our archers will pin down the first wave of attack at our center. And when they attack at the flanks, we will unleash something special on the enemy warriors in the middle to keep them occupied," replied Peduel.

"What is something special? the King asked.

"My King, you will spoil the surprise. I pray you come to watch and enjoy the spectacle from the wall," said Peduel.

“Ok, I will not miss it from anything. But tell me, where or how did you learn to think like this?” the king asked.

“My father taught me,” replied Peduel.

“How did your father know?” the King pressed further.

“He once fought alongside King David and Joab his military commander. That is before David became King.”

 

[Bill]

Intriguing story, i read it all

 

[Brad Huber]

Good dramatization of a biblical story.