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In most Holy Bible (1) Old Testament (2) translations (3), Bathsheba is mentioned collectively about a dozen times - in 2 Samuel (4), 1 Kings (5), 1 Chronicles (6) and Psalms (7). 2 Samuel 11:3 states she was the daughter of Eliam while 1 Chronicles 3:5 records her as the daughter of Ammiel.
Bathsheba is first mentioned in the Bible in 2 Samuel 11 and the very first sentence of this chapter forecasts that trouble is on the horizon: "In the Spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David (8) sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army." This tells us that King David (in this season, anyway) opted to stay home in Jerusalem while his army was destroying the Ammonites and besieging Rabbah.
The warrior David was out of position. He wasn't where he was supposed to be and he wasn't doing what he should have been doing.
The chapter continues on by telling us that, one day, David got up from his bed and was walking around on the roof of his palace when he saw one of his neighbors, a beautiful woman, bathing. He sent a servant to find out who she was; the servant later returned and told King David that she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite.
Right at this very moment, King David was given crucial information allowing him to make an important decision, but his normally sound judgment betrayed him. Instead, he chose to pursue this married woman and sleep with her.
Sometime later, Bathsheba told David she was pregnant. Once again, the mighty king- a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22) - was presented with information that would lead to decisions bearing consequences.
This biblical account of deceptive behavior marches on. Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, was a soldier fighting under David. To hide Bathsheba’s pregnancy from Uriah, David sent him to the front lines of battle, where he was later killed.
Bathsheba learned of her husband’s death and she mourned for him. Once the period of mourning was over, David sent for her and she became his wife, bearing their child.
God did not like what David had done and sent His prophet (9), Nathan, to see David. Nathan told him a parable of a rich man and a poor man and David became angry at the rich man in the story. Nathan then exclaimed to him, “You are the (rich) man!” Through Nathan, the Lord told David why He was angry with him and what consequences were going to arise ( 2 Samuel 12:1-12).
Afterward, King David repented and the Lord took away his sin. But this did not free David from bearing the consequences of his actions. A short time later, the Lord caused the infant son of David and Bathsheba to sicken and die.
Later, Bathsheba would mother 4 other children with King David- Shammua, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon (1 Chronicles 3:5). As the king grew older and neared death, it was Bathsheba who maneuvered Solomon to succeed David as king (1 Kings 1). During Solomon’s reign as King (10) of the United Monarchy of Israel, Bathsheba served as Queen Mother and often interceded on behalf of others (1 Kings 2). The Genealogy (11) of Jesus (12) the Messiah (13) appears in Matthew 1; "David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife."
Footnotes appear below. For a printer friendly version of this page, click on the PDF box above. Modifications are welcome at goodnews@downriverdisciples.com.
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FOOTNOTES
(1) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/the-good-news
(2) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/old-testament
(3) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/bible-translations
(4) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/2-samuel
(5) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/1-kings
(6) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/1-chronicles
(7) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/psalms
(8) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/a-man-after-gods-own-heart
(9) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/prophets-of-the-bible
(10) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/kings-of-israel-and-judah
(11) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/bible-genealogy