Bible Women: Bathsheba
2 Samuel 11:1-5 "And it came to pass, after the year was expired,
at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his
servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon,
and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still
at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an
eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the
king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman
was very beautiful to look upon. And
David sent and enquired after the woman.
And one said Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of
Uriah the Hittite? And David sent
messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for
she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived, and sent and told
David, and said, I am with child."
Bathsheba, mother of Solomon, named in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus
Christ as "her that had been the wife of Uriah" (Matthew 1:6)
inferring adultery. Bathsheba has been
portrayed as a temptress, but what is the truth of what really happened?
Bathsheba is introduced at a time when King David should have been to
battle, but he sent Joab instead. (V1)
On an evening when he could not sleep, for V2 tells us "David arose
from off his bed", he went to the roof of the king's house, "and from
the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to
look upon." A temptation of the flesh, but one in the foreknowledge of God, who works all things together for
good. Here is the beginning of events that will bring sorrow to David
for many years to come. Matthew 5:28 "But I say unto you, That whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already
in his heart".
