Hallelujah, ha-ha-hallelujah. Roll call.
Hallelujah, ha-ha-hallelujah. Roll call.
My name is Sheba…short for Bathsheba. I was bathing on the deck, not tryin’ to smell, duh!
Lol! I’m gonna stop right there before y’all cut me loose. But that wasn’t bad. I may have found my second calling.
Next on the list of The Women of the Bible– from A to Z is, no-other-than the famous bystander: Bathsheba. Coming in at number five on a roll-call of eight women whose names start with the letter B, Bathsheba is another of King David’s conquests. Her story doesn’t begin as nicely as Abigail’s, but ultimately it ends sweetly for Sheba. Let’s just dive into the backstory.
So, David is now King. He has fought many battles, and with the Lord on his side, he’s living the Lifestyles of the rich and famous. The setting is Spring, BC, the time of year when kings go out to battle. However, David has decided not to. Why? I guess he’s paid the price.
“Go on without me,” David might have said, sending his commander, Joab, along with all the fighting men of Israel out– Like A Boss!
The Bible says it was evening when King David finally rose from his bed.
Wow, he really was tired.
David then decided to take a walk on the roof of his castle. From there, he saw a beautiful woman bathing in her courtyard.
Now this is where I have some questions.
Do you believe that this was David’s first evening roof walk?
In my mind’s eye, David had a little peeping Tom issue– possibly the reason he stayed behind in the first place. Maybe he had seen Bathsheba before, and now while all the ‘strong men’ were away at battle, he literally slid into her DMs. What’s done in the dark always comes to light.
That’s my scenario, but it could have happened that he stumbled upon a gorgeous naked Bathsheba. Nevertheless, David was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He sent servants to inquire about the woman.
My girl Bathsheba was minding her own business. Cleansing her body. Listening to music. Singing and dancing. Why not? She was young and newly married to a brave young soldier. What a feeling!
Sheba was not there trying to lure men. Remember, the majority of strong and able men were away at battle. LOL. This was strictly hygienic. Commentaries say that, most likely, it was a ceremonial washing ritual. Bathsheba was living according to the law of Moses, which required her to wash monthly—after her period (or state of ‘uncleanness’) ended—to return to a state of spiritual readiness to create life.
Allow me to continue paraphrasing.
David’s servants returned with this report.
“My lord, the young woman is Bathsheba. The daughter of Eliam– and THE WIFE of Uriah the Hittite,” they said.
My guess is that they were trying to help a brother out. “Don’t do it.”
I don’t care whose wife and daughter she is, David probably thought. “Bring her to me,” he ordered, remembering how fine she was.
Bathsheba was brought to the palace. Now, as a fan of King David, this part hurt my heart.
He slept with her!
As we lay…he didn’t think about the price they had to pay. No, no.
At this point David had seven wives. He did not lack convenience. We always want what we should not or can not have.
What was Sheba to do? The king lusted after her, and she had to oblige. I’m speculating, but I don’t believe this was an honor.
After some time, Bathsheba reported back to David.
“I am pregnant.”
Boom!
Poor Bathsheba.
She was newly married. She had no children. Her husband was a young and loyal soldier. Now she was pregnant by another man. The king. She could not disgrace the royal highness by pointing him out. How would Sheba explain? She had been violated. She would become a useless woman. Possibly stoned.
But David was already working on a plan.
He sent word to Joab, the commander of Israel’s army: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.”
When Uriah arrived, David engaged him in small talk then covertly offered him the chance to go home and be with his wife. “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” He even supplied him with a romantic dinner for two.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we practice to deceive. But Uriah was loyal to his country and troops. How could he enjoy his wife when his comrades were deep in enemy territory?
Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house and shared his dinner with the servants. He did not go home.
Just when King David thought he was in the clear, his servants reported back to him.
“Uriah did not go down to his house,”
David said to Uriah, “Bruh, didn’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?”
Uriah answered, claiming a code of honor with his fellow warriors while they were in battle. “I swear by your majesty’s life, I will never do such a thing.”
What loyalty! It probably reminded David of his youth and zeal. The reality of his sin started to settle in, but his desire to save face was greater.
David said to Uriah, “Well, stay here today, and tomorrow I will let you go back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day.
The King was hoping that the young man would break.
He summoned him for dinner, and Uriah ate and drank in his presence. David got him nice and drunk, but that evening he still did not go down to his house.
Here’s the point of no return for David. As if his taking another man’s wife wasn’t bad enough.
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
That was Cold-blooded.
The letter said the following:
“Station Uriah on the front line of the fiercest battle and pull back from him, so that he may be struck and killed.”
David, David, David.
When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for his precious life and everything they should have had together. When the time of mourning was over, David sent servants and had her brought to his home where she became his wife and part of his harem.
At this point I don’t know what was going on in David’s mine. Perhaps he was attempting to save her. Maybe he cared or still lusted after her. Who knows?
Bathsheba gave birth to a son, and the Bible says that the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord. The Lord sent His prophet Nathan to David with this message:
“There were two men– one wealthy and one poor. The wealthy man had plenty of flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except a little ewe lamb which he bought and nurtured. The little lamb grew up with him and his family. It ate scraps from him, drank from his cup, and lied in his lap. It was like a daughter to him.
One day the wealthy man had a visitor and he could not bring himself to prepare for the traveler any animal from his own flock or herd. So he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for his guest.”
Check out what King David said.
His anger burned against the wealthy man. “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die! He must make restitution for the lamb four times over, since he did this and had no compassion.”
Nathan responded, probably shaking his head as well,
“David, you are the man!’
Dun-dun-dunn!
Nathan proceeded to relate the Lord’s verdict.
Part of David’s punishment was that the sword (violence and war) would never leave his home.
Evil would rise against him in his household, and his concubines would be taken before his eyes and given to someone he knew well. That person would sleep with them in broad daylight.
Yet more drama Bathsheba would endure.
God said through Nathan, “Indeed, you did this secretly, but I will do this before all Israel and in open daylight.”
Yikes, for a man, a king, this would be the ultimate act of disrespect. Yet, David humbly accepted the verdict and instantly repented.
“I have sinned against the Lord.”
That is what made him a man after God’s own heart.
We know from Psalms 27:4 that the one thing that David asked for, the thing that he desired, was to dwell in the house of the Lord.
And although God loved David right back and allowed this sin to pass without putting him to death, He still ordered judgment. David and Bathsheba’s son would die. The baby was struck ill, and in seven days, he passed.
What was happening with our girl Bathsheba?
The Bible is silent regarding Bathsheba’s well-being. As a woman and mother, I can only imagine her pain. However, in the following verses, we catch a peep of Sheba again as King David ‘comforted’ her through the loss. The Strongs concordance defines ‘comforted’ as pitying, being sorry, repenting, and avenging.
The two then slept together.
Hopefully, this time there was mutual love and respect. Either way, David comforted her by replacing the deceased child with another. Bathsheba would soon receive the recompense owed her. She gave birth to another son, and David named him Solomon.
The Bible says that the Lord loved Solomon.
Out of all of David’s sons, older or wiser, he would become King– but the story is not over yet! Bathsheba goes on to play an important role in the royal history of Israel.
It is true…what doesn’t kill you only makes you Stronger.
When Solomon was young, King David publicly named him his heir, saying God had told him to do so. However, when David grew old and became bedridden, another of his sons, Adonijah, publicly claimed the throne.
When the prophet Nathan and Bathsheba learned of this, they plotted to intervene. They went to see King David about what Adonijah had done.
“You promised that our son Solomon would be the next king, yet Adonijah is on the throne…and you don’t even know about it…the eyes of all Israel are on you…”
Yay! Bathsheba finally speaks up, and check out the power in her words.
Adonijah was forced to withdraw.
After King David’s death, Solomon became the king of Israel. Bathsheba went to see her son, and he rose and bowed down before her. Solomon sat on his throne and had a throne brought for Bathsheba– the Queen Mother. Her seat was placed at King Solomon’s right, reflecting a real position of honor.
So although we don’t hear much from Bathsheba, it is proven, once again, that actions always speak louder than words. In Proverbs 1:8; 6:20-22, we read from King Solomon about the importance of following a mother’s guidance throughout life, which implies that Bathsheba raised him right, and she deserved the seat of honor.
Long after Bathsheba’s death, she was commemorated in the New Testament as one of the four unconventional women in Jesus’ lineage.
What is the lesson of Bathsheba in the Bible?
When we look at Bathsheba as a woman who rose from the ashes, instead of as a device serving David’s narrative, she becomes a beacon for women everywhere who are oppressed and victimized.
Where to find Bathsheba in the Bible.
ll Samuel, I Kings, I Chronicles
Women of the Bible with names starting with B
B
Baara – Moabitess, wife of Shaharaim
Basemeth #1 – daughter of Elon, the Hittite, One of the wives of Esau.
Basemeth #2 – daughter of Ishmael and 3rd wife of Esau.
Basemeth #3 – daughter of Solomon, wife of Ahimaaz
Bathsheba – wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, and the mother of Solomon, who succeeded David as king
Berenice – sister of King Agrippa
Bilhah – Rachel’s handmaid and a concubine of Jacob who bears him two sons
Bithiah – Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus)
