2024_04_19 Insight Post- Karen Heal
This week’s reading- 2 Samuel 11, 2 Samuel 12:1-24, 1 Kings 1:11-31, 1 Kings 2:13-19, 1 Chronicles 3:5, Matthew 1:6
I thought I knew Bathsheba, but I was surprised that the actual scriptural account of her meeting with David was dry and matter-of-fact. It gave no impression of her intentions or motivations. Some commentaries (and movies) depict her as a conniving temptress, but Scripture itself hints of a fuller picture.
Bathsheba was a devoted Jew. Her name meant “daughter of the oath,” a reference to her family’s covenant with the God of Abraham. Her grandfather Ahithophel was David’s main political advisor. Her father, Eliam, and her husband, Uriah, were famous warriors and part of David’s “Thirty” palace guards.
With that heritage, she was likely respected in her community and may have been prosperous. Bathsheba’s husband and family could have treasured her in the same way God’s prophet Nathan described the “ewe lamb” in his tender story that reached David’s conscience. With the power differential between her and the King of Israel, Bathsheba had no way to dissuade David the way Abigail did.
After this episode, she became one of David’s wives, stayed faithful to God, and God redeemed her grief with a son, Solomon. David had a lot of sons (20 named in the Bible and likely more.) We have details about only four of them: three were violent traitors, and two of those were rapists. The fourth, Solomon, pleased God by seeking His wisdom. God told him, “I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or over will have!” 1 Kings 3:12
Bathsheba came back into Solomon’s story in a sort of “Esther” moment when Nathan convinced her to remind David of his earlier promises. Without this intervention, Solomon might not have become king. Solomon may have been David’s son, but he was raised by his mother.
In contrast to the bad-mouthing she’s received over the ages, God showed Bathsheba great honor for her faithfulness. Some say that speaking as “King Lemuel,” Solomon references her teaching as the basis for the Proverbs 31 woman. Not only that, she is listed as one of Jesus’s ancestors in his Matthew 1 genealogy. Through Bathsheba, God took the ugly sins that the enemy meant for evil and turned them into good—the family line of Jesus.
Karen Heal
Prayer Team member
References:
Biblical People: Bathsheba
Biblestudytools.com:David and Bathsheba
Bathsheba: Bible | Jewish Women’s Archive (jwa.org)
Toughquestionsanswered.org: Commentary on 2 Samuel 11-12 David and Bathsheba
Crosswalk: Things to know about David and Bathsheba