Bathsheba

A character from the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah. She committed adultery with and then later married David. She is also the mother of Solomon, Shimea, Shobab, and Nathan.

BATHSHEBA
(bath shee' buh) HEBREW: BATHSHEBA
"daughter of abundance/an oath" (?)
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So great was Bathsheba's beauty that it drove David, the Lord's anointed king, to adultery and murder. While Bathsheba's husband, Uriah the Hittite, was away in battle, David saw her bathing and summoned her to his quarters. Without apparent protest, she joined the king in adultery and married him after he arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle. Though her first son died, she made David promise that her second son, Solomon, would succeed him. When David was near death, she used this promise to block the elevation of his eldest surviving son, Adonijah. In 1 Chronicles 3:5, Solomon's mother is called Bath-shua.

{E2 Dictionary of Biblical People}

Related Quotes...
1 Chronicles 3:5; "And these were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel:"

2 Samuel 11:2, ff; "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. ..."

2 Samuel 12:24; "And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him."

1 Kings 1:11-1 Kings 2:19; "Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? ..."

Bathsheba says she is very misunderstood.

Did you think she had a sewage system with drains so she could bathe in the privacy of her home? Did you think she was the only person to bathe outdoors, that it was so unusual that the sight of her naked body presented an “overwhelming” temptation to “good King David”.

Did you think it was her fault? Did you forget the KING part? The King - who sent his minions to bring her to him… The King – whose command she must obey... The King - who held her life and her soldier husband Uriah’s life in his hands.

Did you think she had a choice?

Remember the times. Remember the punishment for adultery. Did you think the people with the stones would care if her pregnancy was the result of rape? Did they even have a word for rape? A concept of rape? A woman was chattel. She belonged to her husband. In turn, his goods belonged to his King.

The king was a coward, despite all his advantages. When he couldn’t cover his tracks he resorted to murder.

A good soldier, Uriah wouldn’t take advantage of his close relationship with the King; he wouldn’t go home to his comfortable bed and wife when his comrades could not have the same privalege. So Bathsheba’s pregnancy progressed without the proper attendance of a husband at the crucial time near conception. For this Uriah died.

What was she to do, tell on the KING? To whom? Why? She now had a child to consider. Then the child died, but she was soon pregnant again. By now her fate was sealed.

At least let the next child rule. She said "remember your promise, you took everything else away."

And she says "I made my child King. Don’t use my name to put women down, to blame the victim."

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I read it was normal for everyone to bathe outdoors in Bathsheba’s time somewhere once, long ago. I can’t give it proper attribution because I don’t remember more than the rough idea.

I thought of this interpretation when I saw the moniker "Bathsheba" being used to blame a young girl for being too tempting by virute of her physical attractiveness in a mis-directed young man's web page. It just didn't sit well with me.