As we explore these examples from the Bible, we are reminded about how much God loves and cherishes every single one of us – baggage and all! Bathsheba was King David's most famous and controversial wife, in part because their marriage came after an illicit extramarital affair at the height of David's reign over Judah and Israel (circa 1005–965 BCE). But whoever killed him, her husband was dead, and she was now a pregnant widow. When Bathsheba found herself pregnant, she sent word to the king, likely in a panic. 1. This Book tells of the ways in which God revealed Himself to mankind over a period of several thousand … God gave Bathsheba a son, Solomon. But Uriah didn't go home; he stayed within the palace barracks. Learn Religions, Feb. 8, 2021, learnreligions.com/bathsheba-king-davids-most-famous-wife-117306. The Neo-Assyrian kings also imposed treaty-like agreements on entire populations; scholars call these loyalty oaths. THE UNIQUENESS OF THE BIBLE The Bible is unique! Some suggest Bathsheba was seducing King David by bathing within his sight. Nathan told the powerful king a tale of a poor shepherd whose lamb was stolen by a rich man. In this article, we'll take a brief look at the story of Achan -- a man whose poor decision cost his own life and nearly prevented the Israelites from taking possession of their Promised Land. Let’s look at the story from Bathsheba’s view instead of David’s. Consequently, Bathsheba and David had sex at one of the best possible moments for her to conceive—which she did, with tragic results. Not when being taken from her home. TheOrthodoxLife. Aquilla and Priscilla, with Apollos served there (Acts 18:24-28). Cynthia B. Astle is an award-winning journalist who covered religion for 25 years. “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. 1. Her life as she knew it before her ceremonial bath was gone forever. In her devasted state, King David took her again, this time as his wife. Nathan calmly told the king: "You are the man," meaning that God had revealed to the prophet the truth of David's adultery, deceit, and murder of Uriah. Bathsheba, Mother of Solomon, Wife of King David, Biography of King Solomon: The Wisest Man Who Ever Lived, The Ultimate List of Christmas Bible Verses to Celebrate Jesus' Birth, Enjoy the Complete Christmas Story of the Birth of Jesus, Was It Rape? Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. “Then David comforted his wife, Bathsheba, and went into her and lay with her, and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon” (2 Samuel 12:24). All rights reserved. (2021, February 8). Although feminist biblical interpretation contends that Bathsheba was a victim of David, other scholars find a clue to Bathsheba's complicity among King David's wives in 2 Samuel 4:11. The most famous ancient Near Eastern treaties derive from the Hittites of the early to mid-second millennium B.C.E. This word (Strong’s 3947) in the original Hebrew means to seize, take captive, to be captured, etc. She has authored a number of books on faith and religion. David had her brought to the palace to sleep with her because he’d been watching her bathe and saw she was “very beautiful” (2 Samuel 11:2). "Bathsheba and David: Biblical Romance and Tragedy." Through his messengers, David learned that she was Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, who had gone to battle for David. But perhaps he wanted to give her what she’d just lost. Instead of owning up to the liaison and making restitution, David took an even more sinful approach to the crisis. Depending on the length of a woman's period, this seven-day injunction before purification virtually guarantees that a woman will most likely be ovulating, or close to ovulating when she resumes having sex. She not only had another son, but God himself loved this child and told the prophet, Nathan, to name him Jedidiah, meaning “beloved by the LORD.” Bathsheba was given what many today call a "rainbow baby.”. The Story of Bathsheba in the Bible. https://www.learnreligions.com/bathsheba-king-davids-most-famous-wife-117306 (accessed March 14, 2021). According to Jewish purity laws, a woman must wait seven days after her menses end before purifying herself ritually in a mikvah, a special immersion pool, so that she and her husband may resume sexual relations. Once he found out Bathsheba's identity, he knew that she was married and he had sent her husband off to war. David sent this letter to Joab by Uriah, who had no idea that he was carrying his own death sentence. “But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy” (2 Chronicles 36:16). Bathsheba was a woman who endured much suffering and overcame. What Does it Mean to Let Your Light Shine? Maybe he was injured. and the Neo-Assyrians, whose kingdom flourished from about the early ninth to the late seventh centuries B.C.E. This bathing was not your everyday bath, but a specific kind. When David died, Solomon became king after executing his rival Adonijah. Her newborn baby died just seven days after the prophet Nathan rebuked King David (2 Samuel 12:1-23). “Perhaps out of loyalty to the ‘hero of the Old Testament’ contemporary evangelicals often speak of this story as more of ‘sordid affair’ which, while horrific and sinful, seems to most of us a lesser sin than the sin of rape,” The Gospel Coalition stated. Thus King David was relaxing on a palace balcony above the city when he spied a beautiful woman taking a bath. Bathsheba lived in a time when women were looked upon as property. The Book of Judges is the second of the Books of the Former Prophets in Hebrew Scripture, and serves as part of the Historical Books of the Greek Septuagint Old Testament, in the following order: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, and Kings, as well as the books of the Restoration.These continue as such in our Christian Old Testament of the Bible. This family devotional course mixes online content (videos, readings, discussion) and printed cards to form a colourful learning experience in your own home. He recalled Uriah from the front, supposedly to give him a report on the battle, and then told him to take some leave and visit his wife. Prophets and messengers are believed to have been sent by God to different communities during different periods in history. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. Grieving the loss of her husband was likely augmented by the hormones raging from her pregnancy. In Hebrew (Strong’s 5162), the word “comforted” means to pity, be sorry, to repent, and to avenge. The story of Bathsheba in the Bible is often eclipsed by the story of David. “That road was famous for its lurking dangers, especially robbers (see Josephus, J.W. California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Moreover, this unique collection of Books is bound together by a central theme and a unity of purpose which makes the books into One Book. Not when being sent back home immediately after. 2 Samuel 11:1 records that the king sent his army out to wage war, but he himself stayed behind in Jerusalem. “…David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife” (Matthew 1:6). It isn’t clear whether Bathsheba knew that David killed her husband or not. Bathsheba is one of them, but she is the only one without a name. And if she knew it was because of David’s sin, because God held him responsible, how might that have made her feel? The story of Bathsheba and David has proved so enduring that religious commentators still debate the quality of the sin involved—and its plot has been borrowed for countless romance novels, movies, and daytime dramas. Obviously, David was secure enough on his throne that he no longer had a need to go to war to prove his military prowess; he could send his generals instead. Who Was Isaac and Why Was He So Important? This verse says unequivocally that when David sent messengers to fetch her, she went to David of her own free will. Bathsheba’s story has drawn, however, hers is a story of redemption. Astle, Cynthia. The David and Bathsheba Pericope Re-Examined, The Story of David and Bathsheba: A Different Approach, The Alleged Rape of Bathsheba: Some Observations on Ambiguity in Biblical Narrative. If these were her thoughts, she was sadly mistaken. Bible: Month: Day: Joshua Chapters 7 - 8 KJV (King James Version) 7:1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.