The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ … and David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah … and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary to whom Jesus was born… Matthew 1:1a & 6b,16 ESV1
Read 2 Samuel 11:1-26, 12:1-25, 1 Kings 1:5-53
Bathsheba, Jesus’ 25th Great Grandmother, was the beautiful wife of Uriah the Hittite. Uriah was one of the leading men in David’s band of the toughest military warriors who were credited with heroic feats. They fought next to David during the years Saul was trying to kill him and were an invaluable part of David’s army during the time he was king. These men fought bloody battles and did amazing, almost crazy, deeds like single-handedly taking out 300 men with only one spear, killing lions barehanded, and snatching spears out of the hands of 7 1/2 foot-tall enemies. (See 1 Chronicles 11 and 2 Samuel 23).
Because Bathsheba was married to such a wild man, I doubt she was a mousy, little woman who was afraid of her own shadow. We don’t know when Uriah and Bathsheba wed. We don’t know if Uriah was with David for the entire 8 years David was hunted by Saul. But if Bathsheba was with Uriah even part of that time, she could have lived on the run for years finding shelter in caves. She could have had her home burned and been temporarily captured (see 1 Samuel 21-31). A wife of a wild man would have had a wild life. True, opposites do attract, but my guess is Bathsheba was as rugged as she was beautiful.
One time, when he should have been at war with the rest of his army, David “remained at Jerusalem … Late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof … he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. So, David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her” (2 Samuel 11:2-4a).
Many have heard the story. Some speculate that Bathsheba was dragged against her will into the palace like a cat on a leash. But what if, and may God forgive me if I am slandering her name, Bathsheba didn’t care that she was bathing with the drapes open in plain sight of the king? What if she was lonely with Uriah off to war, sick of the fact that he was always running off to accomplish some great deed, and wishing he would pay a little more attention to her? What if she willingly came to the palace and joyfully joined David in his bed? What if she didn’t come over just that night but subsequent nights as well?
In those days, women didn’t bathe every day. They might only have bathed once a month. It was commanded that they go through a cleansing process after their periods (see Leviticus 15:19-30). Second Samuel 11:4b tells us Bathsheba “had been purifying herself from her uncleanness” when David spied her. That means she wouldn’t be ovulating for a week or two. She would have had to visit David when she was ovulating to get pregnant! Was it the night he saw her bathing or was it another night? Hmm?
Imagine your husband is off serving his country and you have an affair with the supreme leader of your country and you become pregnant. What would you do? (Well, maybe you wouldn’t have gotten yourself into such a state). With the boldness which allowed her to find herself in this mess, Bathsheba continued after she was pregnant. She didn’t run away. She didn’t commit suicide. She didn’t try to get rid of the baby. She confronted the king saying, “I am pregnant” (see 2 Samuel 11:5), with an implied, “What are you going to do about it?”
What David did about it involved lies, trickery, and the senseless death of many innocent people including Uriah (see 2 Samuel 11:6-25). “When [Bathsheba] heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over the husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son” (2 Samuel 11:26-27a). On the outside, things may have seemed as if they were fixed, but God had seen and “the thing David had done displeased the LORD” (2 Samuel 11:27b). So, David was punished; the baby died, David and Bathsheba mourned greatly, and David’s household was cursed with trouble from then on (see 2 Samuel 12:1-23). But God did something gracious for this couple and the whole nation of Israel. God gave David and Bathsheba a second son, Solomon, who became the next king of Israel and the wisest man who ever lived upon this earth.
Though she was married to a king, her son became king, and she held the most powerful position a woman could hold in a kingdom–Queen Mother, nothing came easy for Bathsheba. Scripture records another time she had to boldly confront King David to make sure she was treated fairly (see 1 Kings 1:5-53). Because she had a reputation for confrontation, she was manipulated into entreating the king for others. One incident, which got Bathsheba into trouble and several people killed, is recorded in 1 Kings 2:13-46.
Bathsheba was not a behind-the-scenes, submissive woman. She stuck up for herself, and she knew what she wanted and went after it. Today, she could be the woman who is just a little too loud and bossy. Or maybe the woman who wears her clothes just a little too tight or stays out just a little too late. She could be the woman who is so noticeable that she makes the eyes of even good men wander. Can we forgive indiscretions and accept this kind of woman as our Sister-in-Christ, or do we just want to pin a red letter “A” to her chest and discount her value in the Kingdom of God?
Check out the other articles in this series: The Colorful Past of Jesus’ Female Ancestor, Tamar; The Colorful Past of Jesus’ Female Ancestor, Rahab; and The Colorful Past of Jesus’ Female Ancestor, Ruth.
There were plenty of good girls who were ancestors to Jesus who never got their 15 minutes of fame in the Word and an abundance of godly women whose names aren’t even mentioned in the Bible. Why are these four women, with a plethora of dirt on their records, pointed out for all to see? God does not waste words or act with purposelessness. I believe the stories of these women and their relationship to Jesus is recorded in the Bible to show that there is room for everyone in God’s family. Once Jesus comes into the picture, the past doesn’t matter!
Some have tried to clean up these stories to make these women seem worthier of being related to Jesus. But when we ignore Tamar’s immoral manipulation, say Rahab was really just an innkeeper, discount Ruth’s actions as a custom of the day, and pretend that Bathsheba was an unwilling participant in sin, we discount ourselves “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And we discount Jesus’ ability “to forgive our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Let’s have the courage to see ourselves and others in honesty. Apart from Jesus, we are all Tamars and Rahabs and Ruths and Bathshebas. May we praise Jesus for redeeming us and sanctifying us. He is the One who is making us worthy to be His Bride!
1Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.