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Bathsheba ( or ; Hebrew: בַּת־שֶׁבַע, Baṯ-šeḇaʿ, Bat-Sheva or Batsheva, "daughter of Sheba" or "daughter of the oath") was the wife of Uriah the Hittite and later of David, according to the Hebrew Bible. She was the mother of Solomon, who succeeded David as king, making her the Gebirah (queen mother). She is best known for the Biblical narrative in which she was summoned by King David, who had seen her bathing and lusted after her. Biblical narrative Bathsheba was the daughter of Eliam (2 Samuel 11:3, Ammiel in 1 Chronicles 3:5). An Eliam is mentioned in 2 Samuel 23:34 as the son of Ahithophel, who is described as the Gilohite. Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite. David's initial interactions with Bathsheba are described in 2 Samuel 11. While walking on the roof of his palace, David sees a beautiful woman bathing. He inquires about her, discovering her identity as the wife of Uriah. Still desiring her, David later has sex with Bathsheba, impregnating her. (David E. Garland, together with his wife Diana, regards David's actions as an example of rape in the Hebrew Bible.) While the army was on campaign, David summoned Uriah in the hope that Uriah would have sex with Bathsheba, and in turn be convinced that the child she would eventually bear belonged to him. However, Uriah was unwilling to disregard rules applying to warriors on campaign, preferring to remain with the palace troops rather than sleep in his own bed. After repeated efforts to convince Uriah to sleep with his wife failed, David gave an order to his general Joab that Uriah should be placed on the front lines in battle, where he would be in much greater danger. Additionally, David had Uriah himself carry this message back to the army. Uriah was ultimately killed during the siege of Rabbah, and Bathsheba mourned him. Then, David made her his wife, taking her into his house where she gave birth to his child. David's actions displeased God, who sent the prophet Nathan to reprove the king. In relating a parable describing a rich man who took away the lamb of his poor neighbor, he incited the king's righteous anger, and Nathan then analogized the case directly to David's actions regarding Bathsheba. Nathan declared that God would punish the house of David for Uriah's murder and the taking of his wife. In turn, he would let someone close to David seize all David's wives, and having him lie with them in broad daylight for everyone to see. David at once confessed his sins, expressing sincere repentance. Shortly after Bathsheba's first child by David was born, God struck it with a severe illness. David pleaded with God to spare his child, fasting and spending the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground, but after seven days the child died. David accepted this as his punishment, and then went to the house of God to worship him. David and Bathsheba would later have another son, Solomon. In David's old age, Bathsheba secured Solomon's succession to the throne instead of David's older surviving sons by other wives, based on promises David made to her. Nathan's prophecy came to pass years later when another of David's sons, the much-loved Absalom, led an insurrection that plunged the kingdom into civil war. To manifest his claim as the new king, Absalom had sex in public with ten of his father's concubines (2 Samuel 16), considered to be a direct, tenfold divine retribution for David's taking of another man's woman in secret. Judaism Relationship to Ahithophel Several scholars see Bathsheba as the granddaughter of Ahithophel, as do passages in the Talmud. The argument is that she is called the daughter of Eliam in 2 Sam. 11:3, and 2 Sam 23:34 mentions an Eliam, the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, one of David's "thirty". The assumption is then that these two Eliams are the same person. However, in 1 Chronicles the names are very different: Bathsheba is called Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel in 1 Chronicles 3:5. And in the list of David's thirty in 1 Chronicles 11:36 we have Ahijah the Pelonite. Some have also questioned whether Ahithophel would have been old enough to have a granddaughter. In rabbinic literature Bathsheba was the granddaughter of Ahithophel, David's famous counselor. The Aggadah states that Ahithophel was misled by his knowledge of astrology into believing himself destined to become king of Israel. He therefore induced Absalom to commit an unpardonable crime (2 Sam. 16:21), which sooner or later would have brought with it, according to Jewish law, the penalty of death; the motive for this advice being to remove Absalom, and thus to make a way for himself to the throne. His astrological information had been, however, misunderstood by him; for in reality it only predicted that his granddaughter, Bathsheba, the daughter of his son Eliam, would become queen. Bath-sheba, the granddaughter of Ahithophel, David's famous counselor, was only eight years and eight months of age when her son Solomon was born, while some maintain that she was not older than six (Sanh. 69b). The influence of the evil tempter of humanity brought about the sinful relation of David and Bathsheba. The Midrash portrays the influence of Satan bringing about the sinful relation of David and Bathsheba as follows: Bath-sheba was making her bathing on the roof of her house behind a screen of wickerwork, when Satan came in the disguise of a bird; David, shooting at it, struck the screen, splitting it; thus Bathsheba was revealed in her beauty to David (ib. 107a). Bath-sheba was providentially destined from the Creation to become in due time the legitimate wife of David; but this relation was immaturely precipitated, and thus he became Bath-sheba's partner in sin (ib.). Bath-sheba is praised for her share in the successful effort to secure the succession to Solomon. Thus the verse in Eccl. iv. 9, "Two are better than one," is applied to David and Bath-sheba; while "the threefold cord" which shall not be quickly broken (ib. verse 12) is applied to the activity of Nathan the prophet, who joined in the effort (Eccl. R. iv. 9). Christianity In Matthew 1:6, "the wife of Uriah" is mentioned as one of the ancestors of Jesus. In medieval typology, Bathsheba is recognized as the antetype foreshadowing the role of Ecclesia, the church personified, as David was the antetype for Jesus. As a queen and mother, she was also associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven. Bathsheba's son, King Solomon, rises to greet her, bows down in veneration, and furnishes her a seat at his right hand. This demonstrates her exalted status and share in the royal kingdom. Bathsheba acts as intercessor for her subjects, delivering their petitions to the King: "Pray ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife". Bathsheba (Barsabeh, Bathsabeh) is venerated in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church as a saint. Her feast day is 27 November (01 Tahsas). Islam In Islam, David is considered to be a prophet, an.... Discover the Lawrence O Richards popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Lawrence O Richards books.