• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

Stephen M. Miller

Award-Winning, Bestselling Christian Author

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog Features
  • Bible
  • Contact
Painting/photo of Jerusalem Temple-Casual English Bible

Bathsheba, the bathing beauty

Stephen M. Miller
bathing woman
THE BATH that King David saw Bathsheba take wasn’t just any bath. It was a ritual cleansing after her monthly period. That means she was fertile, a fact David discovered a few weeks later. Photo by Stephen M. Miller / Nelson Art Gallery.

WHEN BATHSHEBA makes her first appearance in the Bible, she’s not wearing any clothes.

She’s taking a bath. Outside. Within eyeshot of the very married King David—seven wives at least. He’s strolling around on what was probably the flat roof of his home. Roofs were used much like we use porches and decks.

Bathsheba was married to Uriah the Hittite, a soldier in David’s elite corps known as the Thirty. A three-day march away, Uriah was with the Israelite army, laying siege to the city of Rabbah (near modern Amman, Jordan).

“David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her” (2 Samuel 11:4).

That bath she took was after her menstruation—probably about a week later, since that’s how long a woman had to wait before performing her purification rituals. That put Bathsheba in her fertile period. She got pregnant.

When David got the bad news, he called Uriah home, saying he wanted a war report. Actually, he wanted Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba. No chance. Even drunk, Uriah honored the Jewish tradition of sexual abstinence during war (1 Samuel 21:5). This prods some Bible students to draw the conclusion that Uriah drunk was more righteous than David sober.

David resorted to murder. Uriah carried the secret order himself. He would take a frontline position in an assault on the city, and then commander Joab would pull back the support troops. Uriah and several others died.

Bathsheba observed the mourning rituals, which generally lasted a week, then joined David’s harem.

The prophet Nathan confronted David, vowing that God would not allow this child to live. David admitted his sin, sought God’s forgiveness, and pled for the child’s life. But Bathsheba’s son lived only seven days. Bathsheba, however, gave David four more sons: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon—whom David apparently promised would become the next king.

When the elderly David lay dying, his oldest son—Adonijah—threw himself a coronation party. Bathsheba rushed to David’s bedside and urged him to honor his promise, which he did. Some scholars wonder if David ever made such a promise, though. They wonder if Bathsheba convinced him that he did, as though he had forgotten.

Later, Adonijah asked Bathsheba to intercede for him with Solomon. Since Solomon took what Adonijah thought was his throne, Adonijah asked for at least the right to marry one of David’s secondary wives, a concubine. Bathsheba agreed, perhaps out of ignorance or out of a desire for revenge—knowing what would happen.

Solomon reacted with rage. When a conqueror took a kingdom, he often married the former king’s wives—to prove his authority. Solomon apparently thought his older brother was trying to assert his right to rule. Solomon killed him, and we can only guess if Bathsheba saw it coming.

Excerpt from Who’s Who & Where’s Where in the Bible 2.0.

Share this:

  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...
View All Posts - Ordered by Most Recent First
« Previous
Next »

About Stephen M. Miller

STEPHEN M. MILLER is an award winning bestselling Christian author of easy-reading books about the Bible and Christianity and author of the Casual English Bible® paraphrase. His books have sold over two million copies and include The Complete Guide to the Bible and Who’s and Where’s Where in the Bible.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Erin

    January 23, 2013 at 8:59 am

    Ah…family dynamics…as old as time! I did, however, name my son after King Solomon. 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

Casual English Bible Website

Featured Book

Complete Guide to the Bible

Complete Guide to the Bible
Buy from Amazon
Buy from Books-A-Million
Buy from Christian Book Distributor
Buy from Google Play

Latest Posts

  • I do one thing better than God May 27, 2025
  • When our faith glitches May 5, 2025
  • Job is the right book for me now April 16, 2025

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog Features
  • Books
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

Copyright © 2025 · Stephen M. Miller · All Rights Reserved

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Reject AllAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
%d