Wicked Women Of The Bible DevotionsНамуна

Bathsheba: Day 3

Painting by Gustav Klimt titled The Kiss

Bathsheba feels an ache inside, an emptiness so deep she cannot fill it no matter how hard she tries. Her husband, Uriah, a soldier in King David's army, is away, battling enemies to the north, and she is lonely.

The humidity is so oppressive that beads of sweat form a glistening circlet on her forehead. How she longs for a fresh breeze to ease her discomfort. She has never heard of a woman bathing outside in a courtyard, but why not? Since only the rich can afford multi-story homes, there is little danger of nosy neighbors spying her out. There is only the palace to worry about.

Unable to sleep, David paces the rooftop garden of his palace in Jerusalem. Of all the fighting men, he alone remains in the city. Gazing at the courtyards below, he catches his breath. His eyes fasten on a young woman who is rubbing a sponge across her body—caressing her face, her neck, and then her breasts.

Suddenly Bathsheba looks up. Is it only his imagination or is she looking at him the way he has been looking at her?

Summoning her to his palace, the king makes love to her. Afterward Bathsheba returns home. As soon as she discovers her pregnancy, she sends word to David, who quickly orders Uriah home from battle. Despite the king's efforts to persuade the soldier to spend the night with his wife, Uriah refuses, thinking it disloyal to enjoy such comforts while his fellow soldiers endure the hardships that comes with siege warfare.

Cursing him for a fool, David sends Uriah back to the battle with a secret message to his commander. "Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest," he instructs. "Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die."

After her husband's death, Bathsheba marries the king. But God punishes David by taking the child conceived from his illicit affair.

As for Bathsheba, what is her role in the story? Was she, as some think, a wicked woman bent on becoming queen? Or was she raped, then widowed, then rendered childless because of David's egregious sins? Only one person knows for sure. As Scripture says,

"I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve." (Jeremiah 17:10 NIV)