Alternative Views of Bathsheba in the David and Bathsheba Story

Review of the previous post

The previous post, post number 2 of 23, provided a definition of the term “victim”.

Preview of the next post

This post, post number 3 of 23 provides a short summary of the story as it will be discussed in this series of posts so the reader and the author of these posts will be viewing the same story.

Short Summary of the story

The story of David and Bathsheba is related in 2 Samuel 11-13 and begins with David roaming his palace while his army is away at battle. During this roaming, David spots Bathsheba bathing. David sent messengers to fetch her and discovers that she is the wife of one of his commanders, Uriah. After waiting for Bathsheba to get over her period, David slept with Bathsheba. Bathsheba informed David that she was pregnant, and David set a plan in motion to trick Bathsheba’s husband into sleeping with her so he could be considered the father. This plan failed when Uriah refused to sleep with Bathsheba because his unit is in battle. David then devised a plan in which the commanding officer, Joab, positioned Uriah where he most likely would be killed in a battle. This plan succeeded and Uriah was killed. Bathsheba mourned her husband and then married David. Bathsheba had a son who died. However, Bathsheba later had a son, Solomon, whom she and Nathan engineered into being David’s heir over David’s other sons.

The story continued with David being severely punished and repenting.

Preview of the next post

The next post, post number 4 of 23, discusses how the Biblical story of David and Bathsheba could be translated into a modern work.