“Bathsheba: A Woman of Grace”
Read Matthew 1:1-17, 1 Samuel 11-12 –
Contrary to many commentaries, Bathsheba was not doing anything out of the ordinary custom of her day and culture. Bathsheba was taking a ritual bath at her well and fountain in her home, where she had the expectation of privacy.
Being a woman, she would have had no knowledge of the whereabouts of the King. Bathsheba was not the woman who lusted after David, but David was the man who lusted after Bathsheba.
Bathsheba – The Beautiful – 2 Samuel 11:1-4
The name “Bathsheba” means “The Seventh Daughter.” “Bath” means “daughter,” and “seven” means oath or completion, so Bathsheba was the “Daughter of oath.”
Bathsheba was “very beautiful in appearance,” as were many other women in the Bible:
- Eve was created by God, and she was “very good.”
- Sarah was so beautiful her husband had her pretend she was his sister.
- Rachel was so beautiful Jacob worked for 14-years for her hand in marriage.
- Abigail was a woman of “beautiful countenance.”
- Esther “obtained favor in the sight of all who looked upon her.”
- Bathsheba was very beautiful to look upon.
Tamar was defrauded, Rahab was defiled, and Ruth was despised, but Bathsheba was defeated because she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. However, she was not without some of the blame.
- She needed to take every precaution to bathe in privacy.
- She should have refused David’s advances.
- She should have yielded to God’s warnings.
- She should have remained loyal to her vows to God and her promises to her husband.