Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.” Judaism [ edit ] Relationship to Ahithophel [ edit ] William Blake's painting Bathsheba at the Bath, Tate Britain [9] Thomas Charles, Geiriadur Ysgrythyrol (argraffiad Utica 1863), "Bathseba", t.158 adalwyd 16 Awst 2020 At the same time, given the facts about Ahithophel and Eliam, we cannot put the seduction of Bathsheba early in David’s reign, or else she becomes too young. If we make her older, then Ahithophel becomes too old to be on the scene with Absalom. Thus, sometime close to the twentieth year of David’s reign becomes necessary for this sad event. Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which Yahweh said to the children of Israel, “You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon joined to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. When Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Yahweh his God, as the heart of David his father was.” ( 1 Kings 11:1-4 WEB)

At the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.”( 2 Samuel 11:1 WEB) David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked. Many of us, when hearing the name Bathsheba, recognize her as the beautiful woman mixed in a tangle of adultery with King David. We might also know her as the wife of the Hittite Uriah, the daughter of Eliam, or the mother of Israel’s King Solomon. These are all true connections; the facts of her life. They are part of Bathsheba’s story. But if we look deeper, we see much more threaded into this beautiful woman’s life. Why did David have to ask who she was (2 Samuel 11:3)? At the age of fifty, his eyesight had doubtless begun to diminish. She was at some distance, and he could only see her general form. But note that she lived near enough to the palace to be espied, which again shows that she and her husband were closely associated with the court. Moreover, the form of the answer David received, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” (v. 3), indicates that the man assumed David knew her: “Oh, you know that is, David. That’s Bathsheba.” Even if Bathsheba was not the honored woman in Proverbs 31, her son, the king, honored and respected her as detailed in 1 Kings 2:19: “So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her and bowed down to her. Then he sat on his throne and had a seat brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right.”The story of Bathsheba, David and Uriah is echoed in Thomas Hardy's novel Far from the Madding Crowd. Roedd Bathseba yn ferch i Elïam (2 Samuel 11:3 [3]). Yn 1 Cronicl sillafir ei henw hi fel Bathsua a'i thad fel Ammiel [4]. Roedd hi'n wraig i Ureias yr Hethiad, milwr ym myddin Dafydd.

Solomon, a man filled with wisdom from God, seemingly tossed this great gift aside when it came to women. He took many brides, seven hundred, as a matter of fact. And many of these wives were from foreign countries, people groups from which God warned Israel not to consider for marriage.Uriah said to David, “The ark ( O) and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, [ a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love ( P) to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” One of the advantages of paying very close attention to the details in the Bible, especially chronological and genealogical details, is that they can shed light on situations that don’t seem to make much sense apart from them. One such situation is that of Bathsheba. His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, ( BF) but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”