Bathsheba There Are Many Biblical

¶ … Bathsheba

There are many biblical women who have in some form or other become controversial and the list always carries a deed that has changed the fate of the ruling Jewish family of the time. In the case of Bathsheba, it is to be noted that a bath on the open terrace without consideration of the fact that the towers of the adjacent castle may offer to a viewer the details of the bath and the bather. Unfortunately the indulgence of Bathsheba got her into trouble with the King David, who, happening to be on the castle wall not only witnessed the bath, but was lustfully attracted to the bather in the process. The problem was unfortunately confounded further with the husband of Bathsheba being, to an absurd an illogical end, a very honest, and if we may say absolute dutiful man. At the time of the bath episode he was in the thick of battle, while his lady was commanded by King David, to be present at the bedside the day, he having been overcome with lust. This is plain in the bible. That on the lady becoming pregnant the king sought to saddle the husband with the progeny and subsequent shameful killing of the husband and marrying Bathsheba is again recounted in the Bible. Then in analyzing her character, the following facts have to be taken into consideration.

That the evidence and historical writing is more inclined to bring out what David and other male members did rather than what the lady in question did or felt. In other words we have to base our assessment on scanty evidence based on actions that are reported rather than any testimony from the lady herself in any form of writing. With this preamble being my sole opinion, the questions that ought to be examined in the analysis is thus attempted to bring about an indirect inference as to the character of Bathsheba after the unfortunate bath, in the following manner:

1 What then was the fundamental nature of Bathsheba?

Over the course of time many writers have discussed the character of Bathsheba and we find her nature discussed, at the juncture where Solomon is to be made king. Bathsheba was not a favorite with David. She is shown to be distant from him. That is perhaps possible, because she married him by circumstance rather than choice, and David being the murderer of her husband, who was a very virtuous man. She did not have by herself the political acumen to see the future of her sons in the ascension game, and it was with the prompting of Nathan that she realizes the need to stamp upon David the reasons to elect her son as King.

Bathsheba thus entered the plot which was political in nature in order to have appointment by David to make Solomon as the king.

The fundamental nature of Bathsheba thus emerges as a guile less woman who having come from an illustrious family of warriors, and there is no evidence to show that she was unfaithful to her husband. The King ordering her to comply with his lust could be interpreted as powerlessness of a woman who was accustomed to being treated as chattel. On the other hand, her character could be described as 'flat'.

The reason is that she is passive, and was thus seen as an object. Bathsheba has been described and discussed always either in conjunction with her father, or her husband, and the narratives in the Bible does not depict much of her emotions or feelings. Only emotion that we find is that she mourned the deaths. There too we find no evidence if she actually mourned the death of her husband and the child that died being born of adultery. She has been accused of much wickedness, and seemed to be the scapegoat for much evil that occurred, and the blame centers around her vanity and the ambition that made Solomon king. There is no characterization of Bathsheba that could bring about the true nature of the woman and we have to rely on inferences. Thus on the material available writers have described her character as "Flat."

(2) How does she relate to others in her own family, friends or enemies?

Unfortunately events unfold where the succession of David causes the woman to take the course of history into her own hands. We find then that in cohort with Nathan, Bathsheba was able to make David suspicious of Adonijah the heir apparent, by hinting at a coup d'etat by the army which was loyal to Adonijah. She also seems to have forwarded the cause of her son Solomon.

Thus it was that she made David swear that "Solomon would rule as king. He ordered this to be announced to all the people."

She also had the title of Queen Mother the most powerful post in Israel at the time. That brings out the ambition that she had nursed for her children, and also the ruthless guidance given by her later to Solomon in killing his half brother shows that there was, like Lady Macbeth, an unbridled ambition alive in the bosom of Bathsheba. It appears that Solomon was reluctant to do the deed, but the execution of Adonijah was in evidence brought about by "public accusation of treason alleged by Bathsheba, as a reason for the killing" and this was done effectively.

"So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. He rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a throne brought for the king's mother, and she sat on his right." "Read 1 Kings 2:10-25."

We find that Bathsheba did not have any compunction in feathering her own nest and goaded Solomon to do in his half brother. This is the last we hear of Bathsheba. Her son was secure on the throne and her own position was safe. She could rest on her laurels. Nathan appears to have been the trusted adviser to Bathsheba and it is he who actually made Solomon king in the place of Adonijah. There is also a suggestion that Bathsheba chose Nathan to be the tutor of Solomon. Bathsheba also seems to have had matronly care for the son Solomon also called Lemuel was guided by the prophecy of his mother or the prophecy of Bathsheba. Bathsheba thus points out Solomon's weakness as: wine and women. She seems to have had a corrective influence on Solomon with the admonition "it is not for kings to drink wine."

That she had high regard for the prophet is evident from the fact that she even named her third son Nathan after the prophet.

Thus we see that she has had a careful emotional and natural ties and relation with those around her.

(3) What is her relation to God (or divine beings)?

Uriah's ideas about David's relationships with Bathsheba were portrayed by modern writers who allege that Uriah was not Bathsheba's ideal choice and she resisted marrying him. There is a contention too that Bathsheba had deliberately ensnared and Bathsheba's infatuation with David over Uriah has become the target point of many modern writings. The killing of Uriah and the subsequent cover up with David marrying Bathsheba was an offence that the gods did not want to take lightly. To that end they seem to have sent the prophet Nathan, whose duty was to rebuke David whom he does in a parable -- that makes David guilty, the Nathan parable about the "rich man who takes the one ewe lamb of a poor man to serve a guest rather than take an ewe lamb from his own large flocks.

The same prophet seems to have favored Bathsheba with political and moral counsel in the sense that he helped her establish her son as King. Can we interpret the choice of Nathan as being a divine direction? If we can we may say that divine intervention caused the wrong of adultery to be corrected by the victim -- Bathsheba getting better positions at the hand of divine providence. The question still remains: why must have the other sons of David be executed to act out the divine providence? We do not find any logic in that and the prophet was at best using Bathsheba as a tool for political manipulation.

(4) In what way does this person change the course of events?

Had Bathsheba been idle, the course of Jewish history would have been different. Then the true heir Adonijah would have by popularity and military might become the successor to David, which David also appears to have anticipated. It is Bathsheba acting with the advice of Nathan that Solomon became king in the place of Adonijah. David seems to have treated her in a contemptuous manner and when she is goaded by Nathan to change the mind of the King, Davis welcomes her with the terse question "What is it you want?" It was Bathsheba's reply to this question that changed the course of history. She reminds David about his promise of the throne to her son, and with the demise of David there is a chance of herself and her children being treated as outcastes with danger to their persons. And the forceful prevailing upon the aging Davis seems to have had the desired effect with the Solomon's kingship occurring outside the prophetic Yahwism.

Thus did Bathsheba change the course of history? She also was a part of it having much influence in the court of Solomon as the queen mother.

(5) Assessment/Analysis/Criticism

Over the course of time many writers have discussed the character of Bathsheba and we find her nature discussed, as a post mortem analysis and much conjecture. There is no direct writing on her. Firstly the Old Testament was centered on the King and generals with a bias to males and the females having been given no importance. In fact the King could command the woman of his general to cohabit with him, and without compunction first try to impale the resulting pregnancy on the general and then kill him to hide it was all centered on the events that the male interactions caused, with the woman being given no emotional attributes. We find the sadness of the death of his sons depicted for David, but find no mention of Bathsheba's agony over first the murder of her husband and then the death of her child. It is only where she seems to have interfered on behalf of her son and later had a hand in exterminating his enemies that we find Bathsheba mentioned, and all other statements are conjectures of various writers.