Bathsheba

Etymology

From 'bat' (daughter) and 'sheva' (oath/seven). 'Seven' in Hebrew also implies completeness and abundance. She is also called Bathshua ('bat-shua', daughter of wealth) in 1 Chronicles.

Who they were

Bathsheba's story begins with one of the Bible's darkest episodes. While her husband Uriah was at war, King David saw her bathing, summoned her to the palace, and she became pregnant. David then arranged Uriah's death in battle — one of the most calculated murders in scripture. The prophet Nathan confronted David with a parable about a rich man stealing a poor man's only lamb, and David's own verdict condemned him. The child born of the affair died despite David's desperate fasting and prayer. But the story does not end in judgment. Bathsheba bore Solomon, and God sent word through Nathan that the child's other name was Jedidiah — 'beloved of the Lord.' Bathsheba became a powerful figure at court. When Adonijah tried to seize the throne in David's old age, it was Bathsheba who went to David and secured Solomon's succession. She is listed in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus — one of only four women mentioned, all of them with complicated stories. Her trajectory — from victim to queen to ancestor of the Messiah — is one of scripture's most extraordinary arcs of grace.

Family

Father

Eliam (possibly Ammiel)

Spouse

Uriah the Hittite (first), David (second)

Children

First son (died in infancy),Solomon,Shimea,Shobab,Nathan

Character qualities

• Resilience after trauma
• Political astuteness
• Maternal devotion
• Dignity in complex circumstances

Key verse

1 Kings 1:28-31

Where they appear

Themes

Variants & related forms

Bathshua · Batsheva

Related names