2 Samuel 11:2

DAVID COMMITTED ADULTERY WITH BATHSHEBA

"It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking upon the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, `Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?' So David sent messengers, and took her; and she came unto him, and he lay with her, (Now she was purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, `I am with child.'"

"He saw from the roof a woman bathing" (2 Samuel 11:2). Our text here does not indicate that there was anything improper about Bathsheba's bathing in such a place which exposed her; but the suspicion remains that she was not nearly so discreet as she should have been. Most of the commentators blame David, pointing out that, "In the East, it was improper for one neighbor to look over the battlements of his house into the inner court of the adjacent building."[4] In this light, David appears in this passage as somewhat of a "Peeping Tom." At any rate, he had no business whatever feasting his lustful eyes upon the feminine charms of his neighbor's wife. "We do know that David would have been saved much sorrow if he had looked in some other direction instead of continuing to look at that naked woman."[5]

In this connection, it should be noted that David already had a harem of at least twenty women, who, it seems, should have been fully capable of gratifying David's sexual lust; but no! That is not the way lust operates. Gratifying the appetites of the flesh only intensifies them and strengthens their power to overwhelm men in sin.

"Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" (2 Samuel 11:3). Bathsheba was also called Bathshua the daughter of Amiel (1 Chronicles 3:5). Amid here is a legitimate variation of Eliam, "The component syllables being placed in reverse order."[6] The meaning is practically the same for both variations. "They mean, the God of my people or the people of my God."[7] Bathsheba's father Amiel is also said to be the son of Ahithophel (2 Samuel 23:34), which would mean that Bathsheba was the granddaughter of Ahithophel; and, "This goes a long way to explain Ahithophel's opposition to David,"[8] during the rebellion of Absalom. He no doubt would have resented the shame and disgrace that David had brought upon his beautiful granddaughter Bathsheba.

"Uriah's name is a compound of [~Yah], indicating that he was a worshipper of Jehovah."[9] His high rank as an officer of David, and his residence adjacent to the palace indicate that at that time there was no objection to Hittites marrying the daughters of Israelites, as came to be the case in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. Both Amiel and Uriah were numbered among David's "mighty men" (2 Samuel 23:34,39); and David's respect for this noble soldier who daily risked his life in the service of the king should have led him to deny the lust aroused in him by her exposed beauty.

"So David sent messengers and took her" (2 Samuel 11:40). There is no suggestion here of any unwillingness on Bathsheba's part, which supports the suspicion regarding her which we mentioned earlier.

"She was purifying herself from her uncleanness" (2 Samuel 11:4). This is a reference to her bathing. "The remark is added to explain why conception followed so immediately."[10] The "uncleanness" mentioned here refers to a woman's menstrual period; and, as Adam Clarke noted, "That is the time in which women are most apt to conceive."[11]

"And he lay with her" (2 Samuel 11:4). What a shame that, "The man who had previously shown himself so noble and chivalrous, here stoops to rob one of his own officers of his honor. Stern and terrible was his punishment."[12] Here David set the stage for the brutal, savage rape of his daughter Tamar, by one of David's sons. Here was the cause of Absalom's murder of Amnon. Absalom's conceited rebellion was another consequence of this lustful violation of Bathsheba's honor by David. God revealed to David that because of this terrible sin, "The sword shall never depart from thy house."

"From that day, David's house was the scene of horrible crimes, feuds, scandals, miseries of every kind; and the long interval after his repentance, reaching from the birth of Solomon until David's death, is passed over by the Scriptures in gloomy silence. No act of the penitent king after he was restored to his throne (after Absalom's rebellion) was deemed worthy by the sacred historian of any mention whatever."[13]

"And she sent and told David, `I am with child.'" (2 Samuel 11:5). Both David and Bathsheba were guilty of a capital offense by their sin. Leviticus 20:10 has this, "If a man commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death." Thus, Bathsheba recognized the danger she was in and sent word to the king, confident that he would, in some manner, handle the situation. Bathsheba was in great alarm, as no doubt was David. Uriah was exactly the type of man who would have demanded and executed the supreme penalty against his unfaithful wife, and both David and Bathsheba were acutely aware of this. David's power as king enabled him to avoid the death sentence for himself and his adulteress lover; but, "Already punishment was beginning to be required of both of them."[14]