2 Samuel 11:4

Bathsheba.

The Books of Samuel furnish abundant materials for instructive studies of female character, in

Bathsheba was the daughter of Eliam (Ammiel, 1 Chronicles 3:5 ), the granddaughter of Ahithophel the king's counsellor ( 2 Samuel 23:34 ), and well known ( 2 Samuel 11:3 ) as the wife of Uriah the Hittite. "Eliam and Uriah must have been thrown much together, being beth of the same rank, and being each one of the thirty-seven officers of the king's guard" (Blunt, 'Undesigned Coincidences'). She was:

1 . Endowed with perilous gifts— extraordinary beauty ( 2 Samuel 11:2 ), ardent temperament, quick perceptions, ambitious aims. Something of her natural character may be inferred from 1 Kings 1:15-21 and 1 Kings 2:13-21 , "a woman ignorant of ruling, but skilled in love matters."

2 . Destitute of adequate safeguards, such as would have been afforded by the presence of her husband, who was away at the siege of Rabbah; careful moral training; and firm religious principles ( Proverbs 11:22 ).

3 . Overcome by a great temptation. "And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came," etc. "There is no intimation whatever" (as Delany endeavours to show) "that David brought Bathsheba into the palace through craft or violence; but rather that she came at his request, without any hesitation, and offered no resistance to his desires. Consequently, she is not to be regarded as free from blame" (Keil). "One is even disposed to suspect that she was a designing, ambitious woman, who laid a snare for the king. Nothing is told us concerning her in order that the iniquity of David might not be relieved" (R. Tuck, 'The First Three Kings of Israel'). She, like others, admired the king, felt flattered by his attentions, and had not sufficient moral strength to resist his wishes or control her own inordinate vanity. "Had she been mindful of her matrimonial fidelity, perhaps David had been soon checked in his inordinate desire" (Hall). Yet she was a woman "more sinned against than sinning" ( 1 Kings 2:27 ; 2 Samuel 12:4 ).

4 . Observant of customary ceremonies. "And she was purified," etc. "More scrupulous about the ceremonial law than the moral" (Le 1 Kings 15:18 ). "She also mourned for her husband when she heard of his death ( 1 Kings 2:26 ), but not for her sin which caused it" (Guild); being chiefly concerned about appearances; for her sin had been kept, as far as possible, a profound secret.

5 . Visited by deserved chastisement. Beset by tormenting anxieties and terrible fears, knowing the penalty due to her transgression; and, subsequently, overwhelmed with grief on account of the affliction and death of her child; nor was this the only retribution she experienced.

6 . Treated with merciful consideration. ( 1 Kings 2:27 .) As David himself, the supreme administrator on earth of the Divine Law, did not suffer death, "and it is easy to perceive that, to leave this single act of criminality unpunished in a great king, was for the advantage of the people" (Michaelis, 'Laws of Moses,' 1 Kings 1:37 ), as he was expressly exempted from it by the word of the prophet ( 2 Samuel 12:13 ); so, in the exercise of his royal prerogative, he very properly dispensed with the penalty in the case of the partner of his guilt. Like him, also, she probably repented of her sin; and "mercy glorieth against judgment" ( James 2:13 ). Evil was even overruled for good ( 2 Samuel 12:24 ; 1 Chronicles 3:5 ; Matthew 1:6 ; Luke 3:31 ). It has been thought (though without sufficient reason) that the counsels contained in Proverbs 31:1-31 . were given by her to her son Solomon. "Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised," D.