Bathsheba: Adulteress or Rape Victim?
2 Samuel 11:1-12:23 describes the series of events that lead to King David's sexual sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah.
Most people don't think of Bathsheba when they think of sexual assault in the Bible, but perhaps that is because she is often painted in a negative light in this story.
Throughout my life, I have heard that David's sin with Bathsheba was a shared act of adultery, but to my surprise, I learned recently that this is not the case.
The topic came up this summer in our adult Sunday School class. While the majority of the people in the room were speaking solely of David's responsibility before God in the matter and the consequences he faced, one man addressed Bathsheba's role, citing the age-old phrase, "It takes two to tango."
I cringed. At this point in time, I knew she was innocent, but couldn't pinpoint exactly why. Thankfully my father passionately interjected and explained the problem with that perspective.
Bathsheba was not an adulteress. Here's why.
We don't understand the gravity of a king as ruler.
The fundamental flaw in our ability to understand this concept begins with the reality that the modern world doesn't have this kind of ruler today.
During this time in history, kings had absolute, supreme rule. If they ordered something, it was to be done. No questions asked.
The closest thing we have to a king is a dictator. The problem is dictators, in our Western view, always carry a negative connotation, whereas kings did not.
Biblical kings under God had immense potential to be good... but they also had an immense capacity for evil, as we see here in his sin with Bathsheba.
In 2 Samuel 11:4a where it says, "And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her," the phrase "and took her" can be translated a number of ways, including "to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, or take away."
So when David sent messengers to take Bathsheba, saying no wasn't an option for her. There was no consent, only obedience.
The Bible doesn't explicitly say whether Bathsheba wanted to be in this situation or not, but I don't think it really matters. What matters is that when God addresses the situation through the prophet Nathan, it is David who is responsible.
The Bible is very clear that he is at fault in 2 Samuel 12.
Bathsheba, after the horrific suffering she endured, mourned the death of her husband Uriah and of her child that died, both of which were results of this tragic situation.
Hope for victims of sexual assault
Bathsheba doesn't go down in history as a helpless woman who lived a life of sorrow and shame.
She gave birth to Solomon, who grew up and became the wisest man in all of human history.
At the start of the book of Matthew, she is listed as Uriah's wife in the lineage of Jesus Christ, an honor given to a handful of notoriously broken women in the Bible.
The article linked above states the reality that Bathsheba suffered sexual abuse and the murder of her husband at the hands of Israel's greatest king.
The best that Israel had to offer failed in a huge way, with effects rippling throughout generations.
Men will always fail. Even the best, most godly men, with the best reputation.
But Jesus.
David faced real, tangible consequences for his sin. But by the grace of God, he was forgiven, and in his repentance wrote one of the most moving, heart-wrenching Psalms.
Bathsheba faced real, tangible sorrow. She was sinned against greatly. But by the grace of God, she was not forgotten. God remembered her.
He is our ultimate Redeemer. He redeems even the most broken people, with the worst pasts, and the most pain.
Glory be to God for his infinite grace and mercy, his nearness to the brokenhearted, and his willingness to redeem ashes to beauty.
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