David and Bathsheba

In short

2 Samuel 11 and 12:1-25. David commits adultery with Bathsheba and then has her husband murdered.

Why it is important

It is the bright red stain on the white robe of David. I have honestly been dreading this lesson. It truly pains me to write about this.

David’s repentance, though, is undeniably genuine, and he goes on to great things.

1 Kings 15:5 summarizes David’s life with this: “David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (ESV). [Uriah is the husband of Bathsheba.]

Main characters

• David, king of Israel
• Bathsheba
• Uriah the Hittite, a loyal warrior for David
• Joab, the commander of David’s army
• Nathan the prophet

What is in this story (2 Samuel 11 and 12:1-25)

1. David commits adultery with Bathsheba (11:2-4)
2. As a result, she is pregnant (11:5)
3. David tries several times to get Uriah, her husband, to sleep with her in the midst of the war (11:6-13)
4. But Uriah, ever loyal, refuses to do so (11:11)
5. David orders his commander, Joab, to rig a battle so that Uriah dies (11:15-17)
6. Bathsheba mourns; David marries her (11:26-27)
7. Nathan the prophet tells David a parable about a sheep and asks David, What do you think is the moral of this story? (12:1-4)
8. David says, Oh that evil person in the story! He should die! (12:5-6)
9. “Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man!’” (12:7)
10. David repents (12:13) but the child dies (12:15-18)

Things that are not so well-known

• The text seems to say that David was wrong to be there in the first place; he should have been in battle (11:1)
• ESV renders 2Sa 11:4 as “Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness,” which implies (to me) that David also broke another command of the Torah (Lev 18:19)
• Uriah delivered his own assassination letter to his commander (11:14)
• Bathsheba had at least one other child with David, the future king Solomon (12:24)

Theology and doctrine

According to the Law, David’s sins were punishable by death. Yet he was forgiven on the spot (2Sa 12:13). It seems that David’s unborn son was sentenced in his place (12:14).

David’s punishment also includes some horrible prophecies (12:10-11).

• Constant strife while he is king
• His sons will rebel
• Adultery against him

And these all come to pass in the rest of 2 Samuel.