Bathsheba: Victim or Seductress??

Bathsheba: Victim or Seductress?

When I was young, I remember being taught that Bathsheba knew exactly what she was doing, bathing on the roof in full view of the King’s palace. She was obviously seducing David. It never occurred to me that it was David that knew what HE was doing. David was no fool and he knew what to look for and when to look.

We may never know who seduced who, but there is no good story that follows an opening line that describes a king as staying home while his troops went out to fight.

2 Samuel 11:1

“Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him ... But David stayed at Jerusalem.”

The truth is that we really don’t know if the relationship was consensual or not. History is divided on the subject, but the language of the text seems to hint that Bathsheba was more of a victim than not.

2 Samuel 11:4

“David sent messengers and took her, and when she came to him, he lay with her…”

I’m not going to play amateur psychologist, but let’s consider the extraordinary amount of pressure on a young woman who is “taken” before the king. Kings generally get what they want and David was very powerful. Who can resist a king?

The pressure Bathsheba felt would have been enormous, but let’s not overlook what the story is actually telling us. We are reading David’s prayer for forgiveness, not Bathsheba’s. Nathan confronts David, not Bathsheba. This is David’s story and David is clearly portrays himself as the offender in Psalms 51.

We will never know Bathsheba’s true role in the events but, at the very least, we have to recognize that she was faced with an incredibly difficult situation. In my humble opinion, I see Bathsheba as a victim.

On Monday: let’s consider the strength of Bathsheba in facing the deluge of devastation that poured out upon her in the aftermath of her encounter with the king.