**What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?** Proverbs 31:2
As I study and think about Bathsheba and Solomon, I struggle to keep my emotions in check.
I think about Bathsheba and how she was left alone for possibly months or even longer while her husband was away at war fighting for king and country. I think about how so much blame has been thrown on her for David’s sin.
I have lived through long seasons of physical separation from my husband, so I know how I spent my days until I could be with my husband again. I built a routine to combat the loneliness and the monotony of not having my husband near. I didn’t go looking for trouble. I worked until I was exhausted and then fell into a hot tub of water and went to bed alone and cried myself to sleep. I didn’t go looking for a boyfriend!
NOWHERE is there any account of Bathsheba being the temptress. We have no background on her. We do have back ground on Rahab. She was a harlot. We know about the strange woman described in the book of Proverbs- bold, seductress, aggressive. Bathsheba is not ever described in those ways.
I am a huge fan of David in general, but not in the situation with Bathsheba. HE was the one on the roof. Not her. Read 2 Samuel 11 carefully. She was just taking a bath. How was Bathsheba to know that the king would be there at that time? Since when is a commoner privy to the King’s schedule? His palace looked out on the whole city I would imagine. How is it her fault that he saw HER out of all the windows in the city?
He already had HOW MANY wives? And concubines? And once he asked about her and KNEW that it was one of his soldiers friends’ wives, why didn’t he just go call one of his wives to take care of his needs?
Uriah was a soldier and a friend and was at his side in the caves when David was running from Saul. Uriah was a faithful friend, and follower and would DIE for David.
Being a woman in old times meant being invisible most of the time. Serve others and do it quietly, without being noticed was the norm. So, how come Bathsheba takes so much flack for what David did? How does any of this make it Bathsheba’s fault?
I have lived in the Mediterranean culture for nearly 25 years. I can tell you that for GENERATIONS, women had NO CHOICE when a man decided he wanted her. Abuse was and IS common. Here in the U.S., film producers and comedians are being outed about sexual harassment. Still today, in modern, progressive liberated 21st century, women are FORCED into sexual relationships.
So, yes, the David and Bathsheba story makes my blood boil. Men have thrown the blame on Bathsheba over and over. Sorry, guys, you are way off base!!
Ok, deep breath….let’s get to the verse….**What, my son?**..there it is. Bathsheba was a mother.
She was a woman that grabbed a hold of the one good thing that came out of David’s abuse. Her son. A son who David promised would take his throne. The one thing that David did to reconcile his sin and CRIME with Bathsheba. The vow that he made with her to smooth over all the shame and pain and the being treated as his plaything. The vow that helped her deal with now being married to the MURDERER of her husband.
We hear very little else about Bathsheba. She just stayed in the background and took care of her son and taught him what she could. And Solomon honors her with this chapter. He exalts her for her quiet wisdom and her good business sense and her fear of the LORD. That though she was a victim of basically rape, she lived a productive life and earned her son’s great respect. I imagine Solomon knew all the sordid details of his father’s failure concerning his mom while growing up. So, he writes about her to help people know who she really was. A woman who could make the best out of a bad situation.
** what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows? ** Bathsheba did what she could. And though her name has been marred again and again, Bathsheba was Solomon’s mom and he considered her a virtuous woman, and he praised her. This chapter is a tribute to her and to all women who have had to rebuild their lives after abuse.