Bathsheba (Hebrew origin: Daughter of an oath or Daughter of seven)
(2 Samuel 11:3) 10th century b.c.e.
Bathsheba was King David's favorite wife. One night he went up to the rooftop of his palace; from there he saw a beautiful woman washing herself on the roof of one of the neighboring houses. He made some inquiries and was told that the woman was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, a loyal officer in the army. David had her brought to the palace, made love to her, and then sent her back to her house. A few weeks later, the king was informed that she was pregnant. David came to the conclusion that the only way to avoid a scandal was to have Uriah killed. He had Uriah sent to the frontlines of battle, so that he would be killed. Once Uriah died, the king married Bathsheba as soon as her days of mourning were over. She gave birth to a boy, but the prophet Nathan came to David and told him that the baby would die. He did, but Bathsheba gave birth to four more sons. Years later, when David was an old infirm man, Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan, convinced David to make Solomon his heir instead of Adonijah, who was Solomon's older half-brother. Solomon became king after the death of David.
Read more biographies from Who's Who in the Jewish Bible.
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