The scandalous women in the genealogy of Jesus - Bathsheba.
Scripture References—2 Samuel 11:2, 3; 12:24; 1 Kings 1:11-31; 2:13-19; 1 Chronicles 3:5 ; Matthew 1:1-16.
In Matt. 1:1-16 we find “the forgotten chapter of the Christmas story.” It is a genealogy—a list of names, most of them unpronounceable. Because of that, this is a portion of Scripture that we tend to overlook. We don’t know what to do with it. It’s not often read in public. For that matter, we don’t even read it in private unless we’re following one of those “read the Bible in a year” plans and hardly anyone ever memorizes this passage.
It’s just a long list of names starting with Abraham, moving on to David and ending with Jesus. In between are some names we recognize—Jacob, Solomon, Jehoshaphat—and many more we’ve never heard of—Hezron, Abiud and Azor.
The structure is simple: “So-and-so was the father of so-and-so, who was the father of so-and-so, etc.” One name after another, a listing of the generations of the Hebrew people from their father Abraham to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. As history, the list is fascinating, but for most of us, that’s about as far as it goes.
God had said 1000 years earlier that the Messiah must come from the line of David (II Samuel 7). In the time of Christ, Jesus wasn’t the only one claiming to be the Messiah. Other men—imposters—claimed to be Israel’s Messiah. How would the people know who to believe? One answer: Check his genealogy. If he’s not from the line of David, forget it. He can’t be the Messiah.
That’s why Matthew 1 begins this way: “A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” David is listed first, even though chronologically Abraham came first in history. Why? Because the crucial issue was not, “Is Jesus a Jew (a son of Abraham)?” but rather, “Is he a direct descendant of David?” In order for Jesus to qualify as the Messiah, he must be a literal, physical descendant of David.
Jesus’ genealogy appears in two places in the New Testament: Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38. In Matthew, Jesus’ genealogy is presented in a descending order: it goes from Abraham to Joseph. In Luke, Jesus’ genealogy is in an ascending order: it goes from Joseph to Adam.
Both genealogies are given, not to emphasize biological connection, but to emphasize that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s purpose of redemption. The focus of the genealogies is theological. The genealogy of Jesus is designed to show that Jesus is the Messiah, a descendant of David, and also a descendant of Abraham.
As a descendant of Abraham, Jesus fulfills God’s covenantal promise to Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would be a blessing to the nations: “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
As a descendant of David, Jesus fulfills God’s covenantal promise to David. God promised David that his throne would be established forever (2 Samuel 7:16). God also promised him that a successor will always be available to sit on the throne of Israel (1 Kings 2:4).
Since the monarchy ended with the Fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., as a descendant of David, Jesus becomes an inheritor of God’s promise to David. As such, Jesus’ genealogy proves that he was a direct descendant of David and a legitimate heir to the throne.
Matthew’s genealogy is the only one that makes reference to four women in Jesus’ family tree: Tamar, Rehab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Bathsheba’s name is not explicitly mentioned by Matthew; she is only identified as Uriah’s wife. A fifth woman, Mary, is mentioned by name. However, since she is a New Testament personality, Mary falls outside of the purview of the Old Testament because she was not one of Jesus’ great-grandmothers.
In a time when genealogies didn’t normally contain even a single female name, why are these women included? And what does their presence imply?
In other words, they were women just like us: ordinary, tarnished by sin, unlikely to shape the course of history. They are in the Savior’s genealogy to give us hope, and to foreshadow the kind of people Jesus the Messiah came to save.
He came from a lineage of sinners to save sinners.
But He remained sinless.
And we will be like the women from Jesus’ genealogy as we put our whole future into the hands of our God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He offers to give our simple lives great significance as we follow him. Like the women of the genealogy who put their hope in the coming Messiah, following him is worth far more than we will know until eternity.
We have looked into the lives of Tamar, Rehab and Ruth in earlier studies and in this study we will look into the life of the fourth and final woman of Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus Christ - Bathsheba, who is not named directly but is referred to as " the wife of Uriah." This elegant description is a reminder of David’s most famous sin. In stark contrast to Ruth, whose longing to marry as a godly widow is to be praised, Bathsheba is almost certainly an inspiration of Proverbs’ continual warnings against adultery and the destructive fury that result from that particular sin. Given the destruction wrecked in David’s own life as a result of his affair with Bathsheba, it would be likely that Solomon would have received numerous warnings about these matters.
The story of David and Bathsheba is full of high drama (one can read 2 Samuel 11 and 12 to discuss most of the story, while its aftermath continues for the rest of David’s life). This story also includes Bathsheba’s longings as a lonely and neglected wife, Uriah’s devotion to serving David while being a terrible husband when it came to showing affection and care for his wife, and David’s cold-blooded murder of a loyal soldier to vainly try to cover the tracks for his own sin. It features one of the bravest prophets of all time telling a king that he was the man David had condemned to death for his lack of pity and David writing among the most moving psalms of repentance from sin and a restoration of God’s grace, albeit with a heavy cost. And while many people look to David’s story as a sign that godly leaders can commit all kinds of wickedness and remain godly after repentance, it is worth remembering that a thousand years after Bathsheba’s sin, she is still known in Matthew’s Gospel as she who had been the wife of Uriah. God has forgiven David and Bathsheba for their sin, but the consequence of that sin was never forgotten.
The sacred record informs us that David’s association with Bathsheba was the only stain on the life of David. “David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah” (1 Kings 15:5). If this was the only blot on his page, it was a heavily engrained one, and one that could not be erased, as far as the effects of his treatment of Uriah was concerned. While God freely pardons a sinner, the effects of committed sin remain.
The sad story begins with the significant phrase, “But David tarried still at Jerusalem” (2 Samuel 11:1). The Israelites were at war with the Ammonites, and the king who had shown himself brave and victorious in battle should have been with his army. But now a mature man, and veteran of many wars, and ruler over Israel for some twelve years now David had become somewhat soft and self-indulgent. He had had his day of hard campaigning and war weariness. Now it was time to leave the rigors and risks of battle to his officers, and sit back and take things easy. But no longer fighting the battle of the Lord, David was open to attack and so found himself involved in the triangle drama of passion, intrigue and murder.
Lazing around on the flat roof of his palace, David saw a woman on the roof of a nearby house undressing and bathing herself, and his passions were excited The admirer, King David, is not where he is supposed to be, on the battlefield with his troops, but instead has tarried at his palace. And the woman, Bathsheba, is married. The problem was that David was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When others were up and awake David was sleeping and when others were sleeping David was up.
Evidently David had started becoming accustomed to the perks of his office and had begun multiplying wives and concubines unto himself (2 Sam. 5:13). This might also be indicated by two observations in the narrative of his sin with Bathsheba. In the first verse we are told that at "the time when kings went out to battle" that "David tarried at Jerusalem." We find him here rising from his bed "at eventide," a time when others are only beginning to think about retiring to their beds, suggesting he had spent some time in the afternoon at ease. These are all suggestive of a natural moral laxity that comes with prosperity.
Why was Bathsheba bathing so publicly? She probably did not consider it public. The middle eastern houses had roofs with walls that came to about waist height. David could view her because the height of the king’s house was so much greater that the shallow walls did not protect her from his view. The bathing was probably not the usual bath for cleanliness, but a ritual bath connected with the uncleanness that was upon a woman for seven days after her menstrual period (Lev. 15:25-33). This is suggested in verse four of the narrative where that point is probably mentioned to further prove that she had not become impregnated by Uriah or anyone else.
King David inquires after her. He learns her name and the name of her husband - Uriah. And though he is normally a righteous man, with a harem already full of wives and concubines, the king succumbs to his overwhelming desire. He sends his minions to bring Bathsheba to the palace. There is no indication in the account as to her reaction to his proposal. She is not painted as a seductress or aggressive although she may have been a willing participant, perhaps considering it her obligation to a king who could demand concubines at will. "And she came in unto him, and he lay with her."
So begins a story of sex and politics and a coverup that resonates even today. A king, made weak by momentary lust, and his lover, both powerless and slyly manipulative or so it seems. After the event is over David thinks all is squared away, and then Bathsheba sends word: "I am with child." Then the cover-up begins.
David, the first king of a united Israel, conqueror of an empire running from the edge of Egypt to the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq, is one of the Bible's greatest heroes. His life and his character are documented in the Old Testament's books of Samuel and the first of the books of Chronicles. In many ways, David is the Old Testament's golden child: a charismatic shepherd boy who slays Goliath with a slingshot, a successful warrior, and later a pious ruler. He was a superstar. But every hero has a flaw, and David's unchecked lust for Bathsheba becomes his.
In contrast to David, Bathsheba's thoughts and her character are in most circumstances mute, well cloaked in the sparse lines of the Hebrew text. But one thing about Bathsheba is clear. The implications of their affair will dominate his remaining years. Debate over Bathsheba's character begins the moment she first appears on the roof. Was she simply an innocent bather, unaware of the stir she caused at the palace? Or was she something else entirely—an exhibitionist with a desire for a more powerful husband? She taking a bath in total nudity in a tub of water, for the Bible indicates that Bathsheba was cleansing herself after her menstruation. It is difficult to say whether Bathsheba was a victim or whether she was an agent.
In either case, Bathsheba has no choice but to comply when summoned by the king. And whether the consequence of that meeting—a pregnancy—was welcome to her or not is equally unclear. Bathsheba says only, "I am with child." Yet for so few words, they are very important. By confiding in David, Bathsheba actively puts him in a position of responsibility—a smart move, considering that, at the time, the penalty for adultery was stoning. Not only was there adultery bur there also there was the evidence of it.
David acts quickly to conceal the affair. At first, he pins his hopes on Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, inviting him back from the battlefield and twice trying to get Uriah to sleep with his wife, in order to plausibly pass off the child as his. But with his troops still on the battlefield, Uriah refuses to enjoy the comforts of home. When all else fails, David orders that Uriah be placed in the front lines of the battle, where he will surely be killed. Once David receives word that Uriah has died fighting, he responds coolly, "The sword devours one way or another." -2 Sam.11:25.
Once more, the Bible tells us little of Bathsheba's reaction. "The wife of Uriah" mourns for an appropriate period of time, then becomes David's wife. She may even have felt relieved. Certainly, the text does not indicate that Uriah was a particularly loving husband.
But "the sword that devours" now hangs over David's own house. "The thing that David had done displeased the Lord," and both he and Bathsheba will pay the price. Soon thereafter, the prophet Nathan tells the king a parable: There are two men in a city, one rich and one poor. The rich man has many flocks of sheep, but the poor man has only one ewe lamb, a lamb he raised with his own children and fed from his own table. A traveler comes to the rich man one day, and rather than kill one of his own flock to feed the guest, the rich man takes the poor man's lamb. Thinking the story is true, David tells Nathan, "As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this deserveth to die."
Nathan replies, "Thou art the man." Delivering the message of God, Nathan recounts David's sins saying, "The sword shall never depart from thy house." The shamed king bows his head: "I have sinned against the Lord." But David's admission of error comes too late. Nathan tells him, "The child also that is born unto thee shall surely die." 2 Sam 12:1-13.
Much has been written about David’s repentance preserved for us in Psalm 51—a Psalm saturated with penitential tears—and of Psalm 32, expressing David’s gratitude to God for His pardoning grace and mercy. But graciously forgiven, David could not avert the natural consequences of his transgression, and he came to prove its inevitable subsequent sorrow. Evil rose up against him in his own house (2 Samuel 12:11). David found himself disgraced by one son (13:4), banished by another (15:19), revolted against by a third (1 Kings 2), bearded by his servant, betrayed by his friends, deserted by his people, bereaved of his children.
What about Bathsheba? The woman whose beauty resulted in adultery and murder.
Soon after the birth of their son, the child falls ill; on the seventh day, the child dies-innocent blood spilt in payment for sinful parents. It now seems likely that Bathsheba will withdraw into David's harem, a shamed wife, never to be heard from again. But the connection between David and Bathsheba proves to be more than transitory, and instead it seems that the tragedy draws them closer. Miraculously, God grants David a temporary reprieve. Bathsheba gives birth to a healthy son, the future King Solomon -Beloved of the Lord. Why was not such a son given to one of David’s other wives? Was not Solomon an evidence and expression of God’s pardoning love for both? Then, is not Bathsheba’s inclusion in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1) another token that God had put her sins behind His back? Most of David's previous marriages were arranged for political alliances. But David is drawn to Bathsheba by a powerful sexual attraction. We should not read too much romance into the lines of the text. There are a lot of times when we are told that people love David, for example - David's first wife, Michal, and King Saul's son Jonathan. But the word "love" is never used in the story of David and Bathsheba
As David's power wanes, Bathsheba's grows. She reminds David of an oath he once may or may not have made to her that Solomon would inherit the crown. Even if he is being tricked, the king reproclaims Solomon his heir.
As queen mother, Bathsheba occupies one of the most important positions in the land. Her transformation from a silent object of lust to a politically astute—and vocal—queen, is striking, yet understandable. As an older woman, she displays the wisdom gained from a lifetime as a politician's consort.
Yet, it is as a bathing beauty, and not as a power-player, that Bathsheba is best known. But don’t miss the main point: Bathsheba made the list in Matthew's genealogy . Her name isn’t there but she is mentioned nonetheless. If you come from a family like this, you can’t exactly boast of your heritage. Sure, your ancestors were rulers and kings, but they were also great sinners.
When you read the stories of these four women—and of the men on the list—you aren’t supposed to focus on the sin, but on the grace of God. The hero of this story is God. His grace shines through the blackest of human sin as he chooses flawed men and women and places them in Jesus’ family tree.
If you study these names in detail, it’s almost as if God has pulled together a rogue’s gallery. We don’t know about every person on this list. But of the ones we know about, nearly all of them had notable moral failures on their spiritual resumes. For instance, Abraham lied about his wife Sarah. Isaac did the same thing. Jacob was a cheater, Judah a fornicator. David was an adulterer and Solomon was a polygamist. Manasseh was the most evil king Israel ever had. And on and on we could go.
This is not a list of plaster saints. Far from it. Some weren’t saints at all. The best of these men had flaws and some were so flawed that it is impossible to see their good points.
How does that show the grace of God? Simple. It shows the grace of God because people like this make up Jesus’ family tree.
Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.” The phrase has the idea of fruit ripening for the moment of harvest. That is, when God had perfectly prepared every detail of history, he sent his Son into the world. Historians have known for years that at the time of Christ, there was a widespread expectation that “something” was about to happen. The now-extinct religions of Greece and Rome held out hope that a deliverer would come from heaven. The Jews themselves knew that the Messiah would come according to the prophecies. The Persians studied the heavens and knew the time was at hand. There was a desire, a hope, a yearning, a deep feeling throbbing in the heart of humanity that someone must appear who would radically change the world.
No, they weren’t consciously expecting Jesus, but the yearning was undeniably there. And into that expectant world God sent his Son. At just the right time. In just the right way.
Matthew 1 is telling us that Jesus Christ had roots. He had a family tree. He didn’t just drop out of heaven, he didn’t appear magically on the scene, but at the perfect moment of history, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
Jesus had a human family . He’s not some fictional character—like the gods on Mount Olympus. No, he was a real person born into a real family. Galatians 4:4 teaches us that behind it all stood God superintending the whole process.
Matthew was written especially to the Jews. Many of their leaders (the Pharisees in particular) were self-righteous and judgmental toward others. They truly thought they deserved eternal life. What a shock it would be to read this genealogy because it is filled with liars, murderers, thieves, adulterers and harlots. Not a pretty picture. Not a “clean” family tree. This list was a stinging rebuke to that kind of judgmental self-righteousness.
Do you know what this means? Jesus was born into a sinful family. He came from a long line of sinners.
This genealogy is in the Bible to let us know that he had a background a lot like yours and mine. He called himself “the friend of sinners,” and he said he didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He said, “The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.” (Luke 19:10)
My final point should greatly encourage you: No matter what your past, Jesus can save you. Any murderers reading these words? Any prostitutes? Any adulterers? Any liars? Any cheaters? Any angry people? Any thieves? Any hypocrites?
Good News! No matter what you’ve done in the past, Jesus can save you. If a prostitute can be saved, you can be saved. If a murderer can be transformed, you can be transformed. If an incestuous person can be saved, then there is hope for you.
No matter what your past looks like, or your present feels like, no matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, God can give you a fresh start.
