General Notes

Bathsheba, in the Old Testament, wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of King David's soldiers. From his rooftop, David saw Bathsheba bathing and, admiring her beauty, seduced her while her husband was away. When his efforts to make Uriah seem responsible for the paternity of her child failed, David arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle (see 2 Samuel 11:2-26). David then married Bathsheba, but the child died. Later, Bathsheba bore another son, Solomon, who succeeded David to the throne. In the New Testament genealogy of Jesus Christ (see Matt. 1:6), she is mentioned not by name but as the “wife of Uriah.”

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