David and Bathsheba

During the spring, when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to destroy the Ammonites and besiege Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1). From his roof, David saw a woman washing herself. He sent messengers to inquire and was told she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite. David sent for her, and he lay with her. After she returned home, she sent word to David that she was pregnant (2 Samuel 11:5).

David recalled Uriah from the front and instructed him to go to his house, but Uriah slept at the entrance of the palace. When David asked why he did not go home, Uriah stated he would not seek comfort while the ark and the army remained in tents. David then sent a letter to Joab via Uriah, instructing Joab to put Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting and retreat so that he would be struck down (2 Samuel 11:15). Joab assigned Uriah to a place where he knew valiant men were, and Uriah died in the subsequent engagement. After the period of mourning, David brought Bathsheba to his house, and she became his wife.

The Lord sent Nathan the prophet to David. Nathan told a parable regarding a rich man who took a poor man's only ewe lamb to feed a traveler. When David expressed anger at the rich man, Nathan stated, 'You are the man!' (2 Samuel 12:7). Nathan declared that because David had despised the word of the Lord, the sword would never depart from his house and his own wives would be taken before his eyes. Although David confessed his sin and was told he would not die, the child born to Bathsheba became ill and died on the seventh day (2 Samuel 12:18). The text does not say the exact age of the child at the time of death.