Bathsheba’s Son

By: Tony Williams | May 23, 2022

Question: “Why did God kill David and Bathsheba’s son for David’s sin? Wouldn’t that cause Bathsheba to suffer (losing her son) for David’s sin? How can we say God is just and fair if God did this to Bathsheba?”

Answer: The death of David and Bathsheba’s first son is thoroughly documented in Scripture. In chapter 11 of 2nd Samuel, we are told that David saw Bathsheba bathing from the roof of his home and summoned her. The encounter led to conception but there was a problem. Bathsheba’s husband Uriah was off fighting for David, and the indiscretion would certainly be discovered quickly.

David tried to lure Uriah home to spend time with Bathsheba to perhaps reconcile the timing of the child to be, but Uriah acted honorably, refusing to take comfort in his wife while his men were at battle. David then decided to cause Uriah’s commanders to allow him to be cut off from his fellow soldiers, and Uriah was killed. After a time of mourning for Uriah, David quickly claims her as his bride and awaits the birth of their son.

In the following chapter, the prophet Nathan was sent by God to confront David in a peculiar way. He told David the story of a rich man who had many flocks and herds who took the only lamb a poor man possessed to give to a traveler, leaving the poor man with nothing. David was incensed and said that the rich man deserved to die and should pay back the lamb four times over. Nathan then told David that God was pronouncing judgment on him for the sin he had committed against Uriah. Those judgments against David included: the fact that the sword would never depart from his house, that evil would be raised up from his own house, that his wives would be given to others for all to see, and that the child that Bathsheba carried would die.

The following verses recount the birth of the child, followed by sickness and death within seven days of being born. David spent the entire time fasting and laying on the ground, beseeching God “on the child’s behalf”. The child was lost, nonetheless.

The question above asks why Bathsheba must suffer for David’s sin. That is a fair question. Certainly, Bathsheba must have suffered at the loss of her child. However, it may be worth it to examine what assumptions are made that might drive the question.

Assumptions: Was Bathsheba Raped or a Willing Participant?

One assumption is that Bathsheba was an innocent party in this affair with David. It has been suggested that David forced her to his palace with his guards and used his status as king of Israel to have his way with Bathsheba. This, it is assumed, is done under protest by a wife loyal to her husband Uriah, who is off at war for the very king who would dare force himself upon her. However, a plain reading of the text gives no indication that Bathsheba was forced to do anything.

I know that seems harsh, and as a long-time police officer I have been trained in, and witnessed more times than I would like to recount, the psychological trauma of sex assault and domestic violence victims. I mean in no way to victim shame in this response, or deny it possible that there was coercion by David at least, if not rape. However, the Bible is fairly straightforward when it speaks about men raping women. Think of the descriptions of the shameful treatment of Jacob’s daughter Dinah, who was “humiliated” and “defiled” by Shechem, son of Hamor. It was something that “must not be done”, and Dinah’s brothers Levi and Simeon killed every man in a city for the offense. The same was true when Amnon, who “defiled” his sister Tamar. This indiscretion led to Absolam arranging Amnon’s murder. (2 Samuel 13)

Again, that is not to say that the king of Israel inviting a woman to his palace by the use of his guards would not be intimidating. Certainly David likely had a fairly comfortable palace at that point in his kingship. Either way, the only thing we know for sure about the physical interaction between David and Bathsheba on that fateful night was that it produced a child at a time when Bathsheba’s husband was away fighting for the very kingdom that belonged to the man she lay with. I would say that it is at least possible, if not probable, that Bathsheba was a willing participant in the act that brought the doomed child about.

If we say hypothetically that yes, Bathsheba sinned with David, it changes the dynamic of the death of their son. While David’s punishment was evil would be raised up on his own house, the sword never departing his kingdom, the public shaming of his concubines with another man (2 Samuel 16; one of his own sons, no less), and the death of the child, Bathsheba may have shared in David’s punishment of the fourth curse justifiably.

Further Question: Why Did the Child Die?

This brings about the next, even more difficult question to ask of this story. Why did the child have to die? Even if David and Bathsheba were willing participants in the sin against Uriah and the sin against God, what had this child done to deserve death? The Bible says specifically that no child should be put to death for the sin of his father (Deuteronomy 24:16). And feel free to ponder on some of the pro-choice arguments that would dispute that very notion. How do we reconcile this seeming miscarriage of justice?

The death of a child is a tragedy. This is the part where we must proceed with caution in trying to judge the judgment of God. If we spend too much time and energy trying to say we could have done it better than God, we are sure to be embarrassed in this life or the next.

Two Considerations

One thing to consider is that we don’t know what would have happened to history had that child lived, and God does. Considering what happened with the sons of David that did live and grew up to try to kill him and steal his kingdom it may be fair to say that there was more at stake than just a punishment for infidelity and murder.

The second consideration that I have consoled parents with at the loss of an infant is that there is Biblical support for the notion that the innocent are taken into the arms of God, and the suffering was now a distant memory as they are taken care of by the Creator of all life for eternity. (2 Samuel 12:23)

This was surely not what God wanted for this child, but He allowed man to have free will, and man chose poorly in the garden. This was not the first, and surely wasn’t the last child that had to suffer sickness and death as a result of the sins of mankind.

David and Bathsheba had to go through terrible trials as a result of their indiscretion. However, their next child Solomon would bring about the continuation of David’s throne. That throne, as was promised, would be kept by the Messiah in their offspring, Jesus Christ, some 1,000 years later. That child grew to be a man who also died for the sins of others, including you and me.

Consider the idea that if Jesus is who He said He was, He would have been the God who weaved the child lost by David and Bathsheba together in Bathsheba’s womb in the way that David describes in the Psalms. He knew before time began that this would happen. Yet, in His unending wisdom and foreknowledge, it seems that He allowed time to unravel the way it would so many might call His name and be saved.

The things like innocent babies dying and the pain it causes cannot always be known in this life. There is no indication that God enjoys punishing those who sin against one another and against Him. However, we see that again and again God seems to give second chances. While sin, like gravity, will have its way to hurt us, God still rescues us when we ask.

I appreciate your question so much, and I pray that contemplating all of this brings you closer to the One who is able to bring light to the darkness. May it be as it is written, that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

About the Author

Tony Williams is currently serving in his 20th year as a police officer in a city in Southern Illinois. He has been studying apologetics in his spare time for two decades, since a crisis of faith led him to the discovery of vast and ever-increasing evidence for his faith. Tony received a bachelor’s degree in University Studies from Southern Illinois University in 2019. His career in law enforcement has provided valuable insight into the concepts of truth, evidence, confession, testimony, cultural competency, morality, and most of all, the compelling need for Christ in the lives of the lost. Tony plans to pursue postgraduate studies in apologetics in the near future to sharpen his understanding of the various facets of Christian apologetics.

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