The account of David’s sin with Bathsheba is recorded in 2 Samuel 11–12. During the season when kings went to battle, David remained in Jerusalem. One evening, he saw a woman bathing from the rooftop. The woman was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s loyal soldiers (2 Samuel 11:2–3).
David sent messengers, took her, and lay with her. When she later informed him that she was pregnant, David attempted to conceal his sin by calling Uriah back from the battlefield, hoping he would sleep with his wife and believe the child was his. But Uriah refused to enjoy the comforts of home while his fellow soldiers remained in the field (2 Samuel 11:6–11).
David then arranged for Uriah to be placed at the front lines where the fighting was fiercest, instructing Joab to withdraw so Uriah would be killed. This occurred as planned, and Uriah died in battle (2 Samuel 11:14–17). After a period of mourning, David took Bathsheba as his wife, and she bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord (2 Samuel 11:27).
In 2 Samuel 12, the prophet Nathan confronted David using a parable about a rich man who took a poor man’s only lamb. When David reacted with indignation, Nathan declared, “You are the man!” (2 Samuel 12:7). Nathan pronounced God’s judgment: the sword would not depart from David’s house, and his sin would bring public shame. Although David confessed, “I have sinned against the Lord,” and God forgave him, the child born from that union died (2 Samuel 12:13–18).
Later, Bathsheba bore another son, Solomon, whom the Lord loved (2 Samuel 12:24–25).
David’s sin with Bathsheba reveals the seriousness of yielding to temptation, the danger of covering sin, and the certainty of divine judgment. Yet it also shows God’s mercy toward the repentant. Psalm 51, traditionally linked to this event, records David’s heartfelt confession and plea for cleansing, illustrating the path of restoration through sincere repentance.
