In Rabbinical Literature
Bathsheba was the granddaughter of Ahithophel, David's famous counselor, whom David had good relations with.
The Midrash portrays the influence of Satan bringing about the sinful relation of David and Bathsheba as follows: Bathsheba was bathing, perhaps behind a screen of wickerwork. Satan is depicted as coming in the disguise of a bird. David, shooting at the bird, strikes the screen, splitting it; thus Bathsheba is revealed in her beauty to David (Sanhedrin 107a).
Bathsheba may have been providentially destined from the Creation to become in due time the legitimate wife of David; but this relation was prematurely precipitated by David's impetuous act.
Read more about this topic: Bathsheba At Her Bath
Famous quotes containing the word literature:
“If a nation’s literature declines, the nation atrophies and decays.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)