Was Bathsheba’s immodesty to blame?

Feb 11, 2012 by Sallie

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Becky at Created to be His has an excellent post on the oft-maligned Bathsheba. She makes a great point that authors of books about modesty often use her as an example of all the terrible things that can happen when a woman fails to remain modest.  And yet is that really the case?

From Blame it on Bathsheba:

Bathsheba is often portrayed as an adulteress whose immodesty, either naive or seductive in nature, set off a chain of terrible events. Patriocentrists love to hold Bathsheba up as an object lesson, to keep their women hyper-focused on whether or not their clothing might cause a man to stumble.

For example, in Created to be His Help Meet Debi Pearl argues, “Because Bathsheba was indiscreet, she caused great calamity, resulting in the bloodshed and suffering of many. Her lack of discretion cost…the integrity of one whom God upheld as a man after his own heart.”
And in his book Christian Modesty and the Public Undressing of America, Jeff Pollard states, “Bathsheba’s unwise and imprudent public nakedness certainly fueled the fire of David’s lust…Bathsheba failed to govern her modesty.”

Was Bathsheba indiscreet? Was she publicly naked? Is she to blame for the bloodshed and suffering of many?

Is that how you view Bathsheba?  If so, I highly recommend Becky’s post Blame it on Bathsheba as it will put the entire story in a different light. And if you don’t think of Bathsheba that way, you will still find Becky’s post really encouraging.

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