**BETHSHEBA** (Hebrew *Bath-Seba*; Septuagint: *Bêpêx-*; *Bêpêx-*). — Wife of Uriah the Hittite (*2 Sam.* 11:3). She was sinfully loved by David, who seduced her and then caused the death of her husband Uriah (q.v.). God punished the king’s double crime with the death of the newborn (*ibid.* 12:1 ff.).
After becoming a widow, B. was taken into the king’s harem, to whom she bore Solomon. With the help of the prophet Nathan, she secured from the aged David the designation of her son Solomon as king, thwarting the attempt of Adonijah (*1 Kings* 1:1). During Solomon’s reign she exercised the influence proper to the queen mother in Eastern courts. She is also mentioned in the New Testament in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (*Matt.* 1:6).