Bath-shua is a name found in the King James Bible.
Who This Was
Bath-shua was the daughter of Ammiel, the wife of David, and the mother of Solomon. She appears in the account of David’s reign as one of the women taken into the king’s household, and she is named in connection with the birth of Solomon, the son who would succeed David on the throne of Israel. Her story is set within the larger narrative of David’s rise and reign, a period marked by both triumph and personal failure.
Scripture presents her chiefly through her relationships: she is identified by her father’s name, by her marriage to David, and by her role as Solomon’s mother. The biblical text does not record her words, her actions, or her personal faith. She is mentioned only in passing, yet her place in the story is significant because she bore the son through whom God’s promise to David would continue.
What Scripture says of her is therefore brief and indirect. She is not portrayed as a heroine or a villain, but as a woman whose life was bound up with the purposes of God working through David’s house. Her significance lies not in anything she is recorded as doing, but in her position as the mother of Solomon, the heir to David’s throne. The silence of the text around her is itself notable: she is remembered because of the son she bore, not because of any deed of her own.
The Name
The name Bath-shua is a Hebrew name, and its meaning is not clearly recoverable from the biblical text itself. It is often associated with the idea of “daughter of oath” or “daughter of abundance,” but these suggestions are not firmly established, and the text does not explain the name. Because Scripture does not gloss it, and because the name appears in a form that has been variously understood, any definite meaning should be stated with caution. What can be said plainly is that the name is Hebrew and belongs to a woman identified in the source note as the daughter of Ammiel, the wife of David, and the mother of Solomon. Beyond that, its precise sense remains uncertain.
A Closing Thought
Bath-shua’s life reminds us that not every faithful presence is loud or recorded. She is named only briefly, yet she stands in the line through which God brought Solomon and, ultimately, the Messiah. Most of us will not be remembered for great deeds, but we may still be part of something far larger than ourselves. Quiet obedience, hidden faithfulness, and the ordinary work of family and home can carry a weight we never see. Her story invites us to trust that God remembers those the world passes over, and that He weaves even unnoticed lives into His good purposes.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 0