The mention of Bathsheba as the wife of Uriah in connection with David shows the enduring nature of sin. David is full of remorse when Nathan confronts him with his guilt, but the stain of his sin continues into the New Testament. This shows that also David, the king, needs the saving work of Jesus Christ, the Son of David.
David was the great king to whom God promised the future. But right after his name is mentioned, there follows another reference to a dark page in Israel’s history: And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah.
Bathsheba is referred to as the wife of Uriah,
but when Solomon was born to David, Uriah was already long dead and David had also exhibited remorse when Nathan rebuked him for his sin. Remorse can indeed lead to forgiveness of guilt, but not to the restoration of all the harm that the sinner caused. Bathsheba was also already David’s wife, but still, when Matthew 1:1–25 speaks of the birth of Solomon, she is identified as the wife of Uriah.
This shows that God cannot be moved to forget what happened or to remain silent about injustice, regardless of who committed it. The scorch mark of his sins constitutes part of God’s work with David, the king. This points to human depravity and the universal need for redemption: the elevation of David in Israel demands the humiliation of a Mediator.1
6 and Jesse the father of David the king.And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,