Somehow, I’ve lived 71 years without hearing of Jimmy Castor, until now.
There have been “scholars” who manage to BLAME Bathsheba for bathing on the roof, saying that she was attempting to attract the king’s attention.
However, She had full expectation of privacy, since in that time and place, most of daily life took place on the roof. People in Israel still do their laundry on the roof. And, because of this, The Torah demands that roofs be surrounded by a parapet (Deut 22:8). The parapet is for both safety and privacy reasons.
Not only that, but Bathsheba was cleansing herself after her monthly “uncleanness” This is mandated by the Torah as well (Lev 15:19-33), and she was probably out there every month, like clockwork. (The Scripture about Bathsheba mentions this in passing, and everybody would have gotten the hint back in those days)
Anyway, it stands to reason that Bathsheba was not “setting up” David.
David may not have deliberately gone up to HIS roof on that particular evening to spy on Bathsheba, but, as a grown-up and a person in a position of authority, he should have thought “Ooops!”, averted his eyes, and gotten off his own roof ASAP.
But that isn’t what he did.
And wow, what a price he paid!
And yet...if David had resisted temptation, we would have never gotten King Solomon.