2 Samuel 11:1-5 provides an account of David’s sexual encounter with Bathsheba. The text records that the event occurred during the war, but David remained at his Jerusalem home. One evening, David sees Bathsheba from his balcony, asks about her identity, and discovers that she is Uriah’s wife. He has her brought to him and lies with her. Sometime later, Bathsheba sends a message to David that she is pregnant. Many scholars have debated how to describe the sexual encounter between David and Bathsheba. Was the act an assault against Bathsheba? Or was Bathsheba complicit? Some scholars point to Bathsheba’s lack of protest before and after the encounter and along with the phrase וַתָּבוֹא אֵלָיו, “and she went into him” to show that she willingly sinned with David. Some scholars point to the power dynamics between a king and his subjects and the phrase as וַיִּקָּחֶהָ “and took her” to argue that Bathsheba had no choice but to obey the king. Therefore, the sin with David was not consensual. This essay aims to re-examine 2 Samuel 11:1-5 in light of what it meant to have an audience with the king and to refuse an audience with the king in the ancient Near East. The book of Esther provides an account of the consequences of refusing (Queen Vashti’s dismissal) the king’s invitation and what happens when one accepts the king’s invitation (feast for princes and leaders). This essay examines ancient Near Eastern accounts of those who have had an audience with the king or refused an audience with a king and re-examines the meaning of select grammatical phrases to determine if the encounter between David and Bathsheba is best described as an assault or adultery.