14 And it came to pass in the morning, H1242 that David H1732 wrote H3789 a letter H5612 to Joab, H3097 and sent H7971 it by the hand H3027 of Uriah. H223
15 And he wrote H3789 in the letter, H5612 saying, H559 Set H3051 ye Uriah H223 in the forefront H6440 H4136 of the hottest H2389 battle, H4421 and retire H7725 ye from him, H310 that he may be smitten, H5221 and die. H4191
16 And it came to pass, when Joab H3097 observed H8104 the city, H5892 that he assigned H5414 Uriah H223 unto a place H4725 where he knew H3045 that valiant H2428 men H582 were.
17 And the men H582 of the city H5892 went out, H3318 and fought H3898 with Joab: H3097 and there fell H5307 some of the people H5971 of the servants H5650 of David; H1732 and Uriah H223 the Hittite H2850 died H4191 also.
18 Then Joab H3097 sent H7971 and told H5046 David H1732 all the things H1697 concerning the war; H4421
19 And charged H6680 the messenger, H4397 saying, H559 When thou hast made an end H3615 of telling H1696 the matters H1697 of the war H4421 unto the king, H4428
20 And if so be that the king's H4428 wrath H2534 arise, H5927 and he say H559 unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh H5066 unto the city H5892 when ye did fight? H3898 knew H3045 ye not that they would shoot H3384 from the wall? H2346
21 Who smote H5221 Abimelech H40 the son H1121 of Jerubbesheth? H3380 did not a woman H802 cast H7993 a piece H6400 of a millstone H7393 upon him from the wall, H2346 that he died H4191 in Thebez? H8405 why went ye nigh H5066 the wall? H2346 then say H559 thou, Thy servant H5650 Uriah H223 the Hittite H2850 is dead H4191 also.
22 So the messenger H4397 went, H3212 and came H935 and shewed H5046 David H1732 all that Joab H3097 had sent H7971 him for.
23 And the messenger H4397 said H559 unto David, H1732 Surely the men H582 prevailed H1396 against us, and came out H3318 unto us into the field, H7704 and we were upon them even unto the entering H6607 of the gate. H8179
24 And the shooters H3384 shot H3384 from off the wall H2346 upon thy servants; H5650 and some of the king's H4428 servants H5650 be dead, H4191 and thy servant H5650 Uriah H223 the Hittite H2850 is dead H4191 also.
25 Then David H1732 said H559 unto the messenger, H4397 Thus shalt thou say H559 unto Joab, H3097 Let not this thing H1697 displease H3415 H5869 thee, for the sword H2719 devoureth H398 one as well as another: H2090 make thy battle H4421 more strong H2388 against the city, H5892 and overthrow H2040 it: and encourage H2388 thou him.
26 And when the wife H802 of Uriah H223 heard H8085 that Uriah H223 her husband H376 was dead, H4191 she mourned H5594 for her husband. H1167
27 And when the mourning H60 was past, H5674 David H1732 sent H7971 and fetched H622 her to his house, H1004 and she became his wife, H802 and bare H3205 him a son. H1121 But the thing H1697 that David H1732 had done H6213 displeased H3415 H5869 the LORD. H3068
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Samuel 11
Commentary on 2 Samuel 11 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 11
2Sa 11:1. Joab Besieges Rabbah.
1. at the time when kings go forth to battle—The return of spring was the usual time of commencing military operations. This expedition took place the year following the war against the Syrians; and it was entered upon because the disaster of the former campaign having fallen chiefly upon the Syrian mercenaries, the Ammonites had not been punished for their insult to the ambassadors.
David sent Joab and his servants … they destroyed the children of Ammon—The powerful army that Joab commanded ravaged the Ammonite country and committed great havoc both on the people and their property, until having reached the capital, they besieged Rabbah—Rabbah denotes a great city. This metropolis of the Ammonites was situated in the mountainous tract of Gilead, not far from the source of the Arnon. Extensive ruins are still found on its site.
2Sa 11:2-12. David Commits Adultery with Bath-sheba.
2. it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed—The Hebrews, like other Orientals, rose at daybreak, and always took a nap during the heat of the day. Afterwards they lounged in the cool of the evening on their flat-roofed terraces. It is probable that David had ascended to enjoy the open-air refreshment earlier than usual.
3. one said—literally, "he said to himself,"
Is not this Bath-sheba? &c.—She seems to have been a celebrated beauty, whose renown had already reached the ears of David, as happens in the East, from reports carried by the women from harem to harem.
Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam—or Ammiel (1Ch 3:5), one of David's worthies (2Sa 23:34), and son of Ahithophel.
4. David sent messengers, and took her—The despotic kings of the East, when they take a fancy for a woman, send an officer to the house were she lives, who announces it to be the royal pleasure she should remove to the palace. An apartment is there assigned to her; and if she is made queen, the monarch orders the announcement to be made that he has made choice of her to be queen. Many instances in modern Oriental history show the ease and despatch with which such secondary marriages are contracted, and a new beauty added to the royal seraglio. But David had to make a promise, or rather an express stipulation, to Bath-sheba, before she complied with the royal will (1Ki 1:13, 15, 17, 28); for in addition to her transcendent beauty, she appears to have been a woman of superior talents and address in obtaining the object of her ambition; in her securing that her son should succeed on the throne; in her promptitude to give notice of her pregnancy; in her activity in defeating Adonijah's natural expectation of succeeding to the crown; in her dignity as the king's mother—in all this we see very strong indications of the ascendency she gained and maintained over David, who, perhaps, had ample leisure and opportunity to discover the punishment of this unhappy connection in more ways than one [Taylor, Calmet].
5. the woman conceived, and sent and told David—Some immediate measures of concealing their sin were necessary, as well for the king's honor as for her safety, for death was the punishment of an adulteress (Le 20:10).
8. David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house—This sudden recall, the manner of the king, his frivolous questions (2Sa 11:7), and his urgency for Uriah to sleep in his own house, probably awakened suspicions of the cause of this procedure.
there followed him a mess of meat from the king—A portion of meat from the royal table, sent to one's own house or lodgings, is one of the greatest compliments which an Eastern prince can pay.
9. But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house—It is customary for servants to sleep in the porch or long gallery; and the guards of the Hebrew king did the same. Whatever his secret suspicions might have been, Uriah's refusal to indulge in the enjoyment of domestic pleasure, and his determination to sleep "at the door of the king's house," arose from a high and honorable sense of military duty and propriety (2Sa 11:11). But, doubtless, the resolution of Uriah was overruled by that Providence which brings good out of evil, and which has recorded this sad episode for the warning of the church.
2Sa 11:14-27. Uriah Slain.
14, 15. David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah … Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle—The various arts and stratagems by which the king tried to cajole Uriah, till at last he resorted to the horrid crime of murder—the cold-blooded cruelty of despatching the letter by the hands of the gallant but much-wronged soldier himself, the enlistment of Joab to be a partaker of his sin, the heartless affectation of mourning, and the indecent haste of his marriage with Bath-sheba—have left an indelible stain upon the character of David, and exhibit a painfully humiliating proof of the awful lengths to which the best of men may go when they forfeit the restraining grace of God.