2 Samuelchapter 11

A.At the time when kings go out, the king stayed homevv. 1-5

1 In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. 2 One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. 3 So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home. 5 And the woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

B.Uriah will not go down to his housevv. 6-13

6 At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing with the war. 8 Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house. 10 And David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?” David asked Uriah. “Why didn’t you go home?” 11 Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!” 12 “Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.

C.The letter carried by the man it killedvv. 14-21

14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.” 16 So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he saw the strongest enemy soldiers. 17 And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died. 18 Joab sent to David a full account of the battle 19 and instructed the messenger, “When you have finished giving the king all the details of the battle, 20 if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall? 21 Who was the one to strike Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If so, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’”

D.The thing that David had done displeased Jehovahvv. 22-27

22 So the messenger set out and reported to David all that Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s servants were killed. And your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.” 25 Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.” 26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.

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Chapter summary

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'At the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle,' David sends Joab to besiege Rabbah, 'but David tarried at Jerusalem.' From the roof at evening he sees a woman bathing, asks who she is, is told plainly that she is another man's wife, and sends and takes her anyway. The message comes back: I am with child. Then the cover-up, step by escalating step. Uriah recalled and urged to go down to his house; Uriah sleeping at the door because the ark and Israel and Judah are in tents; Uriah made drunk and still refusing; and at last Uriah carrying his own death warrant to Joab. 'But the thing that David had done displeased Jehovah.'

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.

Context

History · Nathan, Gad — 2 Samuel overview

A. 1–5 At the time when kings go out, the king stayed home
B. 6–13 Uriah will not go down to his house
C. 14–21 The letter carried by the man it killed
D. 22–27 The thing that David had done displeased Jehovah

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

Psalms 513 verses
- Psalms 51:1Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
- Psalms 51:4Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.
- Psalms 51:14Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.
- Read Psalms 51 →
1 Kings 202 verses
- 1 Kings 20:22Afterward, the prophet approached the king of Israel and said, “Go and strengthen your position, and take note what you must do, for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against you.”
- 1 Kings 20:26In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
- Read 1 Kings 20 →
2 Samuel 72 verses
- 2 Samuel 7:2he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
- 2 Samuel 7:6For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt until this day, but I have moved about with a tent as My dwelling.
- Read 2 Samuel 7 →
Jeremiah 22 verses
- Jeremiah 2:22Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.
- Jeremiah 2:37Moreover, you will leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not prosper by their help.”
- Read Jeremiah 2 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

1 Kings 212 verses
- 1 Kings 21:8Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.
- 1 Kings 21:12They proclaimed a fast and gave Naboth a seat of honor among the people.
- Read 1 Kings 21 →
2 Samuel 32 verses
- 2 Samuel 3:27When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pulled him aside into the gateway, as if to speak to him privately, and there Joab stabbed him in the stomach. So Abner died on account of the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel.
- 2 Samuel 3:31Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.
- Read 2 Samuel 3 →
2 Samuel 121 verse
- 2 Samuel 12:9Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.
- Read 2 Samuel 12 →
James 11 verse
- James 1:14But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
- Read James 1 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.