2 Samuel 11:1
in 2 Samuel 11In 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem.
KJV
And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 11
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
After the year was expired - The next spring after the escape of the Ammonites into their city 2Sa 10:14. The children of Ammon - The marginal reference supplies the word “the land of,” which is obviously the right reading. David tarried at Jerusalem - The Syrians being subdued, the war with Ammon was not of sufficient moment to require David’s personal presence. The whole section relating to David’s adultery and Uriah’s death, from this verse to 2Sa 12:26, is omitted in the Book of Chronicles.
This site's exposition
kings go forth to battle
The chapter opens at the time when kings go forth to battle, the very words of the season, and names David absent from it. He had led the war against the Syrians in the previous chapter; here he sends Joab and stays behind. The narrator states the bare geography, Joab and Israel at Rabbah, David still at Jerusalem, and offers no comment yet. This is the first line of the thread the covenant chapter will name later in the book: the sword that never departs from David's house begins with the king out of his own place.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
After - When that year ended, and the next begun, which was in the spring time. When kings - Which is, when the ground is fit for the march of soldiers, and brings forth provision for man and beast.
The sin he was guilty of was adultery, against the letter of the seventh commandment, and (in the judgment of the patriarchal age) a heinous crime, and an iniquity to be punished by the judges ( Job xxxi. 11 ), a sin which takes away the heart, and gets a man a wound and dishonour, more than any other, and the reproach of which is not wiped away.
To the war with the Syrians David went in person, ch. x. Had he been now at his post at the head of his forces, he would have been out of the way of this temptation. When we are out of the way of our duty we are in the way of temptation.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
At the time [of year] when kings go forth. There is a time of year when it is the practice that troops go forth, when the land is full of growth and the horses find produce in the field to eat.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
26 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִי֩ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לִתְשׁוּבַ֨ת | litshuvat | to [the] return of | H8666 → | |
| הַשָּׁנָ֜ה | hashanah | the year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| לְעֵ֣ת׀ | leet | to [the] time of | H6256 → | 296 times |
| צֵ֣את | tzet | [the] going out of | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| הַמַּלְאֿכִ֗ים | hamali'khim | <the> messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| דָּוִ֡ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יוֹאָב֩ | yoav | Joab | H3097 → | 144 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֲבָדָ֨יו | ʾavadav | servants his | H5650 → | 799 times |
| עִמּ֜וֹ | imo | with him | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וַיַּשְׁחִ֙תוּ֙ | vaiyashchitu | and they destroyed | H7843 → | 146 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עַמּ֔וֹן | amon | Ammon | H5983 → | 106 times |
| וַיָּצֻ֖רוּ | vaiyatzuru | and they laid siege | H6696 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| רַבָּ֑ה | rabah | Rabbah | H7237 → | 15 times |
| וְדָוִ֖ד | vedavid | and David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| יוֹשֵׁ֥ב | yoshev | [was] remaining | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ ס | birushalim | in Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
וַיְהִי֩and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
לִתְשׁוּבַ֨תto [the] return of
litshuvatH8666 →
הַשָּׁנָ֜הthe year
hashanahH8141 →877 times
לְעֵ֣ת׀to [the] time of
leetH6256 →296 times
צֵ֣את[the] going out of
tzetH3318 →1067 times
הַמַּלְאֿכִ֗ים<the> messengers
hamali'khimH4397 →213 times
וַיִּשְׁלַ֣חand he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
דָּוִ֡דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יוֹאָב֩Joab
yoavH3097 →144 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
עֲבָדָ֨יוservants his
ʾavadavH5650 →799 times
עִמּ֜וֹwith him
imoH5973 →1050 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וַיַּשְׁחִ֙תוּ֙and they destroyed
vaiyashchituH7843 →146 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
עַמּ֔וֹןAmmon
amonH5983 →106 times
וַיָּצֻ֖רוּand they laid siege
vaiyatzuruH6696 →
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
רַבָּ֑הRabbah
rabahH7237 →15 times
וְדָוִ֖דand David
vedavidH1732 →999 times
יוֹשֵׁ֥ב[was] remaining
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם׃ סin Jerusalem
birushalimH3389 →643 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 3:8a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
- Ephesians 5:28–29
In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
- Luke 14:26
“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.
- 1 Kings 5:4
But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or crisis.
- Psalms 139:21
Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD, and detest those who rise against You?
- Ephesians 5:25
Through
1 Kings 20:26In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 20:22
Afterward, 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 20:22
Through
2 Chronicles 36:10In the spring, King Nebuchadnezzar summoned Jehoiachin and brought him to Babylon, along with the articles of value from the house of the LORD. And he made Jehoiachin’s relative Zedekiah king over Judah and…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 37:1
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made Zedekiah son of Josiah the king of Judah, and he reigned in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim.
- Jeremiah 37:1
Through
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…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 20:26
In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
- 1 Kings 20:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.