2 Samuel 11:15
in 2 Samuel 11In 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.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
KJV
And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 11
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Gregory the DialogistThe Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 1, Chapter 3 · Written before 604.
Thus David, who in the judgment of Him who chose him was well pleasing to Him in almost all his deeds, as soon as the weight of pressure was removed, broke out into a swelling sore, and, having been as a laxly running one in his appetite for the woman, became as a cruelly hard one in the slaughter of the man; and he who had before known pitifully how to spare the bad learnt afterwards, without impediment of hesitation, to pant even for the death of the good.
This site's exposition
wrote a letter to Joab
on 2 Samuel 11:14-15
Concealment fails, so David turns to murder, and Uriah himself carries the letter that orders his own death. The letter's instruction is precise, to set him in the forefront of the hottest battle and then withdraw, that he may be struck down. Adam Clarke likens the scene to the old story of Bellerophon, who carried to his own death the letter meant to destroy him, unknowing. Uriah's last act of obedience to his king becomes the means of his death, the same loyalty that refused to go home to his wife now sent instead to the front line.
This site's exposition
Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle
Wesley says David laid one sin over another to cover it. Gregory the Dialogist writes that David, who had spared the wicked, now hurried without pause to the death of a good man. Henry says the letter put the men who fought beside Uriah in danger of being killed too.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Surely, it is better to believe that the apostle Paul wrote something untruthful than that the apostle Peter did not act uprightly. If that is so, then let us say something abhorrent, that it is better to believe that the gospel lies than that Christ was denied by Peter; and that the book of Kings [Samuel] lies than that a great prophet, so eminently chosen by the Lord God, committed adultery by coveting and seducing another man's wife and was guilty of a revolting murder by killing her husband. On the contrary, I will read the holy Scripture with complete certainty and confidence in its truth, founded as it is on the highest summit of divine authority; and I would rather learn from it that people were truly approved or corrected or condemned than allow my trust in the divine Word to be everywhere undermined because I fear to believe that the human conduct of certain excellent and praiseworthy persons is sometimes worthy of blame.
We have taken up the task of writing an apology for the present style of the prophet David, not because he needs this gift, who has excelled in such great merits and flourished in virtues, but because many people, reading the sequence of his deeds without considering the power of the Scriptures or the hidden mysteries, wonder how such a great prophet did not avoid the contagion of adultery first and then of murder. Therefore, it was our desire to review the history itself, which seems to have been exposed to sin.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He arose - So far is David from repenting, that he seeks to cover one sin with another. How are the beginnings of sin to be dreaded! For who knows where it will end?
Uriah cannot thus die alone: the party he commands is in danger of being cut off with him; and it proved so: some of the people, even the servants of David (so they are called, to aggravate David's sin in being so prodigal of their lives), fell with him,
And he wrote in the letter, saying,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And he will be struck and killed. In order for [Batsheva] to be divorced [from Urioh] retroactively. the result would be that [Dovid] did not cohabit with a married woman.
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
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּכְתֹּ֥ב | vaiyikhto | and he wrote | H3789 → | 224 times |
| בַּסֵּ֖פֶר | basefer | in the letter | H5612 → | 186 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הָב֣וּ | havu | set | H3051 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֽוּרִיָּ֗ה | ʾuriyah | Uriah | H223 → | 39 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מוּל֙ | mul | [the] front of | H4136 → | |
| פְּנֵ֤י | penei | [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הַמִּלְחָמָה֙ | hamilchamah | the battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
| הַֽחֲזָקָ֔ה | hachazakah | <the> severe | H2389 → | |
| וְשַׁבְתֶּ֥ם | veshavtem | and you will turn back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| מֵאַחֲרָ֖יו | meacharav | from after him | H310 → | 715 times |
| וְנִכָּ֥ה | venikah | and he will be struck down | H5221 → | 499 times |
| וָמֵֽת׃ ס | vamet | and he will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
וַיִּכְתֹּ֥בand he wrote
vaiyikhtoH3789 →224 times
בַּסֵּ֖פֶרin the letter
baseferH5612 →186 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הָב֣וּset
havuH3051 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֽוּרִיָּ֗הUriah
ʾuriyahH223 →39 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מוּל֙[the] front of
mulH4136 →
פְּנֵ֤י[the] face of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
הַמִּלְחָמָה֙the battle
hamilchamahH4421 →320 times
הַֽחֲזָקָ֔ה<the> severe
hachazakahH2389 →
וְשַׁבְתֶּ֥םand you will turn back
veshavtemH7725 →1056 times
מֵאַחֲרָ֖יוfrom after him
meacharavH310 →715 times
וְנִכָּ֥הand he will be struck down
venikahH5221 →499 times
וָמֵֽת׃ סand he will die
vametH4191 →839 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
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.
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 12:13–14
Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” “The LORD has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die.
- Luke 15:21
The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
- Genesis 20:6
Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did…
- Genesis 39:9
No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin…
- Romans 3:4
Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”
- 2 Samuel 12:13–14
Through
Psalms 51:14Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.
it leads to
- Psalms 35:28
Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness and Your praises all day long.
- 2 Samuel 12:9
Why 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…
- Psalms 35:28
Through
1 Samuel 18:21“I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 18:17
Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I…
- 1 Samuel 18:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, Apology for the Prophet David, Chapter 1; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 82; Gregory the Dialogist, The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 1, Chapter 3; Gregory the Dialogist, The Book of Pastoral Rule; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.