2 Samuel 11:16
in 2 Samuel 11So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he saw the strongest enemy soldiers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, when Joab kept watch upon the city, that he assigned Uriah unto the place where he knew that valiant men were.
KJV
And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 11
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd it came to pass, when Joab observed the city,.... Where lay its greatest strength, and where it was best defended; or besieged it, as the Targum: that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were; who would not easily give way, and when they saw an opportunity would sally out, Joab cannot be excused from sin, unless he thought that Uriah had been guilty of death, and that David took this way of dispatching him for some political reason; however David was king, and to be obeyed.
This site's exposition
where he knew that valiant men were
on 2 Samuel 11:16-17
Joab carries out the order but widens it. He places Uriah where he knows the defenders are strongest, and when the men of the city sally out, soldiers fall alongside him, David's own servants among the dead. A single death might have raised questions; a skirmish with several losses does not. Uriah dies in the company of other men killed to make his own death appear ordinary, the cost of David's scheme paid twice over.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
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 Awakening1 voice
It is common for those who have done ill themselves to desire to be countenanced therein by others doing ill likewise, especially by the sins of those that are eminent in the profession of religion.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Observed the city - In the sense of besieging it closely.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֕י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בִּשְׁמ֥וֹר | bishmor | when watched | H8104 → | 468 times |
| יוֹאָ֖ב | yoav | Joab | H3097 → | 144 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | against | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָעִ֑יר | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וַיִּתֵּן֙ | vaiyiten | and he put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| א֣וּרִיָּ֔ה | ʾuriyah | Uriah | H223 → | 39 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּקוֹם֙ | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָדַ֔ע | yada' | he knew | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַנְשֵׁי־ | ʾanshei- | men of | H582 → | 566 times |
| חַ֖יִל | chayil | strength | H2428 → | 246 times |
| שָֽׁם׃ | sham | [were] there | H8033 → | 834 times |
וַיְהִ֕יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
בִּשְׁמ֥וֹרwhen watched
bishmorH8104 →468 times
יוֹאָ֖בJoab
yoavH3097 →144 times
אֶל־against
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הָעִ֑ירthe city
hairH5892 →1090 times
וַיִּתֵּן֙and he put
vaiyitenH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
א֣וּרִיָּ֔הUriah
ʾuriyahH223 →39 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּקוֹם֙the place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhere
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יָדַ֔עhe knew
yada'H3045 →945 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אַנְשֵׁי־men of
ʾanshei-H582 →566 times
חַ֖יִלstrength
chayilH2428 →246 times
שָֽׁם׃[were] there
shamH8033 →834 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
Acts 5:29But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.
it leads to
- Acts 4:19
But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God.
- 1 Samuel 15:24
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
- Mark 7:7–9
They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’
- Genesis 3:17
And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because…
- Revelation 14:8–12
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
- Acts 4:19
Through
1 Kings 2:5Moreover, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me—what he did to Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether, the two commanders of the armies of Israel. He killed them…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 3:27
When 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…
- 2 Samuel 20:10
Amasa was not on guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach and spilled out his intestines on the ground. And Joab did not need to strike him…
- 2 Samuel 3:27
Through
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…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 20:9–10
“Are you well, my brother?” Joab asked Amasa. And with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him.
- 2 Samuel 20:9–10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Apology for the Prophet David, Chapter 1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.