2 Samuel 11:2
in 2 Samuel 11One 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass at eventide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
KJV
And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.
⋯
This verse in 2 Samuel 11
Commentary
11 notes on this verseIn an evening-tide - David arose - He had been reposing on the roof of his house, to enjoy the breeze, as the noonday was too hot for the performance of business. This is still a constant custom on the flat-roofed houses in the East. He saw a woman washing herself - How could any woman of delicacy expose herself where she could be so fully and openly viewed? Did she not know that she was at least in view of the king’s terrace? Was there no design in all this? Et fugit ad salices, et se cupit ante videri.
This site's exposition
walked upon the roof
on 2 Samuel 11:2-3
David rises in the evening and walks upon the roof, and the sight moves before any word is spoken. He sends and enquires, and the answer names three people in one breath, the woman, her father Eliam, and her husband Uriah the Hittite. Eliam himself later stands among David's mighty men at the end of the book, son of Ahithophel; some draw a line from that later verse to this one and read Ahithophel as her grandfather, though the text itself never says so here. The enquiry could have ended the matter; instead it becomes the first step past looking.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
David was a man after God's own heart, and his lips had often sung of the Holy One, the future Christ. Yet as he walked upon his housetop he was fascinated by Bathsheba's nudity, and [he] added murder to adultery. Notice here how, even in his own house, a man cannot use his eyes without danger. Then repenting, he says to the Lord, "Against you, you only, have I sinned and done this evil in your sight." Being a king he feared no one else.
For blessed Jerome among others points out that Bathsheba manifested a type of the church or of human flesh and says that David bore the mark of Christ; this is clearly apt at many points. Just as Bathsheba when washing herself unclothed in the brook …
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 Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book 3, Section 55 · Written before 604.
proposed
For who, that hears of it, not only among believers but of unbelievers themselves also, does not utterly loathe this, that David walking upon his solar lusteth after Beershebah the wife of Uriah? Yet when he returns back from the battle, he bids him go home to wash his feet. Whereupon he answered at once, "The Ark of the Lord abideth in tents, shall I then take rest in my house?" David received him to his own board, and delivers to him letters, through which he must die. But of whom does David walking upon his solar bear a figure, saving of Him, concerning Whom it is written, "He hath set his tabernacle in the sun"? And what else is it to draw Beersheba to himself, but to join to Himself by a spiritual meaning the Law of the formal letter, which was united to a carnal people? For Beersheba is rendered 'the seventh well,' assuredly, in that through the knowledge of the Law, with spiritual grace infused, perfect wisdom is ministered unto us. And whom does Uriah denote, but the Jewish people, whose name is rendered by interpretation, 'My light from God?' Now forasmuch as the Jewish people is raised high by receiving the knowledge of the Law, it as it were glories 'in the light of God.' But David took from this Uriah his wife, and united her to himself, surely in that the strong-handed One, which is the rendering of 'David,' our Redeemer, shewed Himself in the flesh, whilst He made known that the Law spake in a spiritual sense concerning Himself, Hereby, that it was held by them after the letter, He proved it to be alienated from the Jewish people, and joined it to Himself, in that He declared Himself to be proclaimed by it. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Arose from off his bed - Where he had lain, and slept for some time. And the bed of sloth often proves the bed of lust. Washing herself - In a bath, which was in her garden.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The sin came in at the eye, as Eve's did. Perhaps he sought to see her, at least he did not practise according to his own prayer, Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity, and his son's caution in a like case, Look not thou on the wine it is red. Either he had not, like Job, made a covenant with his eyes, or, at this time, he had forgotten it.
And it came to pass in an eveningtide,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
An eveningtide - The evening began at three o’clock in the afternoon.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֣י׀ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְעֵ֣ת | leet | to [the] time of | H6256 → | 296 times |
| הָעֶ֗רֶב | haerev | the evening | H6153 → | 134 times |
| וַיָּ֨קָם | vaiyakom | and he arose | H6965 → | 628 times |
| דָּוִ֜ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| מֵעַ֤ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִשְׁכָּבוֹ֙ | mishkavo | bed his | H4904 → | 46 times |
| וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ֙ | vaiyithalekh | and he walked about | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| גַּ֣ג | gag | [the] roof of | H1406 → | 30 times |
| בֵּית־ | beit- | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| וַיַּ֥רְא | vaiyar' | and he saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אִשָּׁ֛ה | ʾishah | a woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| רֹחֶ֖צֶת | rochetzet | bathing | H7364 → | 72 times |
| מֵעַ֣ל | meal | from on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַגָּ֑ג | hagag | the roof | H1406 → | 30 times |
| וְהָ֣אִשָּׁ֔ה | vehaishah | and the woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| טוֹבַ֥ת | tovat | [was] good of | H2896 → | 538 times |
| מַרְאֶ֖ה | mareh | appearance | H4758 → | 103 times |
| מְאֹֽד׃ | meod | very | H3966 → | 300 times |
וַיְהִ֣י׀and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
לְעֵ֣תto [the] time of
leetH6256 →296 times
הָעֶ֗רֶבthe evening
haerevH6153 →134 times
וַיָּ֨קָםand he arose
vaiyakomH6965 →628 times
דָּוִ֜דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
מֵעַ֤לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
מִשְׁכָּבוֹ֙bed his
mishkavoH4904 →46 times
וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ֙and he walked about
vaiyithalekhH1980 →1546 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
גַּ֣ג[the] roof of
gagH1406 →30 times
בֵּית־[the] house of
beit-H1004 →2046 times
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
וַיַּ֥רְאand he saw
vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times
אִשָּׁ֛הa woman
ʾishahH802 →781 times
רֹחֶ֖צֶתbathing
rochetzetH7364 →72 times
מֵעַ֣לfrom on
mealH5921 →5755 times
הַגָּ֑גthe roof
hagagH1406 →30 times
וְהָ֣אִשָּׁ֔הand the woman
vehaishahH802 →781 times
טוֹבַ֥ת[was] good of
tovatH2896 →538 times
מַרְאֶ֖הappearance
marehH4758 →103 times
מְאֹֽד׃very
meodH3966 →300 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 119:37Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
it leads to
- 1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Job 31:1
“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 4:25
Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.
- Isaiah 33:15
He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
- 1 John 2:16
Through
Job 31:1“I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
it leads to
- James 1:14–15
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 6:25
Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 5:28–29
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
- Psalms 119:37
Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
- James 1:14–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Apology for the Prophet David, Chapter 1; Cassiodorus, EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS 50 (51).1-2; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book 3, Section 55; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, LETTER 22.12; 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.
