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2 Samuel 11:20

in 2 Samuel 11

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?

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

it shall be that, if the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore went ye so nigh unto the city to fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?

KJV

And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?

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This verse in 2 Samuel 11

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

If - the king’s wrath arise - It is likely that Joab had by some indiscretion suffered loss about this time;; and he contrived to get rid of the odium by connecting the transaction with the death of Uriah, which he knew would be so pleasing to the king.

This site's exposition

all the things concerning the war

on 2 Samuel 11:18-21

Joab reports the fighting to David and coaches the messenger for the moment David's anger rises over troops sent too near the wall. He is told to answer with the old precedent of Abimelech, killed at Thebez when a woman cast a piece of a millstone from the wall onto him, a story known well enough that naming it would explain why men should not approach a wall so closely. Only after that defense is ready does the messenger have leave to add, almost in passing, that Uriah the Hittite is dead also. Joab manages David's expected reaction before David has reacted at all, and buries Uriah's name inside a report about tactics.

This site's exposition

if the king’s anger flares

Adam Clarke suspects that Joab had lost men through his own error at the wall. Joab joined that loss to the death of Uriah, news the king wanted, to turn aside his anger. Every soldier knew the reach of the archers, John Gill observes.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ambrose of Milan

Apology for the Prophet David, Chapter 1 · Written before 397.

proposed

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

And if so be that the king's wrath arise,.... Which might be seen in his countenance, or expressed in his words: and he say, wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? as to expose the king's troops to the enemy on the wall, who by stones or darts greatly annoyed them, or sallied out on them, and killed many of them: knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? they must have known that, and therefore should have kept out of the reach of their shot.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְהָיָ֗הand it will be

    vehayahH1961 →3559 times

  • אִֽם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • תַּעֲלֶה֙it will rise

    taalehH5927 →890 times

  • חֲמַ֣ת[the] anger of

    chamatH2534 →

  • הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וְאָמַ֣רand he will say

    veamarH559 →5305 times

  • לְךָ֔to <the> you

    lekha

  • מַדּ֛וּעַwhy?

    madua'H4069 →72 times

  • נִגַּשְׁתֶּ֥םdid you draw near

    nigashtemH5066 →125 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הָעִ֖ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • לְהִלָּחֵ֑םto fight

    lehilachemH3898 →177 times

  • הֲל֣וֹא¿ not

    halo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יְדַעְתֶּ֔םdid you know

    yeda'temH3045 →945 times

  • אֵ֥ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־this:

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • יֹר֖וּthey will shoot

    yoruH3384 →80 times

  • מֵעַ֥לfrom on

    mealH5921 →5755 times

  • הַחוֹמָֽה׃the wall

    hachomahH2346 →133 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
David Mourns the Death of Absalom, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Samuel: the study guide →Read 2 Samuel 11 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, Apology for the Prophet David, Chapter 1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in 2 Samuel 11 →