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2 Samuel 11:3

in 2 Samuel 11

So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

KJV

And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath–sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

This verse in 2 Samuel 11

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
Eliam - Or Ammiel, 1Ch 3:5, the component words being placed in an inverse order. Bath-sheba was the granddaughter of Ahithophel 2Sa 23:34.

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 Fathers2 voices

A commentator

John Chrysostom

HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 2.2.4-7 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

It would be better for the sun to be extinguished than for David's words to be forgotten and not transmitted to others. He fell into adultery and envy. For he saw, he says, a beautiful woman bathing and became enamored of her; and later he succeeded in doing all that he fancied.And the prophet was found in adultery, the pearl in mud. However, he did not yet understand that he had sinned, the passion ravaged him to such a great extent. Because, when the charioteer gets drunk, the chariot moves in an irregular, disorderly manner. What the charioteer is to the chariot, the soul is to the body. If the soul becomes darkened, the body rolls in mud. As long as the charioteer stands firm, the chariot drives smoothly. However, when he becomes exhausted and is unable to hold the reins firmly, you see this very chariot in terrible danger. This exact same thing happens to human beings. As long as the soul is sober and vigilant, this very body remains in purity. However, when the soul is darkened, this very body rolls in mud and in lusts. Therefore, what did David do? He committed adultery; yet neither was he aware nor was he censured by anyone. This occurred in his most venerable years, so you may learn that, if you are indolent, not even old age benefits you, nor, if you are earnest, can youthful years seriously harm you. Behavior does not depend on age but on the direction of the will.… So you may learn that the affairs of prudence rely upon the will and do not depend on age, just remember that David was found in his venerable years falling into adultery and committing murder; and he reached such a pathetic state that he was unaware that he had sinned, because his mind, which was the charioteer, was drunk from debauchery.

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 Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

He inquired - Instead of suppressing that desire which the sight of his eyes had kindled, he seeks rather to feed it; and first inquires who she was; that if she were unmarried, he might make her either his wife or his concubine.
And David sent and inquired after the woman,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

But, (3.) When she came he lay with her, she too easily consenting, because he was a great man, and famed for his goodness too. Surely (thinks she) that can be no sin which such a man as David is the mover of. See how the way of sin is down-hill; when men begin to do evil they cannot soon stop themselves.
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

one said--literally, "he said to himself," Is not this Bath-sheba? &c.--She seems to have been a celebrated beauty, whose renown had already reached the ears of David, as happens in the East, from reports carried by the women from harem to harem.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

The daughter of Eliam - Called, 1Ch 3:5, Ammiel; a word of the same meaning, The people of my God, The God of my people. This name expressed the covenant - I will be your God; We will be thy people.

The words behind it

14 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.

  • וַיִּשְׁלַ֣חand he sent

    vaiyishlachH7971845 times

  • דָּוִ֔דDavid

    davidH1732999 times

  • וַיִּדְרֹ֖שׁand he enquired

    vaiyidroshH1875

  • לָֽאִשָּׁ֑הof the woman

    laishahH802781 times

  • וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH5595305 times

  • הֲלוֹא־¿ not

    halo'-H38085168 times

  • זֹאת֙[is] this

    zotH2063603 times

  • בַּת־Bath-

    bat-H133920 times

  • שֶׁ֣בַע-sheba

    sheva'H133920 times

  • בַּת־[the] daughter of

    bat-H1323588 times

  • אֱלִיעָ֔םEliam

    ʾeliamH463

  • אֵ֖שֶׁת[the] wife of

    ʾeshetH802781 times

  • אוּרִיָּ֥הUriah

    ʾuriyahH22339 times

  • הַחִתִּֽי׃the Hittite

    hachitiH285048 times

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

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    1 Chronicles 11:41

    Uriah the Hittite, Zabad son of Ahlai,

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 11:6–27

      At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Samuel 23:39

      and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 5:8

    They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing after his neighbor’s wife.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 13:27

      Your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution on the hills and in the fields—I have seen your detestable acts. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?”

    • Deuteronomy 5:18

      You shall not commit adultery.

  • Through

    1 Chronicles 3:5

    and these sons were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. These four were born to him by Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel.

    it leads to

    • 2 Samuel 12:24–25

      Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and lay with her. So she gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. Now the LORD loved the child

  • Through

    2 Samuel 23:39

    and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 1:6

      and Jesse the father of David the king. Next: David was the father of Solomon by Uriah’s wife,

    • 1 Kings 15:5

      For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of…

    • 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…

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Samuel

This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Ambrose of Milan, Apology for the Prophet David, Chapter 1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 2.2.4-7; 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.