2 Samuel 11:4
in 2 Samuel 11Then David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. (Now she had just purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned home.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned unto her house.
KJV
And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 11
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
An apartment is there assigned to her; and if she is made queen, the monarch orders the announcement to be made that he has made choice of her to be queen. Many instances in modern Oriental history show the ease and despatch with which such secondary marriages are contracted, and a new beauty added to the royal seraglio.
This site's exposition
purified from her uncleanness
on 2 Samuel 11:4-5
David sends, takes her, and lies with her, and the narrator adds one clinical detail, that she was purified from her uncleanness. The note fixes the timing so plainly that a reader cannot mistake whose child follows, since Uriah has been at the siege of Rabbah and cannot be the father. She returns to her own house, and then sends word that she is with child. The whole sequence runs in short verbs with no comment, sight, taking, conceiving, and the silence is part of how the chapter accuses.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A commentator
John ChrysostomHOMILIES 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.
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 Awakening2 voices
Took her - From her own house into his palace, not by force, but by persuasion. Lay with her - See how all the way to sin is down hill! When men begin, they cannot soon stop themselves.
And David sent messengers,.... To invite her to his palace: and took her; not by force, but through persuasion: and she came in unto him; into the apartment where he was: and he lay with her; she consenting to it, being prevailed upon, and drawn into it through the greatness and goodness of the man, which might make the sin appear the lesser to her.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
And she came in unto him - We hear nothing of her reluctance, and there is no evidence that she was taken by force.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁלַח֩ | vaiyishlach | and he sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| דָּוִ֨ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| מַלְאָכִ֜ים | malakhim | messengers | H4397 → | 213 times |
| וַיִּקָּחֶ֗הָ | vaiyikacheha | and he took her | H3947 → | 966 times |
| וַתָּב֤וֹא | vatavo' | and she came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֵלָיו֙ | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וַיִּשְׁכַּ֣ב | vaiyishkav | and he lay | H7901 → | 212 times |
| עִמָּ֔הּ | ʾimah | with her | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| וְהִ֥יא | vehi' | and she | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| מִתְקַדֶּ֖שֶׁת | mitkadeshet | [was] purifying herself | H6942 → | 171 times |
| מִטֻּמְאָתָ֑הּ | mitumatah | from uncleanness her | H2932 → | |
| וַתָּ֖שָׁב | vatashov | and she returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בֵּיתָֽהּ׃ | beitah | house her | H1004 → | 2046 times |
וַיִּשְׁלַח֩and he sent
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
דָּוִ֨דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
מַלְאָכִ֜יםmessengers
malakhimH4397 →213 times
וַיִּקָּחֶ֗הָand he took her
vaiyikachehaH3947 →966 times
וַתָּב֤וֹאand she came
vatavo'H935 →2568 times
אֵלָיו֙to him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
וַיִּשְׁכַּ֣בand he lay
vaiyishkavH7901 →212 times
עִמָּ֔הּwith her
ʾimahH5973 →1050 times
וְהִ֥יאand she
vehi'H1931 →1879 times
מִתְקַדֶּ֖שֶׁת[was] purifying herself
mitkadeshetH6942 →171 times
מִטֻּמְאָתָ֑הּfrom uncleanness her
mitumatahH2932 →
וַתָּ֖שָׁבand she returned
vatashovH7725 →1056 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בֵּיתָֽהּ׃house her
beitahH1004 →2046 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
Leviticus 18:19You must not approach a woman to have sexual relations with her during her menstrual period.
it leads to
- Leviticus 15:24
If a man lies with her and her menstrual flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies will become unclean.
- Leviticus 20:18
If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them…
- Ezekiel 22:10
In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity.
- Leviticus 15:19
When a woman has a discharge consisting of blood from her body, she will be unclean due to her menstruation for seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening.
- Ezekiel 18:6
He does not eat at the mountain or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her period.
- Leviticus 15:24
Through
Proverbs 30:20This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’
it leads to
- Proverbs 5:6
She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable.
- Proverbs 7:13–23
She seizes him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him:
- Numbers 5:11–30
Then the LORD said to Moses,
- Proverbs 5:6
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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.
