2 Samuel 11:8
in 2 Samuel 11Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him a mess of food from the king.
KJV
And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.
⋯
This verse in 2 Samuel 11
Commentary
6 notes on this verseGo down to thy house, and wash thy feet - Uriah had come off a journey, and needed this refreshment; but David’s design was that he should go and lie with his wife, that the child now conceived should pass for his, the honor of Bath-sheba be screened, and his own crime concealed. At this time he had no design of the murder of Uriah, nor of taking Bath-sheba to wife. A mess of meat from the king - All this was artfully contrived.
This site's exposition
Send me Uriah the Hittite
on 2 Samuel 11:6-8
David's plan starts as concealment. He calls Uriah home under cover of a report on the war, asks after Joab and the army and how the fighting goes, and then sends him down to his own house with a gift of food following him. The design is that Uriah lie with his wife so the coming child could pass as his own. Nothing in the summons names the true reason; David asks about the siege of Rabbah to a man he intends to use, not to consult.
This site's exposition
a gift from the king followed him
Clarke says Uriah had come a long way and needed to wash his feet. Barnes says the gift was the portion of honour a host sends to his chief guest, as at Genesis 43:34. Clarke says David had no thought yet of murder.
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
And David said to Uriah, go down to thy house, and wash thy feet,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A mess of meat - Compare Gen 43:34. The word denotes the honorable portion given by the host to his chief guest.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| דָּוִד֙ | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| לְא֣וּרִיָּ֔ה | leuriyah | to Uriah | H223 → | 39 times |
| רֵ֥ד | red | go down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| לְבֵיתְךָ֖ | leveitekha | to house your | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וּרְחַ֣ץ | urechatz | and wash | H7364 → | 72 times |
| רַגְלֶ֑יךָ | ragleikha | feet your | H7272 → | 247 times |
| וַיֵּצֵ֤א | vaiyetze' | and he went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| אֽוּרִיָּה֙ | ʾuriyah | Uriah | H223 → | 39 times |
| מִבֵּ֣ית | mibeit | from [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| וַתֵּצֵ֥א | vatetze' | and it went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| אַחֲרָ֖יו | ʾacharav | after him | H310 → | 715 times |
| מַשְׂאַ֥ת | masat | [the] gift of | H4864 → | |
| הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
דָּוִד֙David
davidH1732 →999 times
לְא֣וּרִיָּ֔הto Uriah
leuriyahH223 →39 times
רֵ֥דgo down
redH3381 →381 times
לְבֵיתְךָ֖to house your
leveitekhaH1004 →2046 times
וּרְחַ֣ץand wash
urechatzH7364 →72 times
רַגְלֶ֑יךָfeet your
ragleikhaH7272 →247 times
וַיֵּצֵ֤אand he went out
vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times
אֽוּרִיָּה֙Uriah
ʾuriyahH223 →39 times
מִבֵּ֣יתfrom [the] house of
mibeitH1004 →2046 times
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
וַתֵּצֵ֥אand it went out
vatetze'H3318 →1067 times
אַחֲרָ֖יוafter him
ʾacharavH310 →715 times
מַשְׂאַ֥ת[the] gift of
masatH4864 →
הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃the king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 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 44:21would not God have discovered, since He knows the secrets of the heart?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:10
I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
- Jeremiah 23:24
“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- Job 34:21–22
For His eyes are on the ways of a man, and He sees his every step.
- Jeremiah 17:10
Through
Psalms 55:21His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.
it leads to
- Psalms 57:4
My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- Proverbs 5:3–4
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
- Psalms 28:3
Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.
- Proverbs 26:28
A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth causes ruin.
- Psalms 57:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.