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Texts -- 2 Samuel 11:1-25 (NET)

Context
David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba
11:1 In the spring of the year , at the time when kings normally conduct wars, David sent out Joab with his officers and the entire Israelite army. They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah . But David stayed behind in Jerusalem . 11:2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace . From the roof he saw a woman bathing . Now this woman was very attractive . 11:3 So David sent someone to inquire about the woman . The messenger said , “Isn’t this Bathsheba , the daughter of Eliam , the wife of Uriah the Hittite ?” 11:4 David sent some messengers to get her. She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness .) Then she returned to her home . 11:5 The woman conceived and then sent word to David saying , “I’m pregnant .” 11:6 So David sent a message to Joab that said, “Send me Uriah the Hittite .” So Joab sent Uriah to David . 11:7 When Uriah came to him, David asked about how Joab and the army were doing and how the campaign was going . 11:8 Then David said to Uriah , “Go down to your home and relax .” When Uriah left the palace , the king sent a gift to him . 11:9 But Uriah stayed at the door of the palace with all the servants of his lord . He did not go down to his house . 11:10 So they informed David , “Uriah has not gone down to his house .” So David said to Uriah , “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey ? Why haven’t you gone down to your house ?” 11:11 Uriah replied to David , “The ark and Israel and Judah reside in temporary shelters , and my lord Joab and my lord’s soldiers are camping in the open field . Should I go to my house to eat and drink and have marital relations with my wife ? As surely as you are alive , I will not do this thing !” 11:12 So David said to Uriah , “Stay here another day . Tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem both that day and the following one . 11:13 Then David summoned him. He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk . But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord ; he did not go down to his own house . 11:14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah . 11:15 In the letter he wrote : “Station Uriah in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed .” 11:16 So as Joab kept watch on the city , he stationed Uriah at the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were. 11:17 When the men of the city came out and fought with Joab , some of David’s soldiers fell in battle. Uriah the Hittite also died . 11:18 Then Joab sent a full battle report to David . 11:19 He instructed the messenger as follows: “When you finish giving the battle report to the king , 11:20 if the king becomes angry and asks you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight ? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the wall ? 11:21 Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerub-Besheth ? Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone down on him from the wall so that he died in Thebez ? Why did you go so close to the wall ?’ just say to him, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead .’” 11:22 So the messenger departed . When he arrived , he informed David of all the news that Joab had sent with him. 11:23 The messenger said to David , “The men overpowered us and attacked us in the field . But we forced them to retreat all the way to the door of the city gate . 11:24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall and some of the king’s soldiers died . Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead .” 11:25 David said to the messenger , “Tell Joab , ‘Don’t let this thing upset you. There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down . Press the battle against the city and conquer it.’ Encourage him with these words.”

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • David

    [ebd] beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother's name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam. 17:25. As to his personal ...
    [isbe] DAVID - da'-vid (dawidh, or dawidh, "beloved"; Daueid, also in New Testament, Dauid, Dabid; see Thayer's Lexicon): I. NAME AND GENEALOGY II. EARLY YEARS 1. Shepherd 2. Slinger 3. Harpist 4. Poet 5. Psalmist 6. Tribesman III....
    [nave] DAVID 1. King of Israel. Genealogy of, Ruth 4:18-22; 1 Sam. 16:11; 17:12; 1 Chr. 2:3-15; Matt. 1:1-6; Luke 3:31-38. A shepherd, 1 Sam. 16:11. Kills a lion and a bear, 1 Sam. 17:34-36. Anointed king, while a youth, by the ...

  • Uriah

    [ebd] the Lord is my light. (1.) A Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba, whom David first seduced, and then after Uriah's death married. He was one of the band of David's "mighty men." The sad story of the curel wrongs inflicted upon...
    [smith] (light of Jehovah). One of the thirty commanders of the thirty bands into which the Israelite army of David was divided. (1 Chronicles 11:41; 2 Samuel 23:39) Like others of David?s officers he was a foreigner--a Hittit...
    [nave] URIAH 1. One of David's mighty men, 2 Sam. 23:39; 1 Chr. 11:41. David's adultery with the wife of, 2 Sam. 11:2-5; 1 Kin. 15:5. Summoned from seat of war by David, 2 Sam. 11:6-13. Noble spirit of, 2 Sam. 11:11. David comp...

  • SAMUEL, BOOKS OF

    [ebd] The LXX. translators regarded the books of Samuel and of Kings as forming one continuous history, which they divided into four books, which they called "Books of the Kingdom." The Vulgate version followed this division, but ...
    [isbe] SAMUEL, BOOKS OF - || I. PLACE OF THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL IN THE HEBREW CANON II. CONTENTS OF THE BOOKS AND PERIOD OF TIME COVERED BY THE HISTORY III. SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS 1. Life of Samuel (1 Samuel 1 through 15) 2. Reign and D...

  • Joab

    [ebd] Jehovah is his father. (1.) One of the three sons of Zeruiah, David's sister, and "captain of the host" during the whole of David's reign (2 Sam. 2:13; 10:7; 11:1; 1 Kings 11:15). His father's name is nowhere mentioned, alth...
    [isbe] JOAB - jo'-ab (yo'-abh, "Yahweh is father"; Ioab): (1) Son of Zeruiah, David's sister. He was "captain of the host" (compare 2 Sam 19:13) under David. 1. Joab and Abner: (a) Joab is first introduced in the narrative of the w...
    [smith] (whose father is Jehovah), the most remarkable of the three nephews of David, the children of Zeruiah, David?s sister. (B.C. 1053-1012.) Joab first appears after David?s accession to the throne at Hebron. Abner slew in battle...
    [nave] JOAB 1. Son of David's sister, 1 Chr. 2:16. Commander of David's army, 2 Sam. 8:16; 20:23; 1 Chr. 11:6; 18:15; 27:34. Dedicated spoils of his battles, 1 Chr. 26:28. Defeated the Jebusites, 1 Chr. 11:6. Defeats and slays ...

  • Hittites

    [isbe] HITTITES - hit'-its (bene cheth, chittim; Chettaioi): One of the seven nations conquered by Israel in Palestine. I. OLD TESTAMENT NOTICES 1. Enumeration of Races 2. Individuals 3. Later Mention II. HISTORY 1. Sources 2. Chro...
    [nave] HITTITES A tribe of Canaanites. Children of Heth, Gen. 10:15; 23:10. Sell a burying-ground to Abraham, Gen. 23. Esau intermarries with, Gen. 26:34; 36:2. Dwelling place of, Gen. 23:17-20; Num. 13:29; Josh. 1:4; Judg. 1:26...

  • Chronicles, Books of

    [ebd] The two books were originally one. They bore the title in the Massoretic Hebrew Dibre hayyamim, i.e., "Acts of the Days." This title was rendered by Jerome in his Latin version "Chronicon," and hence "Chronicles." In the Sep...

  • Evil for Good

    [nave] EVIL FOR GOOD. Psa. 7:4, 5; Psa. 35:12; Psa. 109:5; Prov. 17:13 Instances of Joseph accuses his brethren of rendering, Gen. 44:4. Israelites, to Moses, Ex. 5:21; 14:11; 15:24; 16:2, 3; 17:3, 4. Nabal returns, to David, ...

  • GENTILES

    [isbe] GENTILES - jen'-tilz (goy, plural goyim; ethnos, "people," "nation"): Goy (or Goi) is rendered "Gentiles" in the King James Version in some 30 passages, but much more frequently "heathen," and oftener still, "nation," which ...

  • NATHAN (1)

    [isbe] NATHAN (1) - na'-than (nathan, "gift"; Nathan): A court prophet in David's reign and a supporter of Solomon at his accession. There are three main incidents in his career as depicted in the Old Testament. 1. Nathan and David...

  • Friends

    [nave] FRIENDS, Jesus calls his disciples, John 15:14, 15. False Friends Instances of: Pharaoh's butler false to Joseph, Gen. 40:23. Delilah to Samson, Judg. 16:1-20. The Ephraimite's wife, Judg. 19:1-2. David to Joab, 1 Kin. 2...

  • Treachery

    [nave] TREACHERY, Jer. 9:8. Of Rahab to her people, Josh. 2. Of the man of Beth-el, Judg. 1:24, 25. Of Jael, Judg. 4:18-21. Of Shechemites, Judg. 9:23. Of Joab, 2 Sam. 3:26, 27. Of Baanah and Rechab, 2 Sam. 4:6. Of David to...

  • Lasciviousness

    [nave] LASCIVIOUSNESS. Ex. 32:6; Prov. 2:16-18; Prov. 5:3-5, 8-13; Prov. 7:6-27; Prov. 9:13-18; Prov. 20:16; Prov. 30:18-20; Joel 3:3; Mark 7:21-23; Rom. 1:22-29; Rom. 7:8; Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 6:9, 10, 13, 15-18; 1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Cor...

  • URIAH; URUAH

    [isbe] URIAH; URUAH - u-ri'-a, u-ri'-ja ('uriyah, in Jer 26:20 'uriyahu, "flame of Yahweh" or "my light is Yahweh"; the Septuagint and the New Testament Our(e)ias, with variants; the King James Version has Urijah in 2 Ki 16:10-16; ...

  • Ingratitude

    [nave] INGRATITUDE. Of Mankind to God Num. 16:9, 10; Deut. 8:12-14 Deut. 6:11, 12. Deut. 28:47, 48; Deut. 31:16; Deut. 32:6, 15, 18 v. 13.; Judg. 2:10-12; Judg. 8:34, 35; Judg. 10:11, 13, 14 Neh. 9:25, 35; Psa. 106:7, 21; Jer. 2:...

  • Bath-sheba

    [ebd] daughter of the oath, or of seven, called also Bath-shu'a (1 Chr. 3:5), was the daughter of Eliam (2 Sam. 11:3) or Ammiel (1 Chr. 3:5), and wife of Uriah the Hittite. David committed adultery with her (2 Sam. 11:4, 5; Ps. 51...
    [isbe] BATH-SHEBA - bath-she'-ba, bath'-she-ba (bath-shebha`, "the seventh daughter," or "the daughter of an oath," also called Bathshua bath-shua`, "the daughter of opulence" (1 Ch 3:5); the Septuagint however reads Bersabee every...
    [nave] BATH-SHEBA, wife of Uriah and later wife of David. Called Bath-shua, 1 Chr. 3:5. Adultery of, 2 Sam. 11:2-5. Solomon's mother, 1 Kin. 1:11-31; 2:13-21; 1 Chr. 3:5.

  • Instability

    [nave] INSTABILITY. Gen. 49:3, 4; Ex. 8:15 v. 32.; Ex. 9:34 Ex. 10:8-11, 16-20; 14:5. Ex. 32:8-10 Ex. 19:8; 24:3, 7. Judg. 2:17; 1 Kin. 18:21; Psa. 106:12, 13; Prov. 24:21, 22; Prov. 27:8; Jer. 2:36; Hos. 6:4, 5; Matt. 6:24; Matt....

  • Chastity

    [nave] CHASTITY. Ex. 20:14; Job 31:1; Prov. 2:10, 11, 16-22; Prov. 5:15-21; Prov. 6:24, 25; Prov. 7:1-5; Prov. 31:3; Matt. 5:28; Matt. 19:12; Acts 15:20; Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 6:13-19; 1 Cor. 7:1, 2, 7-9, 25, 26, 36, 37; 1 Cor. 9:27;...

  • Rabbah

    [ebd] or Rab'bath, great. (1.) "Rabbath of the children of Ammon," the chief city of the Ammonites, among the eastern hills, some 20 miles east of the Jordan, on the southern of the two streams which united with the Jabbok. Here t...
    [isbe] RABBAH - rab'-a: (1) (rabbah; Rhabba, Rhabbath, Rhabban. The full name is rabbath bene `ammon; he akra ton huion Ammon, Rhabbath huion Ammon, "Rabbah of the children of Ammon"): This alone of the cities of the Ammonites is m...
    [smith] (great). A very strong place on the east of the Jordan, and the chief city of the Ammonites. In five passages -- (3:11; 2 Samuel 12:26; 17:27; Jeremiah 49:2; Ezekiel 21:20) --it is styled at length Rabbath of the Ammonite...
    [nave] RABBAH 1. Called also Rabbath. A city E. of the Jordan, originally belonging to the Ammonites, Josh. 13:25. Bedstead of the giant Og kept at, Deut. 3:11. Taken by David, 2 Sam. 11:1; 12:26-31; 1 Chr. 20:1-3. Possessed aga...

  • Adultery

    [nave] ADULTERY. Gen. 20:3; 2 Sam. 12:14; Job 24:15-17 v. 18.; Job 31:1, 9-12; Prov. 2:16, 18, 19 v. 17.; Prov. 5:3, 4 vs. 5-22.; Prov. 6:24-29, 32, 33; Prov. 7:5-23; Prov. 9:13-18; Prov. 22:14; Prov. 23:27, 28; Prov. 29:3; Prov. ...

  • Ammiel

    [ebd] people of God. (1.) One of the twelve spies sent by Moses to search the land of Canaan (Num. 13:12). He was one of the ten who perished by the plague for their unfavourable report (Num. 14:37). (2.) The father of Machir of L...
    [isbe] AMMIEL - am'-i-el (`ammi'el, "my kinsman is God"; Ameiel)): A name borne by four men in the Old Testament. (1) One of the twelve spies sent into Canaan by Moses; son of Gemalli, of the tribe of Dan (Nu 13:12). (2) A Benjamit...
    [smith] (people of God). The spy from the tribe of Dan. (Numbers 13:12) (B.C. 1490.) He perished by the plague for his evil report. Father of Machir of Lo-debar. (2 Samuel 9:4; 17:27) Father of Bath-sheba, (1 Chronicles 3:5) c...
    [nave] AMMIEL 1. One of the twelve spies, Num. 13:12. 2. Father of Machir, 2 Sam. 9:4, 5; 17:27. 3. Father of Bath-sheba, 1 Chr. 3:5. Called also Eliam, 2 Sam. 11:3. 4. Son of Obed-edom, 1 Chr. 26:5.
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  • Raja Daud yang Agung [KJ.75]
  • [2Sa 11:2] How David, When By Sin Deceived

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2 Samuel 11:3; Despondency

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • In this section the relationship that God had established with man, which is the focus of the creation story, is broken. We can gain a great insight into human nature from this story. Adam and Eve's behavior as recorded here ...
  • This chapter concludes the regulations on uncleanness (chs. 11-15)."The uncleanness laws start with uncleanness that is permanent: that associated with various animals and food (ch. 11). Then they deal with the uncleanness of...
  • At Jericho, Israel learned God's strength. At Ai, she learned her own weakness. She could only conquer her enemies as she remained faithful to God's covenant."We are never in greater danger than right after we have won a grea...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • The basic theme in Samuel, that blessing, and in particular fertility of all kinds, follows from faithful commitment to God's revealed will, continues in this section. However another major motif now becomes more prominent. W...
  • Since he had been unsuccessful in murdering David himself, Saul also tried to get other people to kill him (cf. 2 Sam. 11:15). Saul had promised his daughter in marriage to Goliath's victor (17:25). Nevertheless now Saul adde...
  • David thanked God for vindicating him and for preventing him from doing evil. Abigail had been the instrument that God had used to do this (v. 39). It was proper for David to give thanks since he had left Nabal in the Lord's ...
  • Ahimelech the Hittite may have been a foreign mercenary (cf. Uriah the Hittite, 2 Sam. 11:3). The writer may have mentioned him to show the extent of David's appeal. Abishai was David's nephew, one of the sons of his sister Z...
  • (Continued from notes on 1 Samuel)V. David's triumphs chs. 1-8A. The beginning of David's kingdom 1:1-3:51. David's discovery of Saul and Jonathan's deaths ch. 12. David's move to Hebron 2:1-4a3. David's overtures to Jabesh-g...
  • The first 20 chapters of 2 Samuel are divisible into four units each of which ends with a list of names that is four verses long (1:1-3:5; 3:6-5:16; 5:17-8:18; 9:1-20:26).2The first two units conclude with lists of David's so...
  • "Saul the king is dead, Jonathan the heir apparent is dead, Abinadab and Malki-Shua (two of Jonathan's brothers) are dead (1 Sam 31:2), Abner the commander of the army is dead--and no other viable claimants or pretenders cont...
  • "As the story of David's accession to kingship over Judah (1:1-3:5) parallels that of his accession to the throne of Israel (3:6-5:16), each concluding with a list of his sons (3:2-5; 5:13-16), so the account of his powerful ...
  • It was when God had subdued all of David's enemies that He gave this covenant to him (vv. 1, 9). Those enemies included the Ammonites with whom David was at war when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Ur...
  • The promises Yahweh made to David here are an important key to understanding God's program for the future.God rejected David's suggestion that he build a temple for the Lord and gave three reasons. First, there was no pressin...
  • "From the religious heights of chapter 7 we descend again to the everyday world of battles and bloodshed in chapter 8. The military action picks up where the story left off at the end of chapter 5."130Chapter 8 evidently desc...
  • Chapters 9-20 contrast with chapters 2-8 in that this later section is negative whereas the earlier one was positive. It records failure; the former records success. Compare the similar narrative of Saul's triumphs (1 Sam. 7-...
  • These chapters form a sub-section within the Court History portion of 2 Samuel.157The phrase "Now it happened"or "Now it was"(10:1; 13:1) always opens a new section.158Descriptions of Israel's victories over the Ammonites (10...
  • This section prepares for David's adultery with Bathsheba (ch. 11) by giving us the historical context in which that sin took place. It also shows David's growing power that led to his sinning.161This event must have taken pl...
  • These two chapters form a unit as is clear from their chiastic structure."A. David sends Joab to besiege Rabbah (11:1).B. David sleeps with Bathsheba, who becomes pregnant (11:2-5).C. David has Uriah killed (11:6-17).D. Joab ...
  • While Joab was continuing to subdue the Ammonites the following spring by besieging Rabbah (modern Amman, the capital of Jordan; cf. 10:7), David was residing in Jerusalem (11:1). By mentioning the fact that normally kings le...
  • David compounded his sin by trying to cover it up rather than confessing it. He tried three cover-ups: a "clean"one (vv. 6-11), a "dirty"one (vv. 12-13), and a "criminal"one (vv. 14-17).178David's suggestion that Uriah go hom...
  • At first, David piously tried to salve Joab's conscience for his complicity in Uriah's death (11:25). The Hebrew word translated "displease"literally means "be evil in your sight."David was calling what was sin something othe...
  • Why did God take the life of this child since its parents sinned?"That the child should be punished for what David did seems wrong. We need to remind ourselves, however, that even today innocent children suffer from the thing...
  • In spite of David's rebellion God granted his army victory over the Ammonites. David's military leaders evidently executed the defeated warriors (1 Chron. 20:3) and forced many of the people to do labor of various kinds to su...
  • This is the longest literary section in the Court History of David (chs. 9-20). It records Absalom's antagonism to David that resulted in the king having to flee Jerusalem, but it ends with David's defeat of his enemy and his...
  • Maacah bore Absalom while David was reigning in Hebron (3:3). He was David's third-born. Amnon, his first-born, was also born in Hebron but by Ahinoam (3:2). Both sons may have been in their late teens or early twenties at th...
  • Two sub-sections each begin with a reference to time (vv. 1, 7) and form a literary "diptych"(i.e., two complementary panals).233The first six verses explain how Absalom undermined popular confidence in the Lord's anointed fo...
  • This is the central unit of chapters 5-20, and its central focus is the judgment that Hushai's advice was better than Ahithophel's (17:14). This advice is the pivot on which the fortunes of David swung in his dealings with Ab...
  • "The account of Sheba's rebellion against David serves as a counterpoise to the story of Absalom's conspiracy (15:1-12) in chapters 15-20, which constitute the major part of the narrative that comprises chapters 13-20 (more p...
  • "With Joab's return to the king in Jerusalem, the grand symphony known as the Court History of David reaches its conclusion for all practical purposes (at least as far as the books of Samuel are concerned . . .). The last fou...
  • Achtemeier, Paul J., and Elizabeth Achtemeier. The Old Testament Roots of Our Faith. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979.Ackerman, James S. "Knowing Good and Evil: A Literary Ananysis of the Court History in 2 Samuel 9-20 and ...
  • The first segment of the writer's story (1:1-2:12) continues the history of Israel's monarchy where 2 Samuel ended. It records the final events in David's reign that led to Solomon's succession to the throne. It answers the q...
  • David had warned Solomon to keep Shimei under close observation and to put him to death (vv. 8-9). Evidently David realized because of Shimei's past actions that it would only be a matter of time before he would do something ...
  • Solomon's sin in going after other gods was the quintessence of covenant infidelity. David had sinned against God deliberately (2 Sam. 11), but his heart remained devoted to Yahweh. His sin was not as serious as Solomon's was...
  • Again God told Elijah to "go"(v. 18; cf. 17:3, 9; 18:1; 19:15). As a faithful servant, he went to confront the king again.226Ahab was not in Samaria then (v. 18) but in Jezreel (v. 19). The mention of Samaria was evidently an...
  • In this psalm David urged those who sin against the Lord to seek His pardon with the encouragement that He is gracious with the penitent. He will, however, chasten the unrepentant.Students of this penitential psalm have often...
  • In this psalm David confessed the sins he committed against Bathsheba and Uriah. It is a model of confession that has become extremely popular with God's people. Since we all sin so often and need to confess frequently, this ...
  • The rest of the book is quite different from what has preceded because of its positive message. As is true of other eighth-century prophets to Israel and Judah, Amos included hope in his prophecy (cf. Isa. 40-66; Hos. 1:10-2:...
  • Matthew began his Gospel with a record of Jesus' genealogy because the Christians claimed that Jesus was the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. To qualify as such He had to be a Jew from the royal line of David (Isa. 9:6-...
  • John began his version of this civil trial by narrating the initial public meeting of Pilate and Jesus' accusers.54318:28 "They"(NASB) refers to all the Jewish authorities (cf. Matt. 27:1-2; Mark 15:1; Luke 23:1). They led Je...
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