2 Samuel 11:4

11:4 David sent some messengers to get her. ¹  She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. ²  (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.) ³  Then she returned to her home.

2 Samuel 11:9

11:9 But Uriah stayed at the door of the palace with all ⁴  the servants of his lord. He did not go down to his house.

2 Samuel 12:24

12:24 So David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He went to her and had marital relations with her. ⁵  She gave birth to a son, and David ⁶  named him Solomon. Now the Lord loved the child ⁷ 

[11:4]  ¹ tn Heb “and David sent messengers and he took her.”

[11:4]  ² tn Heb “he lay with her” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “he made love to her”; NIV, CEV, NLT “he slept with her.”

[11:4]  ³ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause further heightens the tension by letting the reader know that Bathsheba, having just completed her menstrual cycle, is ripe for conception. See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 286. Since she just had her period, it will also be obvious to those close to the scene that Uriah, who has been away fighting, cannot be the father of the child.

[11:9]  ⁴ tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation lacks the word “all.”

[12:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he lay with her.”

[12:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (David) has been specified in the translation for clarity. While some translations render the pronoun as third person plural (“they”), implying that both David and Bathsheba together named the child, it is likely that the name “Solomon,” which is related to the Hebrew word for “peace” (and may be derived from it) had special significance for David, who would have regarded the birth of a second child to Bathsheba as a confirming sign that God had forgiven his sin and was at peace with him.

[12:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “him,” referring to the child.