2 Samuel 11 Study Notes

11:1 Spring was an optimal time for kings to march out to war. The crops were growing and thus men were not needed as badly to work the fields, and the winter rains were letting up. David’s forces under Joab had already put down the Ammonite threat (10:14), but David could not leave them unchecked. Israelite forces besieged Rabbah, the Ammonite capital. The words David remained in Jerusalem do not necessarily suggest David committed sin or folly by doing so. His men may have encouraged him to stay out of the battle (21:15-17), and David had not participated fully in some other battles as well (10:7).

11:2 The roof of the king’s palace was probably on the highest ground, providing the king a commanding view of Jerusalem. He saw a woman bathing (lit “washing”); the text does not suggest she did so intentionally to lure David into an encounter.

11:3 David discovered the woman’s identity—she was Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam (one of David’s elite warriors; 23:34) and the wife of Uriah the Hethite (another of David’s elite soldiers, 23:39, see note at Gn 15:18-21). Bathsheba also may have been the granddaughter of Ahithophel, one of David’s most trusted counselors (2Sm 23:34). At any rate, her married status rendered her off-limits to the king.

11:4 David . . . slept with her—meaning he had intercourse with her. The narrative is silent about Bathsheba’s feelings about coming to the palace and submitting to the king’s wishes. Apparently the intent of the biblical writer was to place ultimate blame where it belonged—with Israel’s king.

11:5 The news of Bathsheba’s pregnancy presented special problems for the king because her husband Uriah had been away fighting the Ammonites and thus could not be the father of the child.

11:6 David sent orders to Joab without revealing the reason he was summoning Uriah.

11:7 Uriah must have wondered why the king had summoned him—one of David’s valiant warriors—when a simple messenger could bring news about the war (v. 18).

11:8 The words of the king to Uriah, wash your feet, suggested a time of gentle relaxing at Uriah’s house, where Bathsheba might arrange an intimate evening with her husband to make it appear that he was the baby’s father. David even sent a gift along—probably some choice food and drink.

11:9-10 David questioned Uriah about his refusal to go home as the king had invited him to do, while being careful not to appear overly eager to make sure Uriah went home.

11:11 Uriah answered David as a true soldier. With Israel’s army engaging the enemy in battle, he would not leave the battlefield to enjoy the comforts of home. Ironically, Uriah swore by the king’s own life to disobey David’s command.

11:12 David delayed Uriah’s return a few days while he contrived another plan.

11:13 David got Uriah drunk in an effort to get him to wander home to Bathsheba, but he did not go home. The king was becoming more desperate to cover his misdeed.

11:14 The letter to Joab ordering Uriah’s death was delivered by Uriah’s own hand.

11:15-17 Joab, a brilliant general, had to wonder what Uriah had done to deserve death, but he obeyed David’s order.

11:18-20 Messengers (not elite soldiers as with Uriah, v. 6) routinely ran between battle lines and Jerusalem to provide updates on the war (18:19-23; 1Sm 4:12-17). Joab knew that David, an experienced military man in his own right, might respond angrily if he heard a bad report that included what he considered foolish military tactics.

11:21 The account of Abimelech dying from an upper millstone that was thrown from the top of the wall was a vivid example from Israel’s history (Jdg 9:50-54). The messenger must have wondered, however, why Joab’s suggestion to tell the king that Uriah the Hethite was dead might appease David’s anger. Now two people, besides David and Bathsheba, knew a piece of David’s secret.

11:22-24 The messenger followed Joab’s instructions, but he did not wait for the king’s reply to share the news of Uriah’s death.

11:25 Again, when David told the messenger an encouraging word to relay to Joab, the messenger must have wondered why the king would have received the news without even challenging Joab’s strategy as Joab had anticipated he might (vv. 20-21). As is almost always the case, sin proved hard to hide for David.

11:26 The text’s description of Bathsheba only as Uriah’s wife is probably intentional to accent David’s sin. She mourned for Uriah, probably putting on mourner’s clothes (Jr 6:26), throwing dirt or ashes on her head (2Sm 1:2), sitting in the dirt (Is 47:1), fasting (1Sm 31:13), and weeping.

11:27 The time of mourning is not given. Israel mourned Moses for thirty days (Dt 34:8), but Uriah’s mourning probably was not that long. David then brought Bathsheba to his house, and soon she bore him a son. The king might have escaped detection from some who might have been in a position to report him—except that the Lord had seen the entire ugly ordeal.