2 Samuel 11 Study Notes: David, Bathsheba, and Uriah
While Joab besieges Rabbah, David stays in Jerusalem, takes Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, and she becomes pregnant. When the loyal Uriah refuses to go home, David has Joab arrange his death in battle. David then marries Bathsheba, but the LORD judges his deed as evil.
General
What did David do the next day in another attempt to send Uriah home (2 Samuel 11:13)?
Answer: He gave Uriah food and wine at his table until he was drunk
David kept Uriah in Jerusalem another day (11:12). Then he had Uriah dine with him and got him drunk. Even so, Uriah went out in the evening and slept on his mat among the king’s servants, and still stayed away from his house (11:13). Each failed attempt pushed David further rather than bringing him to confession. Scripture says that those who hide their sin will not prosper (Proverbs 28:13) and that sin will find a person out (Numbers 32:23).
- 2 Samuel 11:12 (BSB)““Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.”David keeps Uriah in Jerusalem another day.
- 2 Samuel 11:13 (BSB)“Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.”David makes Uriah drunk, but Uriah still does not go home.
- Proverbs 28:13 (BSB)“He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.”Hiding sin instead of confessing it brings no blessing.
- Numbers 32:23 (BSB)“But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.”Moses warned that sin would find out the one who committed it.
Theological
What further step did David take to get Uriah to go home (2 Samuel 11:13)?
Answer: He gave Uriah food and wine at his table until he was drunk
After detaining Uriah another day (11:12), David plied him with food and wine until he was drunk, yet Uriah again lay down among the royal servants rather than going home (11:13). Even intoxicated, Uriah kept his resolve; David, meanwhile, moved from deception to manipulation rather than repentance. Concealed sin does not prosper (Proverbs 28:13), and sin finds out the sinner (Numbers 32:23), as the next scene will show in its worst form.
- 2 Samuel 11:12 (BSB)““Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.”David keeps Uriah in Jerusalem another day.
- 2 Samuel 11:13 (BSB)“Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.”David makes Uriah drunk, but Uriah still does not go home.
- Proverbs 28:13 (BSB)“He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.”Hiding sin instead of confessing it brings no blessing.
- Numbers 32:23 (BSB)“But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.”Moses warned that sin would find out the one who committed it.
General
How did David reply to Joab after hearing that Uriah was dead (2 Samuel 11:25)?
Answer: He told Joab not to be troubled, since war takes lives at random
When the messenger reported the losses and the death of Uriah (11:23-24), David sent back a calm reply: Joab should not let the matter trouble him, because in battle the sword kills one man as easily as another. Joab should press the attack and overthrow the city, and the messenger should encourage him (11:25). The same David who had once torn his clothes and fasted for Saul, Jonathan and Israel’s fallen (1:11-12) now treated the death of a faithful soldier, and others with him, as an ordinary cost of war. His words hid his guilt rather than confessing it (Proverbs 28:13).
- 2 Samuel 11:25 (BSB)“Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.””David sends a reassuring message back to Joab about the losses.
- 2 Samuel 1:11-12 (BSB)“Then David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same. They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.”David had once torn his clothes and fasted for Saul, Jonathan and the fallen of Israel.
- Proverbs 28:13 (BSB)“He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.”Concealing sin does not prosper.
Theological
What message did David send back to Joab once Uriah’s death was reported (2 Samuel 11:25)?
Answer: He told Joab not to be troubled, since war takes lives at random
David’s response is chillingly composed: Joab is not to be distressed, since the sword devours indiscriminately; he should intensify the assault and destroy the city (11:25). The king who had once mourned and fasted for Saul, Jonathan and the fallen of Israel (1:11-12) now dismisses the death of a loyal warrior and his comrades as the ordinary fortunes of war. Concealed sin does not prosper (Proverbs 28:13).
- 2 Samuel 11:25 (BSB)“Then David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter upset you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him with these words.””David sends a reassuring message back to Joab about the losses.
- 2 Samuel 1:11-12 (BSB)“Then David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same. They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.”David had once torn his clothes and fasted for Saul, Jonathan and the fallen of Israel.
- Proverbs 28:13 (BSB)“He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.”Concealing sin does not prosper.
General
True or False: In the spring season for war, David personally led Israel’s army against the Ammonites (2 Samuel 11:1).
Answer: False
This is false. In the spring, the usual season for kings to campaign, David dispatched Joab with his officers and all of Israel’s troops. They devastated the Ammonites and laid siege to their city Rabbah, but David himself stayed behind in Jerusalem (11:1; 1 Chronicles 20:1). The war with Ammon had been left unfinished when the Ammonites withdrew into their city in the previous chapter (10:14). The narrator simply records where David was, and the events that follow take place there, away from the battle.
- 2 Samuel 11:1 (BSB)“In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.”In the season for war David sends Joab and the army against the Ammonites but stays in Jerusalem.
- 1 Chronicles 20:1 (BSB)“In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the Ammonites. He came to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. And Joab attacked Rabbah and demolished it.”The parallel account also records that Joab led the army to Rabbah while David stayed in Jerusalem.
- 2 Samuel 10:14 (BSB)“When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.”The Ammonites had withdrawn into their city at the end of the previous campaign, leaving the war unfinished.
Theological
True or False: David took the field himself when Israel’s army went out against Rabbah in the spring (2 Samuel 11:1).
Answer: False
This is false. At the customary season for campaigns, David dispatched Joab, his officers and all Israel; they ravaged Ammon and besieged Rabbah, while David remained at home in Jerusalem (11:1; 1 Chronicles 20:1). The Ammonite war had been left unresolved in chapter 10 (10:14).
- 2 Samuel 11:1 (BSB)“In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.”In the season for war David sends Joab and the army against the Ammonites but stays in Jerusalem.
- 1 Chronicles 20:1 (BSB)“In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, Joab led out the army and ravaged the land of the Ammonites. He came to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. And Joab attacked Rabbah and demolished it.”The parallel account also records that Joab led the army to Rabbah while David stayed in Jerusalem.
- 2 Samuel 10:14 (BSB)“When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans had fled, they too fled before Abishai, and they entered the city. So Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.”The Ammonites had withdrawn into their city at the end of the previous campaign, leaving the war unfinished.
General
When word came that the woman was pregnant, what was David’s first step (2 Samuel 11:5-6)?
Answer: He had Joab send Uriah back to him from the army
The text describes what happened briefly and places the initiative with David: he sent messengers to bring her and lay with her, and afterward she went back to her house (11:4). When she sent word that she was pregnant (11:5), David did not confess his sin. Instead he commanded Joab to send Uriah back to him (11:6), beginning an attempt to hide what he had done. Scripture warns that whoever conceals sin will not prosper (Proverbs 28:13), and James describes how sin, once it grows, leads to death (James 1:14-15), which is exactly where this cover-up will end.
- 2 Samuel 11:5 (BSB)“And the woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.””The woman sends word to David that she is pregnant.
- 2 Samuel 11:6 (BSB)“At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.”David orders Joab to send Uriah the Hittite to him.
- Proverbs 28:13 (BSB)“He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.”Concealing sin, rather than confessing it, does not prosper.
- James 1:14-15 (BSB)“But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”Sin that is not turned from grows and leads to death, as the following events show.
Theological
How did David respond to the news that the woman was pregnant (2 Samuel 11:5-6)?
Answer: He had Joab send Uriah back to him from the army
The narrator recounts the act tersely and places the initiative with David: it was he who sent for her and lay with her (11:4). Faced with the news of a pregnancy (11:5), David chose concealment rather than confession and summoned Uriah from the front (11:6). Concealed sin does not prosper (Proverbs 28:13), and unchecked desire matures into death (James 1:14-15), the very trajectory this chapter traces.
- 2 Samuel 11:5 (BSB)“And the woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.””The woman sends word to David that she is pregnant.
- 2 Samuel 11:6 (BSB)“At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.”David orders Joab to send Uriah the Hittite to him.
- Proverbs 28:13 (BSB)“He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.”Concealing sin, rather than confessing it, does not prosper.
- James 1:14-15 (BSB)“But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”Sin that is not turned from grows and leads to death, as the following events show.
General
What was David told when he asked about the woman he had seen from the palace roof (2 Samuel 11:3)?
Answer: She was Bathsheba, Uriah the Hittite’s wife
One evening David was walking on the palace roof and saw a woman washing herself (11:2). He sent to find out who she was and was told plainly that she was Bathsheba, Eliam’s daughter and Uriah the Hittite’s wife (11:3). So David knew she was married before he acted. Uriah was no stranger to him; he is listed among David’s own mighty warriors (23:39). God’s law forbade both coveting a neighbor’s wife and adultery (Exodus 20:14, 17), and David had just been told exactly whose wife she was.
- 2 Samuel 11:2 (BSB)“One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.”From the palace roof David sees a woman bathing.
- 2 Samuel 11:3 (BSB)“So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.””David sends to ask about the woman and is told who she is and whose wife she is.
- Exodus 20:17 (BSB)“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.””God’s law forbade coveting a neighbor’s wife.
- Exodus 20:14 (BSB)“You shall not commit adultery.”God’s law forbade adultery.
- 2 Samuel 23:39 (BSB)“and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all.”Uriah the Hittite is listed among David’s own mighty men.
Theological
What did David learn about the woman before he sent for her (2 Samuel 11:3)?
Answer: She was Bathsheba, Uriah the Hittite’s wife
David’s inquiry returned an unambiguous answer: the woman was Bathsheba, Eliam’s daughter and Uriah the Hittite’s wife (11:2-3). Whatever followed, David acted with full knowledge that she was another man’s wife, and the husband was one of his own elite warriors (23:39). The law’s prohibitions against coveting a neighbor’s wife and against adultery were therefore squarely in view (Exodus 20:14, 17).
- 2 Samuel 11:2 (BSB)“One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.”From the palace roof David sees a woman bathing.
- 2 Samuel 11:3 (BSB)“So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.””David sends to ask about the woman and is told who she is and whose wife she is.
- Exodus 20:17 (BSB)“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.””God’s law forbade coveting a neighbor’s wife.
- Exodus 20:14 (BSB)“You shall not commit adultery.”God’s law forbade adultery.
- 2 Samuel 23:39 (BSB)“and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all.”Uriah the Hittite is listed among David’s own mighty men.
General
What did David’s letter, carried to Joab by Uriah himself, instruct Joab to do (2 Samuel 11:15)?
Answer: Place Uriah in the hardest fighting, then pull back from him
In the morning David put orders for Joab in writing and had Uriah himself carry them (11:14). The orders told Joab to station Uriah where the fighting was fiercest and then pull the other soldiers back so that Uriah would be killed (11:15). This was a plan to murder a loyal soldier, and Uriah carried his own death order. God’s law forbade murder (Exodus 20:13), and the LORD later charged David directly with killing Uriah, though Ammonite swords did the deed (12:9). Scripture sums up David’s life as faithful to the LORD’s commands with the single exception of what he did to Uriah (1 Kings 15:5).
- 2 Samuel 11:14 (BSB)“The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.”David writes a letter to Joab and sends it by Uriah’s own hand.
- 2 Samuel 11:15 (BSB)“In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.””The letter orders Joab to arrange Uriah’s death in battle.
- 2 Samuel 12:9 (BSB)“Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.”The LORD holds David responsible for killing Uriah with the sword of the Ammonites.
- Exodus 20:13 (BSB)“You shall not murder.”God’s law forbade murder.
- 1 Kings 15:5 (BSB)“For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”Scripture later singles out the matter of Uriah as David’s great failure.
Theological
What did the letter David sent by Uriah’s hand order Joab to do (2 Samuel 11:15)?
Answer: Place Uriah in the hardest fighting, then pull back from him
David’s letter, delivered by its own victim (11:14), directed Joab to post Uriah in the thick of the fiercest fighting and then withdraw so that he would be killed (11:15). It was premeditated murder carried out by proxy. The LORD does not let the proxy excuse David: He charges David himself with striking Uriah down by the Ammonites’ sword (12:9; Exodus 20:13). Later Scripture names David’s treatment of Uriah as the great exception in David’s record of faithfulness (1 Kings 15:5).
- 2 Samuel 11:14 (BSB)“The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.”David writes a letter to Joab and sends it by Uriah’s own hand.
- 2 Samuel 11:15 (BSB)“In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.””The letter orders Joab to arrange Uriah’s death in battle.
- 2 Samuel 12:9 (BSB)“Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.”The LORD holds David responsible for killing Uriah with the sword of the Ammonites.
- Exodus 20:13 (BSB)“You shall not murder.”God’s law forbade murder.
- 1 Kings 15:5 (BSB)“For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”Scripture later singles out the matter of Uriah as David’s great failure.
General
What is the narrator’s verdict at the end of the chapter on what David had done (2 Samuel 11:27)?
Answer: The LORD regarded David’s deed as evil
Uriah’s wife mourned when she learned of his death (11:26). Once the mourning period had passed, David brought her to his house, married her, and she gave birth to his son (11:27). To any observer the matter now looked settled. But the narrator places the guilt where it belongs: what David had done displeased the LORD as evil (11:27). The LORD saw what was hidden from people (Hebrews 4:13), and in the next chapter He charges David with despising His command (12:9). David himself would later confess the same (Psalm 51:4).
- 2 Samuel 11:26 (BSB)“When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.”Uriah’s wife mourns for her husband.
- 2 Samuel 11:27 (BSB)“And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.”David takes her as his wife, she bears a son, and the narrator gives the LORD’s verdict.
- 2 Samuel 12:9 (BSB)“Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.”Through Nathan the LORD charges David with despising His command by doing evil in His sight.
- Psalm 51:4 (BSB)“Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.”David later confesses that he sinned against God and did what is evil in His sight.
- Hebrews 4:13 (BSB)“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”Nothing is hidden from God’s sight.
Theological
How does the narrator evaluate David’s conduct in the chapter’s closing line (2 Samuel 11:27)?
Answer: The LORD regarded David’s deed as evil
Bathsheba mourns her husband (11:26); David then brings her into his house as his wife, and a son is born (11:27). Outwardly the cover-up has succeeded. The final clause overturns everything: the LORD judged David’s deed to be evil (11:27). The guilt is placed squarely on David. Nothing is hidden from God (Hebrews 4:13); Nathan will deliver precisely this charge (12:9), and David’s own confession will echo it (Psalm 51:4).
- 2 Samuel 11:26 (BSB)“When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.”Uriah’s wife mourns for her husband.
- 2 Samuel 11:27 (BSB)“And when the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.”David takes her as his wife, she bears a son, and the narrator gives the LORD’s verdict.
- 2 Samuel 12:9 (BSB)“Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.”Through Nathan the LORD charges David with despising His command by doing evil in His sight.
- Psalm 51:4 (BSB)“Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge.”David later confesses that he sinned against God and did what is evil in His sight.
- Hebrews 4:13 (BSB)“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”Nothing is hidden from God’s sight.
General
What did Joab tell the messenger to add if David grew angry over how the battle was fought (2 Samuel 11:21)?
Answer: That the king’s servant Uriah had been killed as well
Joab expected David to be angry that the troops had gone right up near the wall, and even to bring up Abimelech, who had died when a woman at Thebez dropped a millstone from a tower (11:20-21; Judges 9:50-53). If that happened, the messenger was to add that Uriah the Hittite was dead as well (11:21). Joab knew this was the very news that David’s letter had called for (11:15). The message made Joab a knowing partner in David’s crime, and the LORD would soon confront David with it (12:9).
- 2 Samuel 11:20 (BSB)“if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall?”Joab predicts that the king may become angry and question the tactics.
- 2 Samuel 11:21 (BSB)“Who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’””Joab tells the messenger what to add if the king is angry.
- Judges 9:52 (BSB)“When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire.”At Thebez Abimelech went right up to the tower entrance, the approach that cost him his life.
- 2 Samuel 12:9 (BSB)“Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.”The LORD later confronts David with Uriah’s death, which this message was meant to report.
Theological
What news did Joab instruct the messenger to give if the king became angry at the losses (2 Samuel 11:21)?
Answer: That the king’s servant Uriah had been killed as well
Joab anticipated a rebuke for approaching the wall, complete with the precedent of Abimelech’s death at Thebez (11:20-21; Judges 9:50-53), and supplied the answer that would silence it: Uriah the Hittite was also dead (11:21). The message shows Joab’s full complicity and David’s guilt in a single line, the crime that the LORD would shortly lay bare through Nathan (12:9).
- 2 Samuel 11:20 (BSB)“if the king’s anger flares, he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Did you not realize they would shoot from atop the wall?”Joab predicts that the king may become angry and question the tactics.
- 2 Samuel 11:21 (BSB)“Who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who dropped an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then you are to say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead as well.’””Joab tells the messenger what to add if the king is angry.
- Judges 9:52 (BSB)“When Abimelech came to attack the tower, he approached its entrance to set it on fire.”At Thebez Abimelech went right up to the tower entrance, the approach that cost him his life.
- 2 Samuel 12:9 (BSB)“Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.”The LORD later confronts David with Uriah’s death, which this message was meant to report.
General
True or False: Uriah was the only one of David’s men killed in the attack Joab arranged (2 Samuel 11:17).
Answer: False
This is false. Joab posted Uriah at the spot he knew the toughest defenders held (11:16). When the city’s defenders came out to attack, a number of David’s soldiers were killed, and Uriah was among the dead (11:17). The messenger’s report confirms that several of the king’s men were killed (11:24). David’s plan to hide one sin cost the lives of other soldiers as well. Sin that is allowed to grow produces death (James 1:15), and the LORD later held David accountable for Uriah’s death (12:9).
- 2 Samuel 11:16 (BSB)“So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew the strongest enemy soldiers were.”Joab assigns Uriah to the place where he knows the strongest enemy fighters are.
- 2 Samuel 11:17 (BSB)“And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died.”In the fighting some of David’s servants fall, and Uriah dies too.
- 2 Samuel 12:9 (BSB)“Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.”The LORD later charges David with Uriah’s death by the Ammonites’ sword.
- James 1:15 (BSB)“Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”Sin, once it has grown, brings forth death.
Theological
True or False: Joab’s maneuver killed Uriah alone and no other Israelite soldiers (2 Samuel 11:17).
Answer: False
This is false. Joab assigned Uriah to the sector held by the strongest defenders (11:16), and in the sortie that followed several of David’s soldiers died along with Uriah (11:17; cf. 11:24). David’s cover-up claimed other lives besides its intended target. Sin full-grown brings forth death (James 1:15), and the LORD lays the blood of Uriah at David’s door (12:9).
- 2 Samuel 11:16 (BSB)“So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew the strongest enemy soldiers were.”Joab assigns Uriah to the place where he knows the strongest enemy fighters are.
- 2 Samuel 11:17 (BSB)“And when the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of David’s servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died.”In the fighting some of David’s servants fall, and Uriah dies too.
- 2 Samuel 12:9 (BSB)“Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.”The LORD later charges David with Uriah’s death by the Ammonites’ sword.
- James 1:15 (BSB)“Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”Sin, once it has grown, brings forth death.
General
True or False: After David urged Uriah to head home and rest, Uriah went home to his wife that night (2 Samuel 11:9).
Answer: False
This is false. David asked Uriah about Joab, the troops and the war, then urged him to head home and rest, and the king sent a gift after him (11:7-8). Uriah never went to his house. He spent the night at the palace doorway among the king’s servants (11:9). David’s purpose in sending Uriah home was to hide his sin, but it did not stay hidden. The LORD later told David that he had acted secretly, yet His judgment would come openly before the whole nation (12:12), and Jesus taught that nothing concealed will stay hidden (Luke 12:2).
- 2 Samuel 11:8 (BSB)“Then 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.”David tells Uriah to go down to his house, and a gift from the king follows him.
- 2 Samuel 11:9 (BSB)“But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.”Uriah sleeps at the palace entrance with the king’s servants instead of going home.
- 2 Samuel 12:12 (BSB)“You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’””The LORD tells David that he acted secretly, but the judgment will come openly.
- Luke 12:2 (BSB)“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.”Nothing hidden will stay hidden, as David’s attempt to conceal his sin would show.
Theological
True or False: Uriah obeyed David’s suggestion and spent the night at his own house (2 Samuel 11:9).
Answer: False
This is false. After a show of interest in the campaign, David urged Uriah to go home and sent a royal gift after him (11:7-8), but Uriah spent the night at the palace door among the king’s servants (11:9). David’s plan depended on secrecy, yet the LORD’s later word exposed it, setting David’s secret deed against the open judgment that would follow (12:12); nothing concealed remains hidden (Luke 12:2).
- 2 Samuel 11:8 (BSB)“Then 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.”David tells Uriah to go down to his house, and a gift from the king follows him.
- 2 Samuel 11:9 (BSB)“But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.”Uriah sleeps at the palace entrance with the king’s servants instead of going home.
- 2 Samuel 12:12 (BSB)“You have acted in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’””The LORD tells David that he acted secretly, but the judgment will come openly.
- Luke 12:2 (BSB)“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.”Nothing hidden will stay hidden, as David’s attempt to conceal his sin would show.
General
What reason did Uriah give David for refusing to go home (2 Samuel 11:11)?
Answer: The ark and his fellow soldiers were camped out in the field
Uriah said that the ark, Israel and Judah were living in tents, and his commander Joab and the soldiers were camping out in the countryside. How could he go home to eat, drink and lie with his wife? He swore by the king’s life that he would not do it (11:11). Uriah, a Hittite by birth and one of David’s mighty men (23:39), showed loyalty to the LORD’s ark and to his fellow soldiers. David himself had once said that his men kept themselves from women when on a mission (1 Samuel 21:5). The contrast is sharp: the foreign-born soldier refused the comforts that the king, who had stayed home, had taken for himself.
- 2 Samuel 11:11 (BSB)“Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!””Uriah explains why he will not go home while the ark and the army are in the field.
- 2 Samuel 23:39 (BSB)“and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all.”Uriah the Hittite is named among David’s mighty men.
- 1 Samuel 21:5 (BSB)“David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I set out. And the bodies of the young men are holy even on common missions. How much more so today!””David himself had once said his men kept away from women while on a mission.
Theological
On what grounds did Uriah refuse to return to his own home (2 Samuel 11:11)?
Answer: The ark and his fellow soldiers were camped out in the field
Uriah’s reply is a model of integrity: with the ark, Israel and Judah in tents and Joab’s army camped in the field, he would not enjoy food, drink and his wife at home, and he confirmed it with an oath on the king’s life (11:11). This Hittite, one of David’s elite warriors (23:39), honors the discipline David himself once described for men on campaign (1 Samuel 21:5). His faithfulness stands as an unspoken indictment of the king who stayed in Jerusalem and took another man’s wife.
- 2 Samuel 11:11 (BSB)“Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!””Uriah explains why he will not go home while the ark and the army are in the field.
- 2 Samuel 23:39 (BSB)“and Uriah the Hittite. There were thirty-seven in all.”Uriah the Hittite is named among David’s mighty men.
- 1 Samuel 21:5 (BSB)“David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I set out. And the bodies of the young men are holy even on common missions. How much more so today!””David himself had once said his men kept away from women while on a mission.