History · Chapter 11 of 24

2 Samuel 11

While his army besieges Rabbah, David stays in Jerusalem. From his roof he sees Bathsheba bathing, sends for her, and lies with her; she conceives. To hide it, David recalls her husband Uriah, but the loyal soldier will not go home to his wife. David then orders Joab to abandon Uriah in battle, and he is killed. David takes the widow as his wife, but the thing he has done displeases the LORD.

What happens in 2 Samuel 11

At the season when kings go to war, David sends Joab and the army against Ammon but stays behind in Jerusalem. One evening he sees from his roof a beautiful woman bathing, learns she is Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, and sends messengers to take her; he lies with her and she conceives. David tries to cover it: he summons Uriah from the front, urging him to go home, but the loyal soldier refuses to enjoy comfort while the ark and the army are in the field, even when David makes him drunk.

So David sends Uriah back carrying his death warrant, a letter ordering Joab to place him where the fighting is fiercest and then withdraw. Uriah is killed. Joab reports it; David shrugs it off, saying the sword devours one as well as another. Bathsheba mourns, then David takes her as his wife and she bears a son. The chapter's last line: the thing displeased the LORD.

2 Samuel 11 in context

This is the hinge of David's story. Everything before rises; from here everything falls, exactly as chapter 12 will explain. The writer never excuses David; he is at the height of his power, idle while others fight, and abuses that power against a subject and a foreigner faithful to Israel.

Uriah the Hittite, a convert-soldier, keeps a holiness David has abandoned. The account is told plainly, letting the horror of each step speak.

Main themes of 2 Samuel 11

2 Samuel 11 (KJV)

1And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. 2And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. 3And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 4And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. 5And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child. 6And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. 8And 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. 9But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. 10And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house? 11And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. 12And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. 13And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house. 14And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. 16And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. 17And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also. 18Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; 19And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king, 20And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? 21Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. 22So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for. 23And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate. 24And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king’s servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. 25Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him. 26And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

Verses to carry from 2 Samuel 11

“And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.”2 Samuel 11:2

“And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.”2 Samuel 11:15

“And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.”2 Samuel 11:27

Reflection

Sin rarely announces itself as murder; it begins with a look kept too long, a small step off the path of one's calling. David's fall warns that comfort and unaccountable power are dangerous ground. Where have you left your post? Notice the first step, and turn back before the cover-up begins.

A prayer from 2 Samuel 11