2 Samuel 11:15

15 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.”

2 Samuel 11:15 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 11:15

And he wrote in the letter, saying
Giving the following orders to Joab:

set ye Uriah is the forefront of the hottest battle:
over against that part of the city where the enemy was strongest, and the battle the fiercest, and the stones and arrows were cast the thickest:

and retire ye from him;
leave him to himself to combat the enemy alone; who seeing him deserted, would sally out upon him, and the few that might be with him, and slay him:

that he may be smitten, and die;
thus he sought to add murder to adultery, and that in the basest manner, and which he accomplished; and this is often the case, that murder follows adultery, either by way of revenge for it, or in order to cover it, as here.

2 Samuel 11:15 In-Context

13 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.

14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

15 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.”

16 So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew the strongest enemy soldiers were.

17 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.