2 Samuel 11 Footnotes

11:2 In ancient Israel all houses had flat roofs. Since houses were not air-conditioned and building space was limited within cities, roofs were used as living space. During daylight hours they were used much like patios or decks are today, and at night they might be used as a place to sleep (Dt 22:8; 1Sm 9:25-26). It would not have been unusual for David to walk around on the roof. His palace was probably located at the highest point in the city, and his view from the patio roof would have included the entire city below.

11:2 Why was Bathsheba bathing outside where David could see her? The law of Moses declared that a woman in her menstrual cycle would be unclean for seven days, after which the impurity caused by her blood flow would be cleansed with water (Lv 15:21,27). Verse 4 suggests that Bathsheba was performing this monthly ritual act. Ancient Israelite homes had no indoor plumbing or bathtubs; ritual washings would regularly be done outside, perhaps in the private courtyard of a house or near a public water supply. David may have seen her as she was in her courtyard.

11:8-9 Uriah was on active military duty and devoted to the Lord. Service in battle was considered an act of service to the Lord, and David had required his men to refrain from sexual contact while on duty (1Sm 21:5; see Ex 19:15). Based on the example of Achan (Jos 7), Uriah knew that if even one soldier offended God by violating a divine guideline the whole army might be punished. To protect his fellow soldiers he ignored David’s suggestion that he sleep with his wife (“wash your feet” is a euphemism for intercourse).

11:21 Abimelech was the son of Gideon, also called Jerubbaal (Jdg 6:32; 9:1). To avoid pronouncing or writing the title of the Canaanite deity Baal (Ex 23:13), the author of 2 Samuel substituted the word bosheth (“shame, abomination”) as an element in Gideon’s alternate name.