2 Samuel 11:15

15 He wrote: "Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is heaviest, then retreat and let him be 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 David invited him to supper and got him drunk. But again that night Uriah did not go home; instead he slept on his blanket in the palace guardroom.

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

15 He wrote: "Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is heaviest, then retreat and let him be killed."

16 So while Joab was besieging the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew the enemy was strong.

17 The enemy troops came out of the city and fought Joab's forces; some of David's officers were killed, and so was Uriah.