2 Samuel 11:20

20 and if the king begins to be angry and he should say unto thee, Why did you approach so near unto the city when ye fought? Did ye not know that which they can throw down from the wall?

2 Samuel 11:20 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 11:20

And if so be that the king's wrath arise
Which might be seen in his countenance, or expressed in his words:

and he say, wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did
fight?
as to expose the king's troops to the enemy on the wall, who by stones or darts greatly annoyed them, or sallied out on them, and killed many of them:

knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?
they must have known that, and therefore should have kept out of the reach of their shot.

2 Samuel 11:20 In-Context

18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war

19 and charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast finished telling the matters of the war unto the king,

20 and if the king begins to be angry and he should say unto thee, Why did you approach so near unto the city when ye fought? Did ye not know that which they can throw down from the wall?

21 Who 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 did you go near the wall? Then thou shalt say, Thy slave Uriah, the Hittite, is dead also.

22 So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him for.