2 Samuel 11

1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab and his slaves with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

2 And it came to pass one evening, 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.

3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah, the Hittite?

4 And David sent messengers and took her, and she came in unto him, and he lay with her. Then she purified herself from her uncleanness, and she returned unto her house.

5 And the woman conceived and sent and told David and said, I am with child.

6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.

7 And when Uriah had come unto him, David asked him how Joab was and how the people were and how the war prospered.

8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and royal food was sent unto him.

9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the slaves of his lord and did not go down to his house.

10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah did not go down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Didst thou not come from thy journey? Why then didst thou not go down to thy house?

11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark and Israel and Judah abide in tents, and my lord Joab and the slaves of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? By thy life and by the life of thy soul, I will not do this thing.

12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here today also, and tomorrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day and the next day.

13 And when David had called him, he ate and drank before him, and he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with the slaves of his lord but did not go down to his house.

14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire from him, that he may be smitten and die.

16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that the most valiant men were.

17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the people of the slaves of David fell, and Uriah the Hittite died also.

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.

23 And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us and came out unto us into the field, and we made them retreat unto the entering of the gate.

24 And the archers shot from off the wall upon thy slaves, and some of the king’s slaves are dead, and thy slave Uriah, the Hittite, is dead also.

25 Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devours one as well as another; strengthen the battle against the city until it is overthrown and encourage thou him.

26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah, her husband, was dead, she mourned for her husband.

27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and gave birth to a son unto him. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

2 Samuel 11 Commentary

Chapter 11

David's adultery. (1-5) He tries to conceal his crime. (6-13) Uriah murdered. (14-27)

Verses 1-5 Observe the occasions of David's sin; what led to it. 1. Neglect of his business. He tarried at Jerusalem. When we are out of the way of our duty, we are in temptation. 2. Love of ease: idleness gives great advantage to the tempter. 3. A wandering eye. He had not, like Job, made a covenant with his eyes, or, at this time, he had forgotten it. And observe the steps of the sin. See how the way of sin is down-hill; when men begin to do evil, they cannot soon stop. Observe the aggravations of the sin. How could David rebuke or punish that in others, of which he was conscious that he himself was guilty?

Verses 6-13 Giving way to sin hardens the heart, and provokes the departure of the Holy Spirit. Robbing a man of his reason, is worse than robbing him of his money; and drawing him into sin, is worse than drawing him into any wordly trouble whatever.

Verses 14-27 Adulteries often occasion murders, and one wickedness is sought to be covered by another. The beginnings of sin are much to be dreaded; for who knows where they will end? Can a real believer ever tread this path? Can such a person be indeed a child of God? Though grace be not lost in such an awful case, the assurance and consolation of it must be suspended. All David's life, spirituality, and comfort in religion, we may be sure were lost. No man in such a case can have evidence to be satisfied that he is a believer. The higher a man's confidence is, who has sunk in wickedness, the greater his presumption and hypocrisy. Let not any one who resembles David in nothing but his transgressions, bolster up his confidence with this example. Let him follow David in his humiliation, repentance, and his other eminent graces, before he thinks himself only a backslider, and not a hypocrite. Let no opposer of the truth say, These are the fruits of faith! No; they are the effects of corrupt nature. Let us all watch against the beginnings of self-indulgence, and keep at the utmost distance from all evil. But with the Lord there is mercy and plenteous redemption. He will cast out no humble, penitent believer; nor will he suffer Satan to pluck his sheep out of his hand. Yet the Lord will recover his people, in such a way as will mark his abhorrence of their crimes, to hinder all who regard his word from abusing the encouragements of his mercy.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 11

This chapter begins with the destruction of the Ammonites, and the siege of Rabbah their chief city, 2Sa 11:1; and enlarges on the sins of David in committing adultery with Bathsheba, 2Sa 11:2-5; in contriving to conceal his sin by sending for her husband home from the army, 2Sa 11:6-13; in laying a scheme for the death of him by the hand of the Ammonites, 2Sa 11:14-25; and in marrying Bathsheba when he was dead, 2Sa 11:26,27.