2 Samuel 11:21

21 Who killed Abimelech son of Jerubbaal? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?' then you shall say, "Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.' "

2 Samuel 11:21 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 11:21

Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth?
&c.] The same with Jerubbaal, who was Gideon, ( Judges 6:32 ) ; Baal, one part of his name, was the name of an idol, and sometimes called Bosheth or Besheth, which signifies shame, being a shameful idol; Gideon had a son called Abimelech, who was smitten, and it is here asked, by whom?

did not a woman cast a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died
in Thebez?
which should have been a warning not to go too near the wall of an enemy; the history is recorded in ( Judges 9:52 Judges 9:53 ) ;

why went ye nigh the wall?
exposing your lives to so much danger, and by which so many lives were lost:

then say thou, thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also;
the whole has not been told, the worst of all is, as the messenger was to represent it, that brave gallant soldier Uriah is dead; this Joab ordered to be told last, as knowing very well it would pacify the king's wrath, and was the agreeable news he wanted to hear.

2 Samuel 11:21 In-Context

19 and he instructed the messenger, "When you have finished telling the king all the news about the fighting,
20 then, if the king's anger rises, and if he says to you, "Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?
21 Who killed Abimelech son of Jerubbaal? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?' then you shall say, "Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.' "
22 So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell.
23 The messenger said to David, "The men gained an advantage over us, and came out against us in the field; but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Gk Syr Judg 7.1: Heb [Jerubbesheth]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.