2 Samuel 11

2 Samuel 11 recounts King David’s tragic moral failure. During a time when kings typically went to battle, David remained in Jerusalem, setting the stage for his encounter with Bathsheba. His actions led to adultery, deception, and eventually the death of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. This chapter marks a turning point in David’s life, leading to deep consequences both for him and his kingdom.

2 Samuel 11:1 (NKJV)
1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

David did not go out to battle as kings usually did in the spring, allowing himself to be in a position of temptation. By staying back in Jerusalem, he was idle while his men fought, demonstrating a lack of vigilance. His decision to stay behind ultimately led to his downfall.

2 Samuel 11:2-5 (NKJV)
2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.
3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.
5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

David's walk on the roof led to his temptation when he saw Bathsheba. Instead of turning away, he inquired about her and, despite knowing she was married, pursued his desire. This sin of adultery had severe consequences, as Bathsheba conceived a child. David’s impulsive act escalated into a serious moral failure.

2 Samuel 11:6-8 (NKJV)
6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David.
7 When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered.
8 And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him.

David attempted to cover up his sin by bringing Uriah back from the battlefield, pretending to be concerned about the war. He hoped that Uriah would go home and sleep with his wife, making it appear as though the child was Uriah’s. This was David’s first step in trying to conceal his wrongdoing.

2 Samuel 11:9-11 (NKJV)
9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.
10 So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”
11 And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”

Uriah, out of loyalty and integrity, refused to enjoy the comforts of home while his comrades were still on the battlefield. His refusal to sleep with his wife thwarted David’s plan to cover up the pregnancy. Uriah’s uprightness contrasts sharply with David’s deceitful actions, highlighting David’s moral decline in this moment.

2 Samuel 11:12-13 (NKJV)
12 Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.
13 Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

David, desperate to conceal his sin, made another attempt by getting Uriah drunk, hoping he would lose his resolve and go to his wife. However, even in a drunken state, Uriah’s sense of duty prevailed, and he still did not return to his home. David’s actions became increasingly manipulative as he struggled to cover up his sin.

2 Samuel 11:14-15 (NKJV)
14 In the morning it happened 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 retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.”

David, seeing no other way to hide his sin, resorted to murder. He sent Uriah back to the battlefield with a letter that sealed his own death. This act of treachery against an innocent man revealed how far David had fallen. The sin of adultery now escalated into murder, further distancing David from righteousness.

2 Samuel 11:16-17 (NKJV)
16 So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men.
17 Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

Joab followed David’s orders and placed Uriah in a vulnerable position in the battle. As a result, Uriah was killed along with other soldiers. This tragic event fulfilled David’s plan to rid himself of Uriah, but it came at the cost of innocent lives. David’s secret sin had now led to the deaths of loyal men.

2 Samuel 11:18-21 (NKJV)
18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war,
19 and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king,
20 if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?
21 Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’—then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”

Joab anticipated that David might question the strategy of placing soldiers too close to the city wall, a dangerous move in battle. However, Joab had prepared the messenger to report Uriah’s death, knowing that this news would appease David’s concerns. Joab’s actions reflected his loyalty to David, even though he was complicit in carrying out David’s unjust orders.

2 Samuel 11:22-24 (NKJV)
22 So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him.
23 And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate.
24 The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”

The messenger faithfully delivered Joab’s report, describing the events of the battle and ultimately informing David of Uriah’s death. David’s plan had been successfully executed, but the cost of life was significant. The messenger’s tone suggests that Uriah’s death was just another casualty of war, further emphasizing the coldness of the situation.

2 Samuel 11:25 (NKJV)
25 Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.”

David attempted to downplay Uriah’s death, telling the messenger to encourage Joab with the idea that death is an inevitable part of war. His words were intended to comfort Joab, but they reveal David’s further hardening of heart. He acted as though Uriah’s death was just a part of battle, concealing his guilt.

2 Samuel 11:26-27 (NKJV)
26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
27 And when her mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

After Uriah’s death, Bathsheba mourned for him as was customary. Once the mourning period ended, David took her as his wife, thinking his sin was now hidden. However, this verse concludes with a sobering statement—what David had done displeased the Lord. Despite David’s efforts to cover his sin, God saw and was not pleased, setting the stage for future consequences.