2Sa 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 servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.
After the year was expired - The next spring after the escape of the Ammonites into their city 2Sa_10:14. At the end of the year, which concluded with the month Adar or February, the spring of the year This was a fit time to go out to war; when the rains were over, and there were grass in the fields, and fruit on the trees, and corn ripe, and so food for horse and men.
David tarried at Jerusalem - The Syrians being subdued, the war with Ammon was not of sufficient moment to require David’s personal presence. The whole section relating to David’s adultery and Uriah’s death, from this verse to 2Sa_12:26, is omitted in the Book of Chronicles.
When kings go forth - This was about a year after the war with the Syrians spoken of before, and about the spring of the year, as the most proper season for military operations.
besieged Rabbah - their chief city.
2Sa 11:2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, 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.
An eveningtide - The evening began at three o’clock in the afternoon. Not in the dusk of the evening, for then he saw could not have seen Bathsheba distinctly.
David arose from off his bed - He had been reposing on the roof of his house, to enjoy the breeze, as the noonday was too hot for the performance of business. This is still a custom on the flat-roofed houses in parts of the MidEast.
David's Adultery - David's deep fall forms a turning-point not only in the inner life of the king, but also in the history of his reign. Up to this point, David had kept free from the grosser sins, and had only exhibited such infirmities and failings as simulation, prevarication, etc., which clung to all the saints of the Old Covenant. Among the unacknowledged sins which God tolerated because of the hardness of Israel's heart was polygamy, which encouraged licentiousness and the tendency to sensual excesses, and to which but a weak barrier had been presented by the warning that had been given for the Israelite kings against taking many wives Deu_17:17 Nor shall he multiply wives to himself, so that his heart does not turn away. Nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold to himself. The custom to which this notion gave rise opened a dangerous precipice in David's way, and led to a most grievous fall. This occasioned a long series of most severe humiliations and divine chastisements that marred the splendor of his reign, notwithstanding the fact that the great sin was followed by deep and sincere repentance.
2Sa 11:3 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?
The daughter of Eliam - Or Ammiel; a word of the same meaning, The people of my God, The God of my people. This name expressed the covenant - I will be your God; We will be thy people.1Ch_3:5 And these were born to him in Jerusalem Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four of Bathsheba the daughter of Ammiel the component words being placed in an inverse order. Bathsheba was the granddaughter of Ahithophel 2Sa_23:34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite; Eliam the son of Ahithophel, the Gilonite;
David sent and inquired after the woman - Instead of suppressing that desire which the sight of his eyes had kindled, he seeks rather to feed it; and first enquires who she was; that if she were unmarried, he might make her either his wife or his concubine. Jam_1:15 Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. And sin, when it is fully formed, brings forth death.
2Sa 11:4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.
he took her, and she came to him - there is no intimation whatever that David brought Bathsheba into his palace through craft or violence, but rather that she came at his request without any hesitation, and offered no resistance to his desires. However, a subject cannot easily refuse a king anything. Bathsheba is not to be regarded as free from blame. Nevertheless in any case the greatest guilt rests upon David, that he, a man upon whom the Lord had bestowed such grace, did not resist the temptation to the lust of the flesh, but sent to fetch the woman.
purified from her uncleanness - Defilement from sexual intercourse rendered unclean till the evening Bathsheba thought it her duty to observe this statute most scrupulously, though she did not shrink from committing the sin of adultery. Lev_15:18 And the woman with whom a man shall lie with emission of semen shall both bathe in water and be unclean until the evening.
she was purified from her uncleanness – some say this is the reason of her washing herself, which was not for health and pleasure, and to cool herself in a hot day, but to purify herself from her menstrual pollution, according to the law in Lev_15:19 And if a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh is blood, she shall be in her impurity seven days. And whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening.
and he lay with her - This is recorded to show that the best of men are, when left to themselves are still subject to the sinful condition of man; how strong and prevalent corrupt nature is in regenerate persons, when grace is not in exercise. It becomes us to abstain from all appearance of sin, and whatever leads unto it, and to watch and pray that we enter not into temptation.
2Sa 11:5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
And the woman conceived - Whereby the sin would be discovered, and shame, and disgrace, or worse, would follow upon it:
sent and told David - this message she sent to David, that he might think of some ways and means to prevent the scandal that would fall both upon him and her, and the danger she was exposed unto; fearing the outcries of the people against her; and the rage and jealousy of her husband when he should come to the knowledge of it, and the death which by the law required that both adulterer and adulteress should be put to death, Lev_20:10 And a man who commits adultery with a man's wife, who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
2Sa 11:6 And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
David sent to Joab - Who was with the army.
send me Uriah the Hittite - the scheme David had contrived in his mind was to get Uriah home to his wife for a few days, that it might be thought the child she had conceived was his, whereby the sin of David, and her own, might be concealed. David was forced to stoop to falsehood and dissimulation in the vain hope of hiding his sin.
Uriah the Hittite - According to 2Sa_23:39, Uriah was one of the gibborim (“mighty men”) of David, and therefore held some post of command in the army.
2Sa 11:7 And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.
2Sa 11:8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.
A mess of meat - The word denotes the honorable portion given by the host to his chief guest.
Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet - Uriah had come off a journey, and needed this refreshment. The Israelites were accustomed to wash their feet when they returned home from work or from a journey, to take refreshment and rest themselves. Consequently these words contained an intimation that he was to go and refresh himself in his own home. David’s design was that he should go and lie with his wife, that the child now conceived should pass for his, the honor of Bathsheba be screened, and his own crime concealed. At this time he had no design of the murder of Uriah, nor of taking Bathsheba to wife.
David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house — This sudden recall, the manner of the king, his frivolous questions, and his urgency for Uriah to sleep in his own house, possibly awakened suspicions of the cause of this procedure.
2Sa 11:9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
Slept at the door - That is, in one of the apartments or niches in the court of the king’s house. It is customary for servants to sleep in the porch or long gallery; and the guards of the Hebrew king did the same. Perhaps this arose solely from a high and honorable sense of military duty and propriety. It was by the providence of God, which directed him to act in this manner, that the sin of David and Bathsheba might be discovered.
with all the servants of his lord - The bodyguards, which were placed there to watch the palace in the night.
2Sa 11:10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?
And when they had told David - The next morning, either those that went with the mess of meat, or the guards with whom he slept all night informed him of this act of disobedience. Some might say this disobedience justifies the actions of David to sending him to his death, however it is clear from the full text that this is not why Uriah was sent to his death in battle.
2Sa 11:11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.
The ark, and Israel and Judah abide in tents - It appears that they had taken the ark with them to battle.
Uriah said unto David - As an apology for this conduct:
shall I then go into mine house – A sharp contrast to David. Uriah forgoes the lawful pleasures of the flesh while the army does battle with the enemies of God’s people, while David indulges his sin with the unlawful pleasures of the flesh.
2Sa 11:12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.
2Sa 11:13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.
He made him drunk - with the hope that when in this state he would give up his intention of not going home to his wife. But Uriah lay down again the next night to sleep with the king's servants, without going down to his house; for, according to the counsel and providence of God, David's sin was to be brought to lift to his deep humiliation. This was another sin of David's, done in order to make him forget his oath and vow
2Sa 11:14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
David wrote a letter - This was the sum of treachery and villany. He made this man the carrier of letters which prescribed the mode in which he was to be murdered. David compounds his original sin of adultery with Bathsheba, with the murder of her husband.
2Sa 11:15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
2Sa 11:16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were.
Observed the city - Where lay its greatest strength, and where it was best defended; or besieged it
2Sa 11:17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
There fell some of the people - They, too were victims of David’s cruel artifice, which made David's sin the more heinous, that several lives were lost through the stratagem he devised to procure the death of Uriah.
2Sa 11:18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;
2Sa 11:19 And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king,
And charged the messenger - Joab assumed that David might possibly be angry at what had occurred, or at any rate that he might express his displeasure at the fact that Joab had sacrificed a number of warriors by imprudently approaching close to the wall: he therefore instructed the messenger, if such should be the case, to announce Uriah's death to the king, for the purpose of mitigating his wrath.
2Sa 11:20 And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?
2Sa 11:21 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 went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
the son of Jerubbesheth – Another name of Jerubbaal, who was Gideon, Jdg_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?
a woman cast a millstone - which should have been a warning not to go too near the wall of an enemy; the history is recorded in Jdg_9:52-54 And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and went hard to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman threw a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. Then he called hastily to the young man who was his armor-bearer, and said to him, Draw your sword and kill me, so that men may not say of me, A woman killed him! And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also - 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.
2Sa 11:22 So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for.
2Sa 11:23 And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate.
2Sa 11:24 And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
2Sa 11:25 Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.
The sword devoureth one as well as another - What abominable hypocrisy. He well knew that Uriah’s death was not random; he was by his own order thrust on the edge of the sword. David's heart being hardened by sin, made light of the death of his brave soldiers, to which he himself was accessory; his conscience was very different now from what it was when he cut off the skirt of Saul's robe, and his heart in a different frame from that in which he composed the lamentation over Saul and Jonathan.
2Sa 11:26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
She mourned for her husband - Bathsheba’s mourning, like that of Abigail 1Sa_25:39-42, was probably limited to the customary time of seven days. The ordinary mourning of the Israelites lasted seven days (Gen_50:10; 1Sa_31:13). The whole of her conduct indicates that she observed the form without feeling the power of sorrow.
2Sa 11:27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
She became his wife - This hurried marriage was no doubt intended on both sides to cover the pregnancy.
the thing that David had done displeased the Lord - It was necessary to add this, lest the splendor of David’s former virtues should induce any to suppose his crimes were passed over, or looked on with an indulgent eye, by God. Sorely he sinned, and sorely did he suffer for it; he sowed one grain of sin, and reaped a long harvest of calamity and woe.
the thing that David had done displeased the Lord - it was not done in the eyes of men, being scarcely or very little known, yet was in the eyes of the Lord, which sees all things that are done: the adultery he had been guilty of with another man's wife was abominable to the Lord, and for which, according to the law, both he and she ought to have been put to death, Lev_20:10; the murder of her husband, which he was accessory to, as well as the death of many others, and the marriage of her under such circumstances, were all displeasing to God, and of such an heinous nature, that His eyes could not look upon with approbation The account of these two grievous sins on the part of David is then closed with the assurance that “the thing that David had done displeased the Lord,” which prepares the way for the following chapter.
