1 And it came to pass, after the year H8141 was expired, H8666 at the time H6256 when kings H4428 H4397 go forth H3318 to battle, that David H1732 sent H7971 Joab, H3097 and his servants H5650 with him, and all Israel; H3478 and they destroyed H7843 the children H1121 of Ammon, H5983 and besieged H6696 Rabbah. H7237 But David H1732 tarried still H3427 at Jerusalem. H3389
And it came to pass, that after H6256 the year H8141 was expired, H8666 at the time H6256 that kings H4428 go out H3318 to battle, Joab H3097 led forth H5090 the power H2428 of the army, H6635 and wasted H7843 the country H776 of the children H1121 of Ammon, H5983 and came H935 and besieged H6696 Rabbah. H7237 But David H1732 tarried H3427 at Jerusalem. H3389 And Joab H3097 smote H5221 Rabbah, H7237 and destroyed H2040 it.
And the prophet H5030 came H5066 to the king H4428 of Israel, H3478 and said H559 unto him, Go, H3212 strengthen H2388 thyself, and mark, H3045 and see H7200 what thou doest: H6213 for at the return H8666 of the year H8141 the king H4428 of Syria H758 will come up H5927 against thee.
For only Og H5747 king H4428 of Bashan H1316 remained H7604 of the remnant H3499 of giants; H7497 behold, his bedstead H6210 was a bedstead H6210 of iron; H1270 is it not H3808 in Rabbath H7237 of the children H1121 of Ammon? H5983 nine H8672 cubits H520 was the length H753 thereof, and four H702 cubits H520 the breadth H7341 of it, after the cubit H520 of a man. H376
And when the year H8141 was expired, H8666 king H4428 Nebuchadnezzar H5019 sent, H7971 and brought H935 him to Babylon, H894 with the goodly H2532 vessels H3627 of the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and made Zedekiah H6667 his brother H251 king H4427 over Judah H3063 and Jerusalem. H3389
And Joab H3097 fought H3898 against Rabbah H7237 of the children H1121 of Ammon, H5983 and took H3920 the royal H4410 city. H5892 And Joab H3097 sent H7971 messengers H4397 to David, H1732 and said, H559 I have fought H3898 against Rabbah, H7237 and have taken H3920 the city H5892 of waters. H4325 Now therefore gather H622 the rest H3499 of the people H5971 together, H622 and encamp H2583 against the city, H5892 and take H3920 it: lest I take H3920 the city, H5892 and it be called H7121 after my name. H8034
A time H6256 to love, H157 and a time H6256 to hate; H8130 a time H6256 of war, H4421 and a time H6256 of peace. H7965
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Samuel 11
Commentary on 2 Samuel 11 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 11
What David said of the mournful report of Saul's death may more fitly be applied to the sad story of this chapter, the adultery and murder David was guilty of.-"Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon.' We wish we could draw a veil over it, and that it might never be known, might never be said, that David did such things as are here recorded of him. But it cannot, it must not, be concealed. The scripture is faithful in relating the faults even of those whom it most applauds, which is an instance of the sincerity of the penmen, and an evidence that it was not written to serve any party: and even such stories as these "were written for our learning,' that "he that thinks he stands may take heed lest he fall,' and that others' harms may be our warnings. Many, no doubt, have been emboldened to sin, and hardened in it, by this story, and to them it is a "savour of death unto death;' but many have by it been awakened to a holy jealousy over themselves, and constant watchfulness against sin, and to them it is a "savour of life unto life.' Those are very great sins, and greatly aggravated, which here we find David guilty of.
2Sa 11:1-5
Here is,
2Sa 11:6-13
Uriah, we may suppose, had now been absent from his wife some weeks, making the campaign in the country of the Ammonites, and not intending to return till the end of it. The situation of his wife would bring to light the hidden works of darkness; and when Uriah, at his return, should find how he had been abused, and by whom, it might well be expected,
2Sa 11:14-27
When David's project of fathering the child upon Uriah himself failed, so that, in process of time, Uriah would certainly know the wrong that had been done him, to prevent the fruits of his revenge, the devil put it into David's heart to take him off, and then neither he nor Bath-sheba would be in any danger (what prosecution could there be when there was no prosecutor?), suggesting further that, when Uriah was out of the way, Bath-sheba might, if he pleased, be his own for ever. Adulteries have often occasioned murders, and one wickedness must be covered and secured with another. The beginnings of sin are therefore to be dreaded; for who knows where they will end? It is resolved in David's breast (which one would think could never possibly have harboured so vile a thought) that Uriah must die. That innocent, valiant, gallant man, who was ready to die for his prince's honour, must die by his prince's hand. David has sinned, and Bath-sheba has sinned, and both against him, and therefore he must die; David determines he must. Is this the man whose heart smote him because he had cut off Saul's skirt? Quantum mutatus ab illo!-But ah, how changed! Is this he that executed judgment and justice to all his people? How can he now do so unjust a thing? See how fleshly lusts war against the soul, and what devastations they make in that war; how they blink the eyes, harden the heart, sear the conscience, and deprive men of all sense of honour and justice. Whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding and quite loses it; he that doth it destroys his own soul, Prov. 6:32. But, as the eye of the adulterer, so the hand of the murderer seeks concealment, Job 24:14, 15. Works of darkness hate the light. When David bravely slew Goliath it was done publicly, and he gloried in it; but, when he basely slew Uriah, it must be done clandestinely, for he is ashamed of it, and well he may. Who would do a thing that he dare not own? The devil, having as a poisonous serpent, put it into David's heart to murder Uriah, as a subtle serpent he puts it into his head how to do it. Not as Absalom slew Amnon, by commanding his servants to assassinate him, nor as Ahab slew Naboth by suborning witnesses to accuse him, but by exposing him to the enemy, a way of doing it which, perhaps, would not seem so odious to conscience and the world, because soldiers expose themselves of course. If Uriah had not been in that dangerous post, another must; he has (as we say) a chance for his life; if he fight stoutly, he may perhaps come off; and, if he die, it is in the field of honour, where a soldier would choose to die; and yet all this will not save it from being a wilful murder, of malice prepense.