2 Samuel 11:1–12:25
Sources
Reformed ConsensusReformation Study BibleGeneva Bible Notes (1599)John Trapp (1647)John Gill (1748)Matthew Henry (1714)Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBarnes (1832)Cross-References (TSK)Reformed Consensus
The account of David's adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah stands as the starkest demonstration in the historical books that even the man after God's own heart is not exempt from the radical corruption of indwelling sin — a sobering rebuke to any presumption of covenant privilege apart from ongoing dependence on grace. David's sin begins not in the bedchamber but in the idle deferral of duty (11:1), illustrating Calvin's observation that leisure without discipline is sin's open door. Nathan's parable (12:1–7) is a masterpiece of prophetic law-work, driving David past his royal defenses to the naked confession "I have sinned against the LORD" (12:13), and the text is careful to record that forgiveness is immediate and real — "the LORD also has put away your sin" — yet temporal consequences flow unabated, underscoring the Reformed distinction between the guilt of sin remitted in justification and its chastening effects in providence. The death of the child born of the union (12:18) is neither arbitrary cruelty nor a second punishment for David's guilt, but a providential display of God's holy governance over covenant history, through which David is paradoxically freed to worship with hope of resurrection reunion (12:23). The passage closes with the birth of Solomon-Jedidiah, "beloved of the LORD," signaling that God's redemptive purpose moves forward through — not despite — the wreckage of human failure, pointing ultimately to the greater Son of David whose righteousness alone secures the covenant blessings David's sin so badly imperiled.
Reformation Study Bible
when kings go out to battle, See 1 Kin. 20:22, 26. In the Near East, springtime was a logical time for military campaigns, since the winter rains would have ceased and the labor-intensive harvest would not have begun. David sent Joab. This is not the first time that David has sent Joab on a military expedition (10:7), but since it was the time when “kings go out to battle” and yet “David remained at Jerusalem,’ there may be some crit- icism of David for remaining behind. besieged Rabbah. Called “Rabbah of the Ammonites” in Deut. 3:11 and elsewhere (12:26; 17:27; Jer. 49:2; Ezek. 21:20), this city was the capital of Ammon (Amos 1:13-15). It is twenty-four miles east of the Jordan River opposite Jericho, In New Testament times it was called Philadelphia, and today it is Amman, Jordan. See also 10:14 and note. | late one afternoon ... David arose from his couch. David's luxu- ry is in marked contrast to the activities of Joab and his men (vv. 1, 11). | Bathsheba. Not until 12:24 will the name “Bathsheba” be men- tioned again; in the intervening verses the reference will be to “the woman’ (v. 5) or to “the wife of Uriah” (v. 26; 12:10, 15). The focus is not on Bathsheba herself so much as on her status as the wife of another man. Eliam. If Bathsheba’s father is the same as “Eliam the son of Ahithophel” (23:34), this might help to explain Ahithophel's later betrayal of David in favor of Absalom’s conspiracy (15:12; 16:15), which ostensibly was moti- vated by a sense of David's injustice (15:4, 6). Notice especially the nature of Ahithophel’s advice in 16:20, 21. Uriah. Uriah is a Hebrew name, meaning “the Loro is my light.” | her uncleanness. If the reference is to menstruation (Lev. 15:19-30), the point would be to remove all doubt that David is respon- sible for Bathsheba's pregnancy (v. 5). | | am pregnant. Bathsheba leaves it to David to decide what to do. | wash your feet. Uriah understands David to be suggesting that he sleep with his wife. This might make possible the deception that Uriah was the child’s father. a present. David perhaps wanted to encourage the couple, | But Uriah . .. did not go down to his house. Despite David's efforts, Uriah does not do what he considers wrong. It is not impossible that Uriah knew about David's relationship with Bathseba (perhaps from the mes- sengers of v. 4), but this is unlikely in view of his willingness to carry a let- ter from David to Joab (v, 14), Uriah explains his abstinence in v. 11. | The ark and Israel and Judah. Uriah’s insistence that he will not fare better than his fellow combatants again underscores by contrast the reprehensible nature of David's sin. Even though the Lord Himself (as symbolized by the presence of the ark) was on the field of battle, the king has been in Jerusalem (wv. 1, 2 and notes). | made him drunk. See note on v. 8. Uriah still remained faithful to his duty and did not go home. . ; 11:15 Set Uriah in the forefront. Having failed to bend Uriah, David now feels compelled to take another course, and Joab, not surprisingly (2:18; 3:27; 20:10 and notes), is willing to help. ) | Jerubbesheth. “Besheth,’ meaning “shame,’ was sometimes sub- stituted for “Baal.” | all that Joab had sent him. The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) has a longer reading in which this statement is fol- lowed by an angry response from David along the lines anticipated by Joab in wv. 20, 21. | Do not let this matter trouble you. David's answer is cynical. He pretends to console his accomplice in murder. Note the similar phrasing of v. 27. | when the mourning was over. The customary period of mourn- ing for her was probably seven days (Gen. 50:10; 1 Sam. 31:13). National leaders were sometimes mourned for longer periods. Aaron was mourned thirty days (Num. 20:29), likewise Moses (Deut. 34:8). The Egyptians mourned seventy days for Jacob (Gen. 50:3). bore him a son. See 12:14. displeased the Lorp. Lit. “was evil in the eyes of the Lorv"; see v. 25. David has broken at least four of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:2-17; Deut. 5:6-21), natnely, murder, adultery, lying, and coveting his neighbor's wife. | the Lorp sent Nathan. The prophets were servants of the word of God, which has authority even over kings. The prophets needed courage and were sometimes in sharp conflict with the kings (1 Kin. 22:8; 2 Kin. 1:3, 4; Mark 6:17; cf. Acts 7:52). one rich and the other poor. The rich man is David and the poor man is Uriah, The parable was also fulfilled by Ahab and Jezebel against Naboth (1 Kin. 21:1-14). | like a daughter to him. The verse ends with the Hebrew word for “daughter, not coincidentally also the first syllable of the name “Bathsheba.’ | the man who has done this deserves to die. Nathan's parable has succeeded; in pronouncing judgment on the rich man, David has con- demned himself. His response is an exclamation, not a legal decision. He mentions first death, then restitution. \ | fourfold. Ex. 22:1 orders fourfold restitution for stolen sheep. Some commentators have detected here a hint of David's subsequent loss of four sons: the first son of Bathsheba (wv. 14, 18), Amnon (13:28, 29), Absalom (18:14, 15), and Adonijah (1 Kin. 2:24, 25). | In a manner typical of prophetic judgment speeches (1 Sam. 2:27-36 note), Nathan begins with an accusation including a description of the Lord's providence (wv. 7, 8) and an accusing question and indict- ment (v. 9). He concludes by announcing the judgment and the penalties corresponding to the crime. | lanointed you. Compare Samuel's indictment of Saul (1 Sam. 15:17). | your master’s wives. It is uncertain whether this statement is to be taken literally (only one wife and one concubine of Saul are mentioned, 3:7; 1 Sam, 14:50) or simply refers to the full extent of David's inheritance of Saul’s kingdom. On the matter of kings acquiring their predecessors’ harems, see 3:7 and note. | evil in his sight. This same idiom appears in 11:25, 27. You have struck down Uriah. Because David causes Uriah to die in bat- tle, he is as guilty as if he had murdered him with his own hand. | the sword shall never depart from your house. As Uriah was killed by violence, the house of David will be plagued by violence. Absalom killed Amnon (13:28, 29); Joab killed Absalom (18:14, 15); and Solomon ordered the deaths of Adonijah (1 Kin. 2:24, 25) and Joab (1 Kin. 2:29-34). | | will raise up evil. The prophecy is fulfilled by the rebellion of Absalom (chs, 15-18). lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. This prediction is fulfilled in 16:21, 22. | | have sinned against the Lorp. When charged by God's prophet David responds with an immediate and unqualified confession; contrast Saul’s confessions in 1 Sam. 15:24, 25, 30 (notes). Ps. 51, according to its superscription, is a fuller picture of David's repentance. you shall not die. See notes 11:5; 12:5. | nor did he eat food with them. See note 1 Sam. 1:7. | worshiped. Like Eli, but unlike Saul, David humbly accepts the Lord's discipline (15:26; 16:11; 1 Sam. 3:18 and notes). | | shall go to him. That is, in the place of the dead (1 Sam. 28:19 note; Gen. 37:35). | his wife. Here for the first time Bathsheba is called David's wife (11:3 note). Solomon. This name is usually considered to be derived from the Hebrew word for “peace” (cf. 1 Chr. 22:9). Another possibility is that. it means “replacement’; the birth of Solomon compensates for the loss of the first child. | Jedidiah. See text note. This name confirms that “the Lorp loved him’ (v. 24) and bodes well for the future of the Davidic house. Despite the sin of David and his descendants, the Lord’s favor will not be with- drawn (7:14 note). 12:26-31 The narrative once again returns to the Ammonite campaign (11:1 and note). This time it is not David who sends Joab, but Joab who sends for David (v. 27).
Geneva Bible Notes (1599)
And it came to pass, after the year was {a} 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. (a) The year following about the spring time.
John Trapp (1647)
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. — Heb., At the return of the year: Namque in se sua per vestigia volvitur annus. This year was David’s seventh climacterical, the forty-ninth of his age, as is generally held, and the nineteenth of his reign, 1 Chronicles 21:1 to him a woeful year, because, left to himself, he "fell into temptation and a snare, and many foolish and hurtful lusts," … Augustine thanks God for himself, that the heart and temptation did not meet together. Joseph, a young man, was fiercely assaulted, but stoutly resisted; when lo, David, an old man, and one that had many wives and concubines, is shamefully foiled, and made to defile himself in sin’s guzzle. Turpe est senecere aetatem, non tamen senecere lasciviam, saith Nazianzen. What more odious than an old lecher? Were it not monstrous to behold green apples on a tree in winter? So to see the sins of youth in an old decrepit goat! Take heed; corruption doth as easily creep into the white head as the canker into the white rose. At the time when kings go forth to battle, — i.e., At spring time, when there is store of food and forage to be had. But we have lately seen great things done, and forts taken in the depth of winter. But this expedition was undertaken in Martio, quo Mars dominari solet. Our navy is now gone forth this present March 1655; the good Lord bring them back with victory! And besieged Rabbah. — That great city, Megalopolis, the metropolis of the Ammonites; called afterwards by Ptolemy Philadelph, second king of Egypt, Philadelphia. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. — Who was used to be abroad, and about fighting the Lord’s battles in his own person, as was before noted: and then he was safe. Res age, tutus eris. “ Otis si tollas periere Cupidinis arcus. ” David’s giving himself to ease and pleasure was the root of all his wretchedness. Standing waters gather filth. Flies settle upon the sweetest perfumes when cold, and corrupt them. As the crab fish seizeth upon the oyster gaping, so doth Satan upon the idle. No moss sticketh to the rolling stone: which if it lay still would be overgrown.
John Gill (1748)
And it came to pass, that after the year was expired,.... Or at the end of the year, as the Targum, which concluded with the month Adar or February, the spring of the year: at the time when kings go forth to battle; in the month Nisan, as the Targum on 1 Chronicles 20:1 ; adds, the same with Abib, which was the first month of the year, Exodus 12:2 , a fit time to go out to war; when, as the Jewish commentators observe, 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. This month was called Nisan, as some think (d), from the military banners then erected; so by the Romans it is called Martius, and by us March, from Mars, the god of war; though some (e) take this to be the month Tisri, answering to part of September, and part of October, when all the fruits of the earth were gathered in, and supposed to be a fit time for war, when the heat of the year was declining: that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; his whole army under Joab as general; in 1 Chronicles 20:1 ; it is "the power of the army"; the whole body of it: and they destroyed the children of Ammon; burnt their cities, and slew the inhabitants of them, and laid their land waste wherever they came: and besieged Rabbah; their chief city, called Rabathamana by Polybius (f), that is, Rabbah of Ammon, and afterwards. Philadelphia, from Philadelphus, king of Egypt, as it was in the times of Jerom (g): but David tarried still at Jerusalem; which is observed for the sake of the following history; it would have been well for him if he had gone forth with the army himself, then the sin he fell into would have been prevented. (d) Vid. Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 50. col. 557. (e) Weemse of the Judicial Law, c. 28. p. 106. (f) Hist. l. 5. p. 414. (g) De loc. Heb. fol. 94. C.
Matthew Henry (1714)
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?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
CHAPTER 11 2Sa 11:1. Joab Besieges Rabbah. 1. at the time when kings go forth to battle—The return of spring was the usual time of commencing military operations. This expedition took place the year following the war against the Syrians; and it was entered upon because the disaster of the former campaign having fallen chiefly upon the Syrian mercenaries, the Ammonites had not been punished for their insult to the ambassadors. David sent Joab and his servants … they destroyed the children of Ammon—The powerful army that Joab commanded ravaged the Ammonite country and committed great havoc both on the people and their property, until having reached the capital, they besieged Rabbah—Rabbah denotes a great city. This metropolis of the Ammonites was situated in the mountainous tract of Gilead, not far from the source of the Arnon. Extensive ruins are still found on its site.Whilst Joab besieged Rabbah David committeth adultery with Bath-sheba, 2 Samuel 11:1-4 . And hearing that she was with child, he sendeth for Uriah her husband out of the camp, to cover his shame. He will not go to his own house, neither sober nor drunk, 2 Samuel 11:5-13 . David sendeth him again into the camp with a letter to Joab to expose him to death, 2 Samuel 11:14-17 . The news of which Joab sendeth to David: he marrieth Bath-sheba, 2 Samuel 11:18-27 . After the year was expired; when that year ended, and the next begun, which was in the spring time, Exodus 12:2 . When kings go forth; which is when the ground is fit for the march of soldiers, and brings forth provision for man and beast. To battle: these words are to be understood here, as Genesis 10:11 14:8 . Rabbah; the chief and royal city of the Ammonites, Deu 3:11 .
Barnes (1832)
After the year was expired - The next spring after the escape of the Ammonites into their city 2 Samuel 10:14 . The children of Ammon - The marginal reference supplies the word "the land of," which is obviously the right reading. 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 2 Samuel 12:26 , is omitted in the Book of Chronicles.
Cross-References (TSK)
2Samuel 10:19; 2Samuel 11:2; 1Kings 20:22; 2Chronicles 36:10; Ecclesiastes 3:8; 1Chronicles 20:1; Zechariah 14:3; 2Samuel 12:26; Deuteronomy 3:11; Ezekiel 21:20; 2Samuel 11:1; 2Samuel 11:6; 2Samuel 11:14; 2Samuel 11:18; 2Samuel 11:26; 2Samuel 10:17; 1Samuel 11:1; 2Samuel 10:18; 1Samuel 30:3; 1Samuel 18:26; 2Samuel 10:16; 2Samuel 10:14; Joshua 15:60; 1Samuel 14:2; 2Samuel 10:1; 2Samuel 12:9; 2Samuel 11:15; 2Samuel 20:15; 2Samuel 12:3; 2Samuel 17:16; 1Chronicles 17:11; 2Samuel 12:30; 2Samuel 11:11; 2Samuel 11:12; 2Samuel 14:28; 2Samuel 11:9; 2Samuel 15:17; 2Samuel 11:27