2 Samuel 11:1-27
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.
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.
3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba,a the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
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.
5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
6 And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
7 And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joabb did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.
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 followedc him a mess of meat from the king.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottestd battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.
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.
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.
18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;
19 And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king,
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?
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.
22 So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for.
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.
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.
25 Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displeasee 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.
26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
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 displeasedf the LORD.
The account with Ammon had by no means been settled, and in the Spring David sent Joab and the armies of Israel to battle the Ammonites and to besiege their capital city, of Rabbah. We are told specifically that this was the time when kings go out to battle, but David remained at home. lt is possible his servants advised this so that their king would not be exposed to danger (ch.18:3), but David's energy of faith had waned so that he was exposed to greater danger by remaining at home.
Evident idleness led to his shameful fall, for he rose from his bed in the evening while it was still light enough for him to see from his rooftop a woman bathing herself (v.2). Honest self-judgment should have turned his eyes and his thoughts away immediately, but he was allured by her beauty. Inquiring about her, he found she was another man's wife. Why did this fact not stop him? He already had seven wives. He knew the law of God, that an adulterer should be put to death (Deuteronomy 22:23), but took advantage of his own position as king to break over the law of God. The woman's husband, Uriah, was a soldier in Joab's army, therefore away from home, and David sent messengers to bring her to him. After their shameful guilt of adultery, she returned to her own home (v.4).
David may have hoped that this was the end of the matter, but God intervened in His righteous government. Bathsheba sent word to David that she had become pregnant (v.5). Alarmed at this, David conceived a subtle plan to keep his sin from being discovered. He sent orders to Joab to send Uriah back to Jerusalem. Uriah may have wondered what reason David had for bringing him back, for David only inquired how the battle was going, then told Uriah to go to his house and wash his feet, for a soldier's feet need special care. When Uriah left, David sent a present after him (v.8). Whether Uriah received it did not go there, but stayed overnight with others of David's servants in the servants' quarters.
On hearing this, David questioned Uriah as to why he did not go to his house when he had opportunity after some time of being away from home (v.10). Uriah's reply must have been a pointed lesson to David as to self restraint. He had decided that, since the ark and Israel were in temporary shelters, and that Joab and the army were camping in the open, engaged in serious combat for the sake of Israel, he was not going to relax and enjoy himself at home as though he was not a part of Israel defense: he would virtually remain "on guard."
When David failed to get Uriah to go to his home the first night, then he tried another tactic, telling Uriah to stay in Jerusalem for two more days, but having him eat and drink with him till Uriah became drunk, David thinking in this way to tempt Uriah to go to his home. But this plan failed too: Uriah again slept with the servants.
David's desperation then gave birth to the awful thought of plotting to have Uriah killed. Uriah was given a letter to carry to Joab that was intended to seal his own doom. This was the reward of his devotedness to the cause of Israel! David did not even try to veil his intentions concerning Uriah: he told Joab to place him in the front line of the fiercest battle, then have all others withdraw, so that Uriah would be left as the only target for the enemy, and thus be killed (v.15). Not only would David make himself guilty of the murder of Uriah, but he would implicate Joab and others in this too. Joab of course would say he had to obey his master, but in this case he ought to have had a conscience toward God that would not allow him to obey David.
However, in besieging the city, Joab put Uriah in the greatest place of danger, evidently close to the wall. Men from the city saw an advantage in coming Out to fight, having the protection of the city behind them, and Joab's plan worked well, not for the good of Israel, but to have Uriah killed. Others also fell before the enemy, but Joab knew this was a risk he must take in order to be sure that Uriah was killed (v.17).
Joab may not have been so quick to report to David the conduct of the war if it had not been for Uriah's death. When he sends a messenger, he instructs him to tell first the events that transpired, and wait for a response from David before saying any more (v.19). Then if David was angry because of Joab's endangering his army by coming too close to the wall (a tactic Joab, as well as David, knew was dangerous), the messenger was to add that Uriah the Hittite was dead also (v.21). Joab intended to impress on David the fact that he had planned this unwise ploy because David wanted Uriah killed.
However, the messenger did not follow Joab's orders precisely. He reported what had happened in the battle, that men had come out from the city and Israel pressed them close to the gate, with the result that archers could shoot from the wall, and some of David's men were killed. But he did not wait for a response from David before telling him that Uriah was among the dead (v.24). Perhaps he saw no reason for Joab's instructions and did not want to see David's anger rise.
Of course the only news that interested David at the moment was that of Uriah's death. Likely the messenger wondered why David did not criticize Joab's action in the battle, but David only mildly told the messenger to tell Joab not to be discouraged by this setback, because "the sword devours one as well as another" (v.25). In this way he tried to disguise the relief he felt at news of Uriah's death, but this would be plainly apparent to Joab. David only added that Joab should increase the intensity of the battle so as to overthrow the city.
Of course Bathsheba did not know that David had planned her husband's death. She did mourn for her husband for a certain time (v.26). When the days of mourning were over, David sent for her and took her as his eighth wife, and she bore a son. But we are assured that what David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord. This could not go unpunished.