2 Samuel 11
11
David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba
1 In the spring of the year, at the time when kings#tc Codex Leningrad (B19A), on which BHS is based, has here “messengers” (הַמַּלְאכִים, hammal’khim), probably as the result of contamination from the occurrence of that word in v. 4. The present translation follows most Hebrew mss and the ancient versions, which read “kings” (הַמֶּלָאכִים, hammela’kim). normally conduct wars,#tn Heb “go out.” David sent out Joab with his officers#tn Heb “and his servants with him.” and the entire Israelite army.#tn Heb “all Israel.” They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem.#tn The disjunctive clause contrasts David’s inactivity with the army’s activity.map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4. 2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace.#tn Heb “on the roof of the house of the king.” So also in vv. 8, 9. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. Now this woman was very attractive.#tn The disjunctive clause highlights this observation and builds the tension of the story. 3 So David sent someone to inquire about the woman. The messenger#tn Heb “he”; the referent (the messenger) has been specified in the translation for clarity. said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”
4 David sent some messengers to get her.#tn Heb “and David sent messengers and he took her.” She came to him and he had sexual relations with her.#tn Heb “he lay with her” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “he made love to her”; NIV, CEV, NLT “he slept with her.” (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.)#tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause further heightens the tension by letting the reader know that Bathsheba, having just completed her menstrual cycle, is ripe for conception. See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 286. Since she just had her period, it will also be obvious to those close to the scene that Uriah, who has been away fighting, cannot be the father of the child. Then she returned to her home. 5 The woman conceived and then sent word to David saying, “I’m pregnant.”
6 So David sent a message to Joab that said, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked about how Joab and the army were doing and how the campaign was going.#tn Heb “concerning the peace of Joab and concerning the peace of the people and concerning the peace of the battle.” 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your home and relax.”#tn Heb “and wash your feet.” When Uriah left the palace, the king sent a gift to him.#tn Heb “and there went out after him the gift of the king.” 9 But Uriah stayed at the door of the palace with all#tc The Lucianic recension of the Old Greek translation lacks the word “all.” the servants of his lord. He did not go down to his house.
10 So they informed David, “Uriah has not gone down to his house.” So David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey? Why haven’t you gone down to your house?” 11 Uriah replied to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah reside in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and my lord’s soldiers are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and have marital relations#tn Heb “and lay.” with my wife? As surely as you are alive,#tn Heb “as you live and as your soul lives.” I will not do this thing!” 12 So David said to Uriah, “Stay here another day. Tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem both that day and the following one.#tn On the chronology involved here see P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 287. 13 Then David summoned him. He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his own house.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote: “Station Uriah in the thick of the battle and then withdraw from him so he will be cut down and killed.”
16 So as Joab kept watch on the city, he stationed Uriah at the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers#tn Heb “the valiant men.” This refers in context to the strongest or most valiant defenders of the city Joab and the Israelite army were besieging, so the present translation uses “the best enemy soldiers” for clarity. were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, some of David’s soldiers#tn Heb “some of the people from the servants of David.” fell in battle. Uriah the Hittite also died.
18 Then Joab sent a full battle report to David.#tn Heb “Joab sent and related to David all the matters of the battle.” 19 He instructed the messenger as follows: “When you finish giving the battle report to the king, 20 if the king becomes angry and asks you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who struck down Abimelech the son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman throw an upper millstone#sn The upper millstone (Heb “millstone of riding”) refers to the heavy circular stone that was commonly rolled over a circular base in order to crush and grind such things as olives. down on him from the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ just say to him, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”
22 So the messenger departed. When he arrived, he informed David of all the news that Joab had sent with him. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and attacked us#tn Heb “and came out to us.” in the field. But we forced them to retreat all the way#tn Heb “but we were on them.” to the door of the city gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall and some of the king’s soldiers#tc The translation follows the Qere (“your servants”) rather than the Kethib (“your servant”). died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.” 25 David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing upset you.#tn Heb “let not this matter be evil in your eyes.” There is no way to anticipate whom the sword will cut down.#tn Heb “according to this and according to this the sword devours.” Press the battle against the city and conquer#tn Heb “overthrow.” it.’ Encourage him with these words.”#tn The Hebrew text does not have “with these words.” They are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for him.#tn Heb “for her lord.” 27 When the time of mourning passed, David had her brought to his palace.#tn Heb “David sent and gathered her to his house.” She became his wife and she bore him a son. But what David had done upset the Lord.#tn Heb “and the thing which David had done was evil in the eyes of the Lord.” Note the verbal connection with v. 25. Though David did not regard the matter as evil, the Lord certainly did.
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2 Samuel 11
11
David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba
1It came about in the spring,#Literally “And it happened at the turn of the year” at the time kings#According to the reading tradition (Qere); Kethib has “angels” or “messengers” go out, David sent Joab and his servants with him and all of Israel. They ravaged all of the Ammonites#Literally “sons/children of Ammon” and besieged Rabbah, but David was remaining in Jerusalem. 2It happened late one afternoon#Literally “at the time of the evening” that David got up from his bed and walked about on the roof of the king’s house, and he saw a woman bathing on her#Hebrew “the” roof. Now the woman was very beautiful.#Literally “very good of appearance” 3David sent and inquired about the woman, and someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4Then David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) And she returned to her house. 5The woman became pregnant, and she sent and told David, and she said, “I am pregnant.” 6So David sent to Joab, “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7Uriah came to him, and David asked how Joab and the army fared and how the war was going.#Literally “as far as the peace of Joab, as far as the peace of the army, and as far as the peace of the battle” 8David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” So Uriah went out from the king’s house, and a gift from the king went out after him. 9But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his master and did not go down to his house. 10They told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house.” David said to Uriah, “Are you not coming from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are living in the booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping on the surface of the open field; and I, shall I go to my house to eat and to drink and to sleep with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I surely will not do this thing.” 12David said to Uriah, “Remain here today,#Literally “also the day” and tomorrow I will send you away.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem on that day and the next. 13David invited him, and he ate and drank in his presence so that he became drunk,#Literally “and he made him drunk” and he went out in the evening to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 14And it happened in the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and he sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15He had written in the letter, “Put Uriah in the front, in the face of the fiercest fighting, then draw back from behind him so that he may be struck down and die.”
16When Joab was besieging#Literally “And it happened at the besieging of Joab” the city, he put Uriah toward the place which he knew there were valiant warriors.#Literally “there were men of ability” 17The men of the city came out and fought with Joab. Some from the army from the servants of David fell; Uriah the Hittite also died. 18Joab sent and told David all of the news of the battle. 19He instructed the messenger, saying, “As you are finishing to speak all the news of the battle to the king, 20if the anger of the king rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you go near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from atop the wall? 21Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerub-bosheth,#In putting words in David’s mouth, Joab alludes to the story of Abimelech the son of Gideon from Judg 9:52–55. Though Gideon was also known as Jerub-ba’al, Joab conventionally substitutes bosheth (shame) for Ba’al to avoid naming the Canaanite deity if not a woman who threw an upper millstone on him from atop the wall and he died at Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’ Then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’ ” 22Then the messenger left, and he came and told David all that Joab had sent him to say. 23The messenger said to David, “Because the men overpowered us,#Literally “the men were superior over us” the men came out to us in the field, but we forced them back#Literally “we were upon them” to the entrance of the gate. 24The archers shot at your servant from atop the wall, and some of the servants of the king died; your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.” 25Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab, ‘Do not feel badly about this matter;#Literally “Do not let his matter be evil in your eyes” now one and then another#Literally “for as this and as this” the sword will devour. Intensify your attack on the city and overthrow it.’ ” And he encouraged him. 26When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned over her husband. 27When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his household, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing which David had done was evil in the eyes of Yahweh.
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