David and Bathsheba
Study note
It was spring, the time when kings went out to war, but David stayed behind in Jerusalem. One evening David was walking on the roof of his palace and saw a beautiful woman bathing. He found out she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David's own elite soldiers. Despite knowing she was married, David sent for her and slept with her. She later sent word to David that she was pregnant. This moment marks the great turning point of David's life and reign.
1 The following spring -- the season when kings march off to battle -- David sent Joab out with his officers and the entire Israelite army. They defeated the Ammonites and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. David, however, stayed behind in Jerusalem. 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 One evening, David got out of bed and took a walk on the palace rooftop. From up there, he spotted a woman bathing. She was strikingly beautiful. 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 David sent someone to find out who she was. The report came back: "That is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite." And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
4 David sent messengers to bring her to him. She came, and he slept with her. She had just finished her monthly time of purification. Afterward, she went home. 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 Before long, the woman realized she was pregnant. She sent David a message: "I am going to have a baby." And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
David Tries to Cover Up His Sin
Study note
David's first plan was to bring Uriah home from the battlefield, hoping Uriah would sleep with his wife and then believe the child was his own. But Uriah was too honorable. He refused to go home to his wife while his fellow soldiers were sleeping in the open field. Even when David got him drunk, Uriah still slept with the palace guards instead of going home. Uriah's faithfulness and loyalty stand in sharp contrast to David's betrayal.
6 David immediately sent orders to Joab: "Send Uriah the Hittite back to me." Joab did so. And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
7 When Uriah appeared, David casually asked how Joab was, how the troops were holding up, and how the war was going. And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.
8 Then David told Uriah, "Go on home and get some rest." As Uriah left the palace, the king had a gift of food sent after him. 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.
9 But Uriah did not go to his house. He slept at the palace entrance alongside the other royal servants. 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 Someone told David that Uriah never went home. David asked Uriah, "You have been away a long time. Why did you not go home to your wife?" 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 Uriah answered, "The Ark, plus the armies of Israel and Judah, are all living in tents out in the open. My commander Joab and your other soldiers are camping in the field. How could I possibly go home to enjoy a meal, a drink, and my wife? I swear on your life, I will not do that!" 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 David said, "All right, stay here one more day. Tomorrow I will send you back." Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 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 David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him and got him drunk. But even then, Uriah went out that night and slept on his mat with the king's servants instead of going home. 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.
David Arranges Uriah's Death
Study note
Unable to cover up the pregnancy, David sent Uriah back to the battlefield carrying his own death sentence in a sealed letter to Joab. David's letter ordered Joab to place Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting and then pull back, leaving Uriah exposed. Joab obeyed, and Uriah was killed along with several other soldiers. Joab sent a carefully worded report to David, and David coldly told the messenger to encourage Joab. The depth of David's moral failure is staggering for a man described as being after God's own heart.
14 The next morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and had Uriah carry it himself. And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.
15 The letter said, "Position Uriah where the fighting is most intense. Then have everyone fall back from him so he gets struck down and killed." 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.
16 Joab set up his troops around the city. He placed Uriah at a spot where the strongest foes would be. 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 Enemy soldiers charged out from the city and attacked Joab's men. Several of David's soldiers died in the assault, including Uriah the Hittite. 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 Joab sent a full battle report to David. Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;
19 He told the messenger, "After you finish describing the battle details to the king," And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king,
20 "he might get angry and ask, 'Why did you get so close to the city walls? Did you not realize they would shoot at you from up there?'" 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 "He might bring up how Abimelech son of Jerub-besheth died when a woman dropped a millstone on him from the wall of Thebez. 'Why did you go so near the wall?' If he says this, tell him, 'Your soldier Uriah the Hittite also died.'" 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 The messenger went and delivered Joab's full report to David. So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for.
23 The messenger told David, "The enemy came out strong against us in the open field. But we pushed them back to the city gate." 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 "Their archers fired down at us from the wall. Some of your soldiers were killed, and your servant Uriah the Hittite also died." 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 David told the messenger, "Tell Joab not to worry about this. War claims lives -- that is just how the sword works. Press the attack harder and take the city." He added, "Pass along my encouragement." 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.
David Marries Bathsheba
Study note
Bathsheba mourned for her husband Uriah. After the mourning period was over, David brought her to the palace and married her. She gave birth to a son. But the final sentence of this chapter delivers the verdict: what David had done displeased the Lord. David may have thought he had gotten away with it, but God had seen everything.
26 When Bathsheba learned that her husband Uriah had been killed, she went into mourning for him. And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
27 Once the mourning period ended, David brought her to the palace. She became his wife and gave birth to a son. But what David had done was deeply offensive to the Lord. 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.