2 Samuel 11

This chapter falls in the middle of 2 Samuel. Set against the backdrop of the war with Ammon that began in 2 Samuel 10, it recounts the sin that marks a turning point in David's reign.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 At the time when kings go forth to battle, David remains in Jerusalem while Joab and the army besiege Rabbah. From the roof of his palace David sees Bathsheba bathing; he has her brought to him and lies with her, and Bathsheba sends word that she has conceived.
• Verses 6–13 David summons Uriah from the battlefield and urges him to go down to his house, but Uriah, pointing out that the ark and his fellow soldiers are in the field, does not go home for two days.
• Verses 14–17 David sends a letter to Joab by Uriah's own hand, and Joab places Uriah where the valiant men are, so that he is killed in battle.
• Verses 18–25 Joab's messenger reports the course of the battle and Uriah's death, and David sends back words of reassurance to Joab.
• Verses 26–27 Bathsheba mourns for her husband; after the mourning she becomes David's wife and bears him a son. The text declares that what David had done was evil in the sight of the LORD.

Key Verses

• 2 Samuel 11:1 "But David tarried still at Jerusalem." — The opening sets the scene for the events that follow and reveals David's position.
• 2 Samuel 11:11 "Shall I then go into mine house … to lie with my wife?" — Uriah's loyalty stands in contrast to David's conduct.
• 2 Samuel 11:27 "But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD." — The text's verdict on the entire chapter, which leads into the rebuke of chapter 12.

Characters and Places

• David: King of Israel.
• Bathsheba: Daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah.
• Uriah: A Hittite and a soldier in David's army.
• Joab: Commander of David's army.
• Eliam: Bathsheba's father.
• Rabbah: The royal city of Ammon.
• Jerusalem: The site of the palace where David remained.

Points for Reflection

• The text does not say whether Bathsheba consented or what she felt. Some traditional readings hold Bathsheba partly responsible, while other interpretations, noting that the king sent messengers to bring her, read the episode as the sin of David alone, the one who held power.
• The phrase in verse 4, "for she was purified from her uncleanness," is commonly understood to refer to purification after menstruation and is taken to show that the child was David's.
• The reference to Abimelech in verse 21 points to the incident in Judges 9, in which the son of Gideon was struck by a millstone thrown down from the city wall.
• The child born in this chapter dies in 2 Samuel 12, and Solomon is born afterward. The genealogy in Matthew 1 identifies Solomon's mother as "her that had been the wife of Urias."
• The superscription of Psalm 51 identifies it as a psalm from the time when Nathan came to David after this event.

In the Korean Church

The chapter is frequently used, together with chapter 12 and Psalm 51, as a text for sermons on temptation, sin, and repentance.