2 Samuel11

King David, while his army was at war, saw Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, bathing and subsequently lay with her, leading to her conception. To conceal his sin, David orchestrated Uriah's death in battle by sending a letter to Joab. After Uriah's death and Bathsheba's mourning, David took her as his wife, but "the thing that David had done displeased the LORD."

David's Idleness Leads to Sin

1
At the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. ​

David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba

2
At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look at. ​
3
David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” ​
4
David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house. ​
5
The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.” ​

The Attempted Cover-Up

6
David sent to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” Joab sent Uriah to David. ​
7
When Uriah had come to him, David asked of him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered.
8
David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and a gift from the king was sent after him.
9
But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and didn’t go down to his house. ​
10
When they had told David, saying, “Uriah didn’t go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you come from a journey? Why didn’t you go down to your house?”
11
Uriah said to David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah, are staying in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field. Shall I then go into my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing!” ​
12
David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day, and the next day.
13
When David had called him, he ate and drink before him; and he made him drunk. At evening, he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but didn’t go down to his house. ​

David Arranges Uriah’s Murder

14
In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ​
15
He wrote in the letter, saying, “Send Uriah to the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck, and die.” ​
16
When Joab kept watch on the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew that valiant men were.
17
The men of the city went out, and fought with Joab. Some of the people fell, even 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 he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the things concerning the war to the king,
20
it shall be that, if the king’s wrath arise, and he asks you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn’t you know that they would shoot from the wall?
21
who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Didn’t a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” ​
22
So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for.
23
The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field, and we were on them even to the entrance of the gate.
24
The shooters shot at your servants from off the wall; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”
25
Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Make your battle stronger against the city, and overthrow it.’ Encourage him.” ​

The Aftermath and God's Displeasure

26
When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband.
27
When the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. ​

Study Notes for 2 Samuel 11

Verse 1

David’s decision to remain in Jerusalem while his army was engaged in battle was a failure of leadership. This idleness created the opportunity for the subsequent moral collapse.

Verse 2

David’s viewing of Bathsheba was the start of a chain reaction of sin. The text emphasizes that lust, when entertained, quickly moves toward action, violating the Tenth (coveting) and Seventh (adultery) Commandments.

Verse 3

Bathsheba is explicitly identified as the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s most loyal and elite warriors (2 Sam. 23:39). Her father, Eliam, was likely the son of David’s counselor, Ahithophel (2 Sam. 23:34), deepening the betrayal.

Verse 4

The phrase 'took her' implies the misuse of royal power (extortion or coercion). The detail that she was 'purified from her uncleanness' confirms that she was not pregnant from her husband, making David solely responsible for the conception.

Verse 5

The unexpected pregnancy immediately forces David's hand, turning his private sin into a public crisis that demands a cover-up or confession.

Verse 6

David attempts to use Uriah’s presence in Jerusalem to mask the paternity of the child, demonstrating a pattern of deception to avoid responsibility.

Verse 9

Uriah’s refusal to go home was based on military custom and ritual purity laws, which forbade sexual relations while on duty or consecrated for battle. His integrity sharply contrasts with David’s moral failure.

Verse 11

Uriah’s powerful statement highlights his solidarity with his fellow soldiers and his reverence for the sacred Ark, which was often taken into battle. His commitment implicitly condemns David’s luxurious and self-indulgent behavior.

Verse 13

David’s attempt to manipulate Uriah by getting him drunk fails to break the soldier’s resolve. This only confirms Uriah’s steadfast character and forces David to resort to a more desperate solution.

Verse 14

The profound irony and moral tragedy is that David uses the loyal and unsuspecting Uriah to carry his own death warrant to Joab.

Verse 15

This act moves David’s sin from adultery and deception to premeditated murder, a capital offense (Exod. 21:14) and a gross abuse of his divinely appointed authority.

Verse 17

The simple statement of Uriah’s death marks the tragic completion of David’s destructive plan. The text focuses on the successful execution of the king’s evil command.

Verse 21

Joab anticipates David’s possible anger over the tactical failure and prepares a coded response. The mention of Abimelech (Judges 9) is a historical comparison used to justify the loss of life near the wall, while subtly revealing the true purpose of the messenger: to confirm Uriah's death.

Verse 25

David’s casual dismissal of the loss of life ('the sword devoureth one as well as another') demonstrates his hardened conscience and his success in covering up the murder, showing no remorse at this stage.

Verse 27

David rushes the marriage after the typical mourning period (often seven days) to fully legitimize the pregnancy and finalize the cover-up. The final theological judgment is clear: despite David’s success in concealing the crime from men, 'the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.'

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