2 Samuel 11 (Listen)
David and Bathsheba
11:1 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to 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 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” 16 And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. 19 And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, 20 then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not 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 told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25 David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”
26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.
(ESV)
2 Samuel 11 Commentary
In 2 Samuel 11, while Israel’s army was fighting the Ammonites and besieging Rabbah, David remained in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:1). One evening, he saw a woman bathing from his rooftop and learned she was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hethite (2 Samuel 11:2-3). David sent for her, slept with her, and she became pregnant (2 Samuel 11:4-5). To cover this, David summoned Uriah from the battlefield, hoping he would go home to his wife, but Uriah refused out of loyalty to his fellow soldiers (2 Samuel 11:6-11).
Even after David got him drunk, Uriah did not go home (2 Samuel 11:12-13). David then sent Uriah back to Joab with a letter ordering his death. Joab was to place him in the fiercest fighting and withdraw support so he would be killed (2 Samuel 11:14-15). Joab obeyed, and Uriah died in battle along with other Israelite soldiers (2 Samuel 11:16-17).
Joab instructed the messenger to inform David carefully, including the news of Uriah’s death (2 Samuel 11:18-21). When the report reached David, he dismissed the loss and told Joab to continue the attack (2 Samuel 11:22-25). After a period of mourning, David brought Bathsheba into his house as his wife, and she bore him a son. However, the Lord regarded David’s actions as evil (2 Samuel 11:26-27).
Describe Vs. Prescribe
Most of us know the story of 2 Samuel 11. David’s sin and repentance are well-documented. The story is familiar to us because it is shocking. David’s actions in this chapter are inconsistent with the person we have come to know throughout 1 & 2 Samuel. The Bible doesn’t sugarcoat the sex, scandal, and murder that David engages in. However, we also must realize that even though the Bible describes it, that doesn’t necessarily mean it prescribes it.
There is no doubt that David’s actions were disgusting. What would David have done if Uriah had returned and slept with his wife? Would David have kept that secret forever, knowing he was the child’s father? Furthermore, would Bathsheba have been able to keep this secret from both her child and her husband?
Context Of The War
David sent Joab and the army to attack Rabbah during the spring, a time suited for war due to weather and food availability. David stayed in Jerusalem, and this is a point that many commentators/scholars focus on. Some say he was lazy and neglecting his duties. Other say he was following the safety and protocol of what was previously advised.
“Why did he stay? I have only a suggestion to make. After David built his palace he found it very comfortable. It was quite different from the cave of Adullam where he had spent his youth. His palace was a place of luxury and comfort. Also David loved Mount Zion and wanted to stay around that place. Prosperity is one of the things that has trapped so many men and women. Our great comfort has become a curse in our nation. David tarried in Jerusalem. That was his first mistake. He should have gone to war with his men.”
J. Vernon McGee
“It is easy to see how David got into this sin: (1) he was self-confident, after enjoying victories and prosperity; (2) he was disobedient, staying home when he should have been on the battlefield; (3) he was idle, lying in bed in the evening; (4) he was self-indulgent, giving freedom to his desires when he should have been disciplining himself; and (5) he was careless, allowing his eyes to wander and yielding to the “lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes” (1Jn 2:16).”
Warren Wiersbe
“The king’s absence from the battlefield at this time should not be understood as dereliction of duty. David had previously remained in Jerusalem when the Ammonites were attacked (cf. 10:7). Furthermore, at some point in David’s military career—quite possibly prior to the events of this passage—David’s men had pleaded with him to avoid an active role in military campaigns (cf. 21:17) out of concern for the king’s safety and the best interests of the nation.”
The New American Commentary
Whether he was supposed to be in the battle or not, the fact remains that David followed the lust in his heart all the way to completion. He was lured into the predictable pattern of sin just like when Achan buried the items from Ai under his tent (Jos 7:21). He saw. He coveted. He took. He hid.
This is in Scripture for a reason. We must leverage this as wisdom in our own lives! How many times have we followed the same pattern to destruction? Oh Lord Jesus, we pray you would protect us from temptation and deliver us from evil!
Despite learning she was married to Uriah (one of his elite soldiers and connected to his trusted advisors) David pursued Bathsheba. David called Uriah back from the battlefield, hoping he would sleep with Bathsheba and believe the child was his. Uriah, however, refused to go home out of loyalty to his fellow soldiers and devotion to God’s standards of purity during battle. His refusal was rooted in religious conviction and military discipline, not suspicion or stubbornness.
David’s actions directly violated God’s commands and involved misuse of power, deception, and a breach of covenant fidelity. Uriah’s noble conduct stands in stark contrast to David’s manipulation.
Dynasty Vs. Torah
David’s decisions were devastating, and it is important to understand that God has built the world in a way that produces natural consequences for sinful behaviors. There is a difference between the Dynastic Covenant that God established with David and the Torah Covenant that functioned under the law.
The difference between the Dynastic Covenant and the Torah Covenant lies in the nature of the promises and conditions attached to each. The Dynastic Covenant (2 Sam 7:12–16) was unconditional. God promised David that his house, kingdom, and throne would endure forever. This covenant was based on God’s grace, not David’s performance. Even though David sinned, this promise remained intact. David’s line would continue, and ultimately, the Messiah (Jesus) would come from it.
In the same way, believers today are saved unconditionally under the blood of Christ. It is not based on our performance, but on what Jesus did through His life/death/resurrection. Even though we still struggle with sin today, ultimately, that sin cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
The Torah Covenant (Deuteronomy 28) was conditional because in the law, God promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. These consequences applied not only to the nation but also personally to David as Israel’s king. When David sinned with Bathsheba and arranged Uriah’s death, he broke the moral and legal commands of the Torah.
As a result, David experienced the curses of the Torah:
- Loss of family: The child born to Bathsheba died (2 Sam 12:14–18); Amnon was killed by Absalom (2 Sam 13:28–29); Absalom rebelled and died (2 Sam 18:14–15).
- Exile: David was later driven from Jerusalem during Absalom’s rebellion (2 Sam 15:14), symbolically experiencing what Deut 28:64–67 describes as national exile.
As believers today, we still feel the consequences of sin even though we are saved by grace. The truth of the matter is that David deserved death for his actions. We, too, deserve death. But thanks be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who chose to die for us while we were still sinners! This is the Good News of the Gospel. Let the joy of His sacrifice lead you today.
