2 Samuel 11

1 [In that region], kings usually went [with their armies] to fight [their enemies] in the springtime. But the following year, in the springtime, David [did not do that. Instead, he] stayed in Jerusalem, and he sent [his commander] Joab [to lead the army]. So Joab went with the other officers and the rest of the Israeli army. They [crossed the Jordan River and] defeated the army of the Ammon people-group. Then they surrounded [their capital city, ] Rabbah.

Now it happened that, at the turn of the year, in the time when kings usually go forth to war, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all of Israel, and they laid waste to the sons of Ammon, and they besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

2 Late one afternoon, after David got up from taking a nap, he walked around on the [flat] roof of his palace. He saw a woman who was bathing [in the courtyard of her house]. The woman was very beautiful.

While these things were taking place, David happened to arise from his bed after midday, and he walked upon the terrace of the king’s house. And he saw, across from his terrace, a woman washing herself. And the woman was very beautiful.

3 David sent a messenger to find out who she was. [The messenger returned] and said, “She is [RHQ] Bathsheba. She is the daughter of Eliam, and her husband is Uriah, from the Heth people-group.”

Therefore, the king sent and inquired who the woman might be. And it was reported to him that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah, the Hittite.

4 Then David sent more messengers to get her. They brought her to David, and he (slept/had sex) [EUP] with her. (She had just finished performing the rituals to make herself pure [after her monthly menstrual period].) Then Bathsheba went back home.

And so, David sent messengers, and he took her. And when she had entered to him, he slept with her. And presently, she was purified from her uncleanness.

5 [After some time], she realized that she was pregnant. So she sent a messenger to tell David [that she was pregnant].

And she returned to her house, having conceived an unborn child. And sending, she informed David, and she said, “I have conceived.”

6 Then David sent a message to Joab. He said, “Send Uriah, from the Heth people-group, to me.” So Joab did that. He sent Uriah to David.

Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah, the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David.

7 When he arrived, David asked if Joab was well, and if other soldiers were well, and how the war was progressing.

And Uriah went to David. And David inquired whether Joab was doing well, and about the people, and how the war was being conducted.

8 Then David, [hoping that Uriah would go home and sleep with his wife, ] said to Uriah, “Okay, go home and relax for a while. [IDM]” So Uriah left, and David gave someone a gift [of some food] to take to Uriah’s house.

And David said to Uriah, “Go into your house, and wash your feet.” And Uriah departed from the house of the king. And a meal from the king followed after him.

9 But Uriah did not go home. Instead, he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guards.

But Uriah slept before the gate of the king’s house, with the other servants of his lord, and he did not go down to his own house.

10 When someone told David that Uriah did not go to his house [that night], David [summoned him again and] said to him, “Why didn’t you go home [to be with your wife last night], after having been away for a long time?” [RHQ]

And it was reported to David by some, saying, “Uriah did not go into his house.” And David said to Uriah: “Did you not arrive from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”

11 Uriah replied, “The soldiers of Judah and Israel are camping in the open fields, and even our commander Joab is sleeping in a tent, and the sacred chest is with them. (How could I/It would not be right for me to) go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife [RHQ]. I solemnly declare [IDM] that I will never do such a thing!”

And Uriah said to David: “The ark of God, and Israel and Judah, dwell in tents, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, stay upon the face of the earth. And should I then go into my own house, so that I may eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By your welfare and by the welfare of your soul, I will not do this thing.”

12 Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today. I will let you return [to the battle] tomorrow.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and that night.

Therefore, David said to Uriah, “Even so, remain here today, and tomorrow I will send you away.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem, on that day and the next.

13 The next day, David invited him [to a meal]. So Uriah had a meal with David, and David made him drink a lot of wine so that he would get drunk, [hoping that if he was drunk, he would sleep with his wife]. But that night, Uriah again did not go home. Instead, he slept on his cot with the king’s servants.

And David called him, so that he might eat and drink before him, and he made him inebriated. And departing in the evening, he slept on his bedding, with the servants of his lord, and he did not go down to his own house.

14 [Someone reported that to] David, [so] the next morning he wrote a letter to Joab, and gave it to Uriah to take to Joab.

Therefore, when morning arrived, David wrote a letter to Joab. And he sent it by the hand of Uriah,

15 In the letter, he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is the (worst/most severe). Then command the soldiers to pull back from him, in order that he will be killed [by our enemies].”

writing in the letter: “Place Uriah opposite the warfare, where the battle is the strongest, and then abandon him, so that, having been wounded, he may die.”

16 [So after] Joab [got the letter], as his army was surrounding the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew that their enemies’ strongest and best soldiers would be fighting.

And so, when Joab was besieging the city, he positioned Uriah in the place where he knew the strongest men to be.

17 The men from the city came out and fought with Joab’s soldiers. They killed some of David’s officers, including Uriah.

And the men, departing from the city, made war against Joab. And some of the people among the servants of David fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died.

18 Then Joab sent a messenger to David to tell him about the fighting.

And so, Joab sent and reported to David every word about the battle.

19 He said to the messenger, “Tell David the news about the battle. After you finish telling that to him,

And he instructed the messenger, saying: “When you have completed all the words about the war to the king,

20 if David is angry [because so many officers were killed], he may ask you, ‘Why did your soldiers go so close to the city to fight [RHQ]? Did you not know that they would shoot [arrows at you while they were standing on top] of the city wall [RHQ]?

if you see him to be angry, and if he says: ‘Why did you draw near to the wall in order to fight? Are you ignorant that many darts are thrown from above the wall?

21 Do you not remember how Abimelech, the son of Gideon, was killed? A woman [who lived] in Thebez threw a huge (millstone/stone for grinding grain) on him from [the top of] tower, and he died. So why did your troops go near to the city wall?’ If the king asks this, then tell him, ‘Your officer Uriah also was killed.’”

Who struck down Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal? Did not a woman throw a fragment of a millstone upon him from the wall, and so kill him at Thebez? Why did you approach beside the wall?’ then you shall say: ‘Your servant Uriah, the Hittite, also lies dead.’”

22 So the messenger went and told David everything that Joab told him to say.

Therefore, the messenger departed. And he went and described to David all that Joab had instructed him.

23 The messenger said to David, “Our enemies were very brave, and came out of the city to fight us in the fields. [They were defeating us] but we forced them back to the city gate.

And the messenger said to David: “The men prevailed against us, and they went out to us in the field. Then we pursued them, making an assault, even to the gate of the city.

24 Then their archers shot arrows at us from [the top of] the city wall. They killed some of your officers. They killed your officer Uriah, too.”

And the archers directed their arrows at your servants from the wall above. And some of the king’s servants died, and then also your servant Uriah the Hittite died.”

25 David said to the messenger, “Go back to Joab and say to him, ‘Do not be distressed [about what happened], because no one ever knows who will be killed in a battle.’ Tell him that the next time his troops should attack the city more strongly, and capture it.”

And David said to the messenger: “You shall say these things to Joab: ‘Do not let this matter dishearten you. For varied are the events of war. Now this one, and now that one, is consumed by the sword. Encourage your warriors against the city and exhort them, so that you may destroy it.’”

26 When Uriah’s wife [Bathsheba] heard that her husband had died, she mourned for him.

Then the wife of Uriah heard that her husband Uriah had died, and she mourned for him.

27 When her time of mourning was ended, David sent messengers to bring her to the palace. Thus, she became David’s wife. She later gave birth to a son. But Yahweh was very displeased with what David had done.

But when the lamentation was completed, David sent and brought her into his house, and she became his wife, and she bore a son to him. And this word, which David had done, was displeasing in the sight of the Lord.