2Samuel 11:1 ¶ 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 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 And David
sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this
Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 4 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
And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am
with child.
Campaigning at war according to some
commentators would typically begin in the spring of the year with the rains
stopped, fruit in the trees, and grasses plenty for forage for horses and men.
The Romans gave us Martius or March today from the god of war, Mars. Israel’s
army goes at to punish the children of Ammon, besieging their city, Rabbah. But
King David did not do his duty as he should have, leading his troops. He left
that to his general, Joab, and stayed behind in Jerusalem.
People used the rooftops of their houses for
many things and David saw a beautiful woman washing herself and must have
gotten quite an eyeful. I doubt that this was uncommon, to wash oneself on the
housetop. The roofs were flat and in the cool of the evening they were a
comfortable place to take care of personal things. David should not have gazed
at the woman and aroused the lust inside of him, justified by his kingly
privilege.
Bathsheba’s name had a variant spelling found
in 1Chronicles 3:5 as did her father go by another name as well.
1Chronicles 3:5 And these were born unto him in Jerusalem;
Shimea, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four, of Bathshua the daughter of
Ammiel:
Her husband was a Hittite. The Hittites were
the children of Heth.
Genesis 23:10
And Ephron dwelt among the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite
answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went
in at the gate of his city, saying,
Just as David had Philistine mercenaries
fighting for him as mentioned previously, Uriah was a faithful warrior of
Canaanite descent.
Genesis 10:15
And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,
The
oppression of kings was that they could pretty much do what they wanted to do,
especially with attractive women. Bathsheba was past her monthly period.
Leviticus 15:19 ¶ And if a woman have an issue, and her issue
in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever
toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.
This power rape which is what it is when a
woman has no choice but to accept a powerful man’s advances results in
Bathsheba being pregnant with David’s child. There was a time in our country when
the law failed to protect a woman in circumstances like this which older people
are quick to forget. The blame almost always went back on the woman even though
she would have been in a very difficult position for which male dominated
society had little compassion.
2Samuel 11:6 ¶ And David sent to Joab, saying, Send
me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 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 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 slept at the door of the king’s
house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.
10 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 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 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 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 tries to hide his sin by encouraging
Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, to have sex with her so he would think the child
she was pregnant with was his. Uriah, though, was a faithful, loyal, and
patriotic Canaanite citizen of Israel. Many today in the West are surprised
that Arabs are a vital component of Israel today, serving in the military, in
higher education, and in the government, as are those of the Druze faith. Arab
Muslims and Christians have died for Israel.
Uriah is a man of character who shames David
and apparently drives him to desperation. This is not a good image of David for
us to see.
2Samuel 11:14 ¶ And it came to pass in the morning, that
David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 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 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
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 Then Joab sent and told David all the
things concerning the war; 19 And
charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the
matters of the war unto the king, 20 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 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 So the messenger went, and came and shewed
David all that Joab had sent him for. 23
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 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 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. 26
And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she
mourned for her husband. 27 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.
David has committed an egregious sin against God
for which there is no sacrifice under the Law that can get him past it. David
is worthy of death himself. David will face a great deal of trouble and grief
in his life due to his sin. This only goes to show that God can still use
someone who has sinned in an awful way even though a great deal of pain and
sorrow will come to that person’s life. God can even make something great and
wonderful come out of a person’s sin if He so chooses.
David has murdered the husband of a woman he lusted after and made pregnant and has now not only excused his actions but made his general, Joab, a party to his murder, giving Joab the ability to hurt David if he so chose which he sort of threatens to do in the next chapter.
.
Leviticus 20:10 ¶ And the man that committeth adultery with another
man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the
adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
Finally, David takes the wife of the murdered
Uriah as his own. God is not happy with David, of course.
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