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. David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, Uriah the Hittite’s wife?”
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. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”
David sent to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah had come to him, David asked him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. 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. 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.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 5, 8 Whereupon he used to rest at afternoon, as was…
Whereupon he used to rest at afternoon, as was read of Ishbosheth, 2 Sam. 4:7.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–9 2Sa 11:2 And it came to pass in an…
2Sa 11:2 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.
Ver. 2. And it came to pass in an evening tide.] When David should have been at his devotions, as his wont was. But now, belike, the devil had caused him to come from his trench, and then did presently wound him. While Joab is busy in laying siege to Rabbah, Satan is to David, and far sooner prevailed.
Read full note →
That David arose from off his bed.] Somno et cibo pastas distentusque ideoque in Venerem proclivis; full feeding and being idle, two of Sodom’s sins, disposed him to the other of lust and uncleanness. The rankest weeds grow out of the fattest soil. The water that hath been heated, soonest freezeth: the most active spirit soonest tireth with slacking. The earth standeth still, and is all dregs; the heavens ever move and are pure. Beware of ease and idleness: here began David’s downfall. Say not of this, as Lot did of Zoar, Is it not a little one? The parvity {smallness} of a sin taketh not away the pravity {depravity} of it: and a less maketh way for a greater, as wedges do in wood cleaving. Pompey desired that all his soldiers might come into a certain city; when that was denied, he said, Let my weak and wounded soldiers come in; they did, and then soon opened the gates to all the army.
“ Principiis obsta. ”
And from the roof he saw a woman.] This was another occasion of David’s foul fall, curiosa circumspectatio. His eyes had no sooner the sleep rubbed out of them, than they roved to wanton prospects. He had once prayed, "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity"; and should have still continued his suit: that as he might keep a door in God’s house, so God would keep the doors and windows of his, - those, otherwise, windows of wickedness, and loopholes of lust, the eyes; through which the old serpent easily windeth himself into the heart, and maketh himseff master of the whole man. This made good Job to step from a prayer to a vow. {Job 31:1} Yea, from a vow to an imprecation, {Job 31:7} as knowing the danger of irregular glancing, or inordinate gazing. Those who abuse the outward eye, are worthy to have the inward eye darkened, saith Gregory. David’s eye became an inlet of lust into his soul: let them look to it who think they may look at liberty, {a} et se illis spectaculis non moveri. Nunquid tu fortior Davide, Solomone, sapientor? saith Augustine. Art thou stronger than David, wiser than Solomon? See therefore to thy cinque-ports, {five gates} to thy senses: for of looking cometh lusting, and contemplative wickedness. Valerius fitly calleth the eyes the spies, that lie in ambush for the undermining of other men’s marriages. And Quintilian saith, that by the eyes way is made to manifold wickedness. {b}
Washing herself,] viz., From her legal uncleanness, according to the Law. {Lev 15:19; Lev 18:19} David, Actaeon-like
“ vidit sine veste Dianam;
Praeda fuit canibus nec minus ille suis. ”
Lust is quick sighted: it metamorphoseth a man into a beast, and maketh him a prey to hell’s huntsman. The Vulgate rendereth the text thus, Videtque mulierem se lavantem ex adverso, he saw a woman washing herself opposite him: he saw her washing either in her garden, which was near the palace, saith Adrichonius, or else in her chamber per fenestram, through a window, as Vatablus thinketh, by some casement accidentally open, he chanced to see her: he espied her, where she could espy no beholder.
And the woman was very beautiful to behold.] This was an eyesore to David, in the same sense that the Persian maids were by Alexander called oculorum dolores, eye maladies to his Macedonians. The basilisk slayeth with his sight. Circe will enchant all that behold her, having faculty attractive with the jet, and retentive with the adamant.
{a} Sit casus maiorum tremor minorum. - Aug.
{b} Ut vidi, ut perii. Oculi sunt in amore duces.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 From off his bed; where he had lain and…
From off his bed; where he had lain and slept for some time; being possibly disposed to sleep after dinner, by reason of some excess committed in eating or drinking; and indulging himself in his lazy humour, which may seem very improper for so great a prince and captain, who had so many and great burdens upon his shoulders, especially in a time of war; and therefore such practices have been condemned by heathens; and Homer will not allow a general and great counsellor to sleep all the night, much less to take any part of the day for it. And therefore this is thought to be David’s first error, and the occasion of his following fall. Walked upon the roof; which was plain, after the manner, Deu 22:8.
Washing herself, to wit, in a bath, which possibly was in her garden, or in some room near to the king s palace, where she might wash herself divers ways, and for different ends; either for health, or coolness, or to cleanse herself from some kind of legal impurity; where also, the windows being open, and she careless, David might espy her.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v6 Uriah, we may suppose, had now been absent from…
Uriah, we may suppose, had now been absent from his wife some weeks, making the campaign in the country of the Ammonites, and not intending to return till the end of it. The situation of his wife would bring to light the hidden works of darkness; and when Uriah, at his return, should find how he had been abused, and by whom, it might well be expected, 1. That he would prosecute his wife, according to law, and have her stoned to death; for jealousy is the rage of a man, especially a man of honour, and he that is thus injured will not spare in the day of vengeance, Pro 6:34. This Bath-sheba was apprehensive of when she sent to let David know she was with child, intimating that he was concerned to protect her, and, it is likely, if he had not promised her so to do (so wretchedly abusing his royal power), she would not have consented to him. Hope of impunity is a great encouragement to iniquity. 2. It might also be expected that since he could not prosecute David by law for an offence of this nature he would take his revenge another way, and raise a rebellion against him. There have been instances of kings who by provocations of this nature, given to some of their powerful subjects, have lost their crowns. To prevent this double mischief, David endeavours to father the child which should be born upon Uriah himself, and therefore sends for him home to stay a night or two with his wife. Observe,
I. How the plot was laid. Uriah must come home from the army under pretence of bringing David an account how the war prospered, and how they went on with the siege of Rabbah, Sa2 11:7. Thus does he pretend a more than ordinary concern for his army when that was the least thing in his thoughts; if he had not had another turn to serve, an express of much less figure than Uriah might have sufficed to bring him a report of the state of the war. David, having had as much conference with Uriah as he thought requisite to cover the design, sent him to his house, and, that he might be the more pleasant there with the wife of his youth, sent a dish of meat after him for their supper, Sa2 11:8. When that project failed the first night, and Uriah, being weary of his journey and more desirous of sleep than meat, lay all night in the guard-chamber, the next night he made him drunk (Sa2 11:13), or made him merry, tempted him to drink more than was fit, that he might forget his vow (Sa2 11:11), and might be disposed to go home to his own bed, to which perhaps, if David could have made him dead drunk, he would have ordered him to be carried. It is a very wicked thing, upon any design whatsoever, to make a person drunk. Woe to him that does so, Hab 2:15, Hab 2:16. God will put a cup of trembling into the hands of those who put into the hands of others the cup of drunkenness. Robbing a man of his reason is worse than robbing him of his money, and drawing him into sin worse than drawing him into any trouble whatsoever. Every good man, especially every magistrate, should endeavour to prevent this sin, by admonishing, restraining, and denying the glass to those whom they see falling into excess; but to further it is to do the devil's work, to officiate as factor for him.
Read full note →
II. How this plot was defeated by Uriah's firm resolution not to lie in his own bed. Both nights he slept with the life-guard, and went not down to his house, though, it is probable, his wife pressed him to do it as much as David, Sa2 11:9, Sa2 11:12. Now, 1. Some think he suspected what was done, being informed of his wife's attendance at court, and therefore he would not go near her. But if he had had any suspicion of that kind, surely he would have opened the letter that David sent by him to Joab. 2. Whether he suspected any thing or no, Providence put this resolution into his heart, and kept him to it, for the discovering of David's sin, and that the baffling of his design to conceal it might awaken David's conscience to confess it and repent of it. 3. The reason he gave to David for this strange instance of self-denial and mortification was very noble, Sa2 11:11. While the army was encamped in the field, he would not lie at ease in his own house. "The ark is in a tent," whether at home, in the tent David had pitched for it, or abroad, with Joab in the camp, is not certain. "Joab, and all the mighty men of Israel, lie hard and uneasy, and much exposed to the weather and to the enemy; and shall I go and take my ease and pleasure at my own house?" No, he protests he will not do it. Now, (1.) This was in itself a generous resolution, and showed Uriah to be a man of a public spirit, bold and hardy, and mortified to the delights of sense. In times of public difficulty and danger it does not become us to repose ourselves in security, or roll ourselves in pleasure, or, with the king and Haman, to sit down to drink when the city Shushan was perplexed, Est 3:15. We should voluntarily endure hardness when the church of God is constrained to endure it. (2.) It might have been of use to awaken David's conscience, and make his heart to smite him for what he had done. [1.] That he had basely abused so brave a man as Uriah was, a man so heartily concerned for him and his kingdom, and that acted for him and it with so much vigour. [2.] That he was himself so unlike him. The consideration of the public hardships and hazards kept Uriah from lawful pleasures, yet could not keep David, though more nearly interested, from unlawful ones. Uriah's severity to himself should have shamed David for his indulgence of himself. The law was, When the host goeth forth against the enemy then, in a special manner, keep thyself from every wicked thing, Deu 23:9. Uriah outdid that law, but David violated it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–9 And it came to pass in an eveningtide,.... Some…
And it came to pass in an eveningtide,.... Some time in the afternoon, when the sun began to decline; not in the dusk of the evening, for then the object he saw could not have been seen so distinctly by him:
that David arose from off his bed; having taken a nap in the heat of the day after dinner; indulging himself more than he used to do to sloth and luxury, which prepared him, and led him on the more eagerly to the lust of uncleanness:
Read full note →
and walked upon the roof of the king's house; to refresh himself after his sleep, it being the cool of the day, and the roof of the house being flat and fit to walk upon, as the houses of Judea were; see Deu 22:8,
and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; in a bath in her garden, or in an apartment in her house, the window being open:
and the woman was very beautiful to look upon; of a fine shape and good complexion, and comely countenance; all which were incentives to lust, at which his eye was attracted to, and his heart was ensnared with her.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 8, 9 Arose from off his bed - Where he had…
Arose from off his bed - Where he had lain, and slept for some time. And the bed of sloth often proves the bed of lust. Washing herself - In a bath, which was in her garden. Probably from some ceremonial pollution.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 Verse 2. In an evening-tide - David arose] He…
Verse 2. In an evening-tide - David arose] He had been reposing on the roof of his house, to enjoy the breeze, as the noonday was too hot for the performance of business. This is still a constant custom on the flat-roofed houses in the East.
He saw a woman washing herself] How could any woman of delicacy expose herself where she could be so fully and openly viewed? Did she not know that she was at least in view of the king's terrace? Was there no design in all this? Et fugit ad salices, et se cupit ante videri. In a Bengal town pools of water are to be seen everywhere, and women may be seen morning and evening bathing in them, and carrying water home. Thus David might have seen Bath-sheba, and no blame attach to her.
Read full note →
Ver. 4 shows us that this washing was at the termination of a particular period.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 8 2Sa 11:2. David arose from off his bed —…
2Sa 11:2. David arose from off his bed — Where he had lain down to sleep in the heat of the day, as the manner was in those countries; and where he had probably slept for some time. The bed of sloth often proves the bed of lust. And walked upon the roof of his house — To take the fresh air, for the roofs of the houses in that country were flat for this purpose. He saw a woman washing herself — In a bath, which was in her garden; probably from some ceremonial pollution.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 7, 8 An eveningtide - The evening began at three o’clock…
An eveningtide - The evening began at three o’clock in the afternoon.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 8, 9 Noon. He had been reposing, according to custom, chap.…
Noon. He had been reposing, according to custom, chap. iv. 7. (Calmet) --- But the devil was not idle. He was meditating a temptation and crime, which involved a great part of the remainder of David’s life in misery. (Haydock) --- He had reigned 18 years, and lived 48, almost without blame. (Salien, the year of the world 2998.) --- His house, as the Hebrew explains it. The Vulgate might insinuate that the woman was upon "the roof of her house." But she was probably in her garden, as the Jews have their baths in the open air. They are frequently obliged to purify themselves. (Calmet) --- The house must have been very near David’s palace. (Salien)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 DAVID COMMITS ADULTERY WITH BATH-SHEBA. (Sa2 11:2-12)
DAVID COMMITS ADULTERY WITH BATH-SHEBA. (Sa2 11:2-12)
it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed--The Hebrews, like other Orientals, rose at daybreak, and always took a nap during the heat of the day. Afterwards they lounged in the cool of the evening on their flat-roofed terraces. It is probable that David had ascended to enjoy the open-air refreshment earlier than usual.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 8 DAVID’S ADULTERY, 2Sa_11:2-5.
DAVID’S ADULTERY, 2Sa_11:2-5.
The foul crime here recorded was the turning point in David’s life and reign. He had now reached the acme of his power and glory; the borders of his kingdom had become greatly enlarged, and most of the surrounding nations were tributary to his throne. The Ammonites yet hold out, but we shall soon see them utterly subdued. The coming wars and troubles of David are to be among his own people and in his own house, and these a punishment of sin. When we contemplate the splendid character of David, and the glory of his many triumphs; when we survey at a glance his exaltation from a humble shepherd-boy to the widely-honoured king of Jehovah’s people, and think of his many unrivalled excellences of mind and heart, we are ready to wish that his life had closed before these crimes of adultery and blood-guiltiness had polluted his mighty soul and darkened his life-history with an ineffaceable stain. It was probably this feeling that led the writer of Chronicles to pass over this whole section of David’s history, as if he would fain leave it in eternal silence.
Read full note →
2. In an evening-tide — That is, towards evening, after having taken his mid-day rest.
Upon the roof — “The roofs of these houses afford such a delightful promenade, and the prospect is so beautiful, that I can scarcely keep away from them day or night. During a large part of the year the roof is the most agreeable place about the establishment, especially in the morning and evening.” — Thomson.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 2. arose from off his bed] In the cool…
2. arose from off his bed] In the cool of the afternoon, after his midday siesta. Cp. ch. 2Sa_4:5.
walked upon the roof] The flat roofs of Oriental houses “afford a most delightful promenade.… During a large part of the year the roof is the most agreeable place about the establishment, especially in the morning and the evening.” Thomson’s The Land and the Book, p. 39. David’s palace on Mount Zion (ch. 2Sa_5:9) commanded a view of Uriah’s house, which was in the Lower City (2Sa_11:8, go down).
Read full note →
2–5. David’s adultery with Bath-sheba
It is one object of Holy Scripture to paint sin in its true colours. No friendly flattery, no false modesty, draws a veil over this dark scene in David’s life. It is recorded as a warning (1Co_10:11-12), that even holy men may yield to temptation and fall into gross sin; that one sin almost inevitably leads to others; that sin, even when repented of, brings punishment in its train.
With stern simplicity the inspired prophet-historian describes how “the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death” (Jas_1:15). The king who but a few years before had sung of “clean hands and a pure heart” (Psa_24:4), and vowed to exclude from his palace all workers of deceit (Psa_101:7) is dragged by his passion into meanness, ingratitude, dissimulation, treachery, murder. “These things were written for our admonition … Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1Co_10:11-12).
But if the history is a stern record of the enthralling power and the inevitable consequences of sin, it is no less a testimony to the liberating power of repentance. “Sicut lapsus David cautos facit eos qui non ceciderunt, sic desperatos esse non vult qui ceciderunt” (Augustine on Psalms 51): or in the words of Bishop Hall: “How can we presume of not sinning, or despair for sinning, when we find so great a saint thus fallen, thus risen.”
It is the necessary key to the history of the rest of David’s reign. It explains the sudden overclouding of his life; the change from triumph and prosperity to sorrow and failure. See further in the Introduction, ch. VI. § 10, p. 36, and § 16, p. 41.
This narrative is altogether omitted in the Book of Chronicles, for reasons which are explained in the Introduction, ch. III. p. 22.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 (2) In an eveningtide.—Late in the afternoon, when David…
(2) In an eveningtide.—Late in the afternoon, when David had taken the siesta customary in Oriental countries, he rose from his couch and walked on the roof of his palace, which in the cool of the day was the pleasantest part of an eastern house. This palace was on the height of Mount Zion, and looked down upon the open courts of the houses in the lower city. In one of these he saw a beautiful woman bathing. In the courts of the houses it was common to have a basin of water, and the place was probably entirely concealed from every other point of observation than the roof of the palace, from which no harm was suspected.
David’s grievous fall was consequent upon his long course of uninterrupted prosperity and power, which had somewhat intoxicated him and thrown him off his guard. It is no part of the plan of Scripture to cover up or excuse the sins of even its greatest heroes and saints. This sin was followed by the deepest repentance and by the Divine forgiveness; nevertheless its punishment overclouded all the remaining years of David’s life. His fall, as St. Augustine has said, should put upon their guard those who have not fallen, and save from despair those who have.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 David arose from off his bed. It was usual…
David arose from off his bed. It was usual in Palestine, and remains so in all hot countries, to take a siesta in the heat of the day; (2Sa_4:5) and, on awaking, David walked backward and forward on the fiat roof of his house, (1Sa_9:25) to enjoy the cool breezes of the evening. In so doing he was probably following his usual habits; but temptation came upon him, as so often is the case, unexpectedly. We are told that it is regarded in the East as improper for one neighbour to look over the battlement of his house into the inner court of the next dwelling (Philippson). Considering the jealousy with which Orientals guard the female members of their family from intrusion, it was a wrong act on the king"s part to spy into what was going on in the recesses of the adjoining house. But he did so, and suffered for it years of disgrace and misery. For he saw a beautiful woman, the wife of one of his high officers, bathing, probably to purify herself from some legal uncleanness, such as those mentioned in Leviticus 15. No blame, so far, must be attached to her. The place was regarded as perfectly secluded, and probably neither she nor Uriah had ever suspected that what went on there could be observed from the roof of the king"s palace.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v2 And it came to pass in an eventide.
2Sa_11:2-24
And it came to pass in an eventide.
Read full note →
The fall and punishment of David illustrated
I. The circumstances of David previous to His fall. For several years he had been in a state of great trouble: But it was not in this state of trial and affliction that he offended. During this period we see him exercising, in a remarkable degree, the faith, the resignation, the humility, the patience, the meekness of the servant of God. But now God had brought his troubles to a close. For some years he had been the most powerful monarch in that quarter of the world. These were his circumstances when he fell.
II. Consider the peculiar temptation which is suffered to present itself to David, and the way in which he encountered it. The temptation arose, a temptation sudden and great. He gives way to the seduction. He calmly descends from his palace with a determination to bring the evil of his heart into act, and to perpetrate the crime which the tempter had suggested to him. This we may conceive to have been the turning point in Davids career. Oh! had David paused but for one moment; had he retired a while to deliberate upon his Conduct; had he put up one prayer for Divine help; had he passed on even to the duties of his kingly office so as to divert his thoughts into a different channel; the snare might have been broken, and he have escaped. But, alas! David is left a melancholy monument of what the best man may become when he forsakes his God, and when his God, in consequence, abandons him.
III. The state of David after his first sin, and his progress to new offences. What must David have felt after the perpetration of the first crime? Immediately the sense of the Divine presence, the inspiring hope of Divine favour and eternal glory, would withdraw from him. The consequences of his crime were becoming visible, and the once noble and generous David now resorts to low artifices to conceal his guilt. He sends for the injured husband. He treats him with a subtlety unworthy both of himself and of his loyal subject, endeavouring to impose upon him a spurious offspring. When deceit, however, would not prevail on Uriah, a fresh crime must compel him. Crime leads on to crime. David, therefore, urged by a dread of detection, determines to add murder to adultery.
IV. The criminal schemes of David had now taken effect, and Uriah could no more disturb the bed of his seducer and murderer. But when there remained no obstacle to enjoyment, the Divine Hand suddenly arrested him in his guilty career. God sent Nathan the Prophet to convince him in his guilt.
V. The dreadful consequence of this transgression. Where God forgives, He does not always wholly spare. He may so pardon the sin as not to inflict upon the sinner eternal condemnation, and yet punish him severely. And such was the case of David. Besides the wound his soul had sustained, and which, perhaps, might never afterwards be entirely healed, we find the remainder of Davids life harassed by perpetual sorrows.
1. It may teach us to guard against declension in grace, and watch against temptation. If temptation is urgent flee from it and think of the fall of David.
2. Charity and tenderness in judging of those who fall. Call them not, as the world are too apt to call them, hypocrites. David was no hypocrite--but David fell.
3. Finally, let us beware of employing the fall of David as a plea for sin, and of presuming that such a restoration as his to favour and holiness will be granted to ourselves. Before we can build upon the hope of a restoration such as his our circumstances must be those of David. (J. Venn, M. A.)
Davids great trespass
How ardently would most, if not all readers of Davids life have wished that the first verse of this chapter had been--And David died, and was gathered unto his fathers; and his son reigned in his stead. The golden era of his life has passed away; his sun has begun to go down; and what remains of his life is chequered with records of crime and chastisement, of sin and sorrow. What we now encounter is not like a spot but an eclipse; it is not a mere pimple that slightly disfigures a comely face, but a tumour that distorts the countenance and drains the whole body; of its vigour. There is something quite remarkable in the fearless way in which the Bible unveils the guilt of David; it is set forth in all its enormity, without an attempt to excuse or palliate it; and the only statement introduced in the whole narrative to characterise his proceedings are these quiet but terribly expressive words with which the chapter ends--But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. In the bold and fearless march of Providence, we often see the hand of God. What mere man, framing the character of one designed to be a pattern of excellence, and to bear the designation the man after Gods own heart--would have dared to ascribe to him such wickedness as this? The truth is, that though Davids reputation would have been far brighter, if he had died at this point of his career; the moral of his life, so to speak, would have been less complete. In some way that we cannot rightly explain, he does not appear to have been duty sensible either of the guilt or of the danger of this tendency. He does not appear to have watched against it as against other sins, nor to have taken the same pains, through grace, to subdue it. In the passage now before us we find a catastrophe, resulting from this state of things, which was truly the beginning of sorrows. The king of Israel becomes familiar with sorrows and trials, compared to which any that he had suffered when flying and biding from Saul were light indeed. The lust which he has spared and indulged, re-appearing in his children, introduces incest and murder into the bosom of his family; it violates the sanctity of his home; and in place of the comely order, and the sweet tranquility of brothers and sisters dwelling together in unity, his palace becomes an abode of brutal appetites and murderous passions--the stain and horror of which time can neither lessen nor remove. Such a fall as Davids could not have been altogether instantaneous. It must have been preceded by a spiritual declension, probably of considerable duration. The likelihood is that the great prosperity that was now flowing in upon David in every direction had had an unfavourable effect upon his soul. For a long period the very extremities of his situation had driven him to dependence on God--necessity was laid upon him; but now that necessity was removed. Add to this the fact mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, and so mentioned as to imply that it is a significant one--that at the time when kings go forth to battle, David allowed his army to go without him, and tarried still at Jerusalem. This seems to imply that the king had fallen into a luxurious, self-indulging mood; that he was disposed to sit still and enjoy himself rather than accompany his brave soldiers to the self-denying labours and dangers of the field. Next, let us notice the manner in which David was led on from step to step of sin. His first sin was--suffering himself to be arrested by the sight of the woman; his fall began with a sin of the heart; had he made a covenant with his eyes, like Job, he would have nipped the temptation in the bud; he would have been saved a world of agony and sin. Let us try to gather up briefly, first, the principal kinds of sin of which David was guilty on this occasion; and then, their chief aggravations.
(1) There was the crime of adultery, including, as it always does, the sin of robbery, and the murder of character, and constituting, according to the criminal law of the Jews, a capital offence, the punishment of which for both parties was death.
(2) Attempted deception, in his efforts to prevent his crime from being known.
(3) Tempting Uriah to drunkenness--braving the curse afterwards denounced by the prophet.
(4) Ingratitude and injustice to Uriah, whose noble services in the cause, of his king met with a cruel return.
(5) Meanness and treachery; it was mean to take advantage of Uriahs absence in the first instance; it was mean to attempt, through him, to conceal the crime; it was mean to try to intoxicate him; and it was incredibly mean to make him the bearer of a letter detailing a plot for his death.
(6) Commanding another person (Joab) to do an unjust and atrocious action. And,
(7) The crowning sin of murder--slightly masked, no doubt, and less atrocious in appearance as the mode of death was-what every soldier was exposed to, but, in substance, deliberate murder.
The aggravations of these sins were great.
(1) All this was done by the king of the nation, who was bound not only to be an example to his people in general, but especially to discountenance crime, and to encourage and reward bravery in his service.
(2) God had shown singular goodness to David; he had been rescued by God from all his enemies, placed upon the throne, and surrounded with every species of lawful enjoyment.
(3) The very profession made by David, and for the most part so consistently--his reputation as a good and holy man--made his offences the greater.
(4) He had reached a mature or almost advanced age; he was long past the boundary of youth, and therefore the more inexcusable in giving way to youthful lusts. And
(5) There was the example of Uriah--so eminent a pattern of faithfulness to his duty as a soldier--of firm aversion even to lawful indulgences that might indispose him for the hardships of a soldiers life, or be unsuitable in the comrade of brave, self-denying men. Such was the labyrinth of guilt and wickedness into which King David was now betrayed. How, then, it may be asked, can the thing be accounted for at all? It may serve, in some slight degree, to account, for it, if we bear in mind the source of the spiritual life and the mode of its operation. When a man is converted, two opposite principles begin to struggle in his heart--the old man and the new: The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit lusteth against the flesh. In some natures, both the old man and the new possess unusual vehemence; the desperate energisings of the old are held in check only by the still greater vigour of the new; and if by any means the new man lose his vigour for a time--if the communication with the great Source of that vigour be interrupted, frightful havoc may be wrought by the old. Some men are giants every way: Luther, for example, was a giant in intellect--a giant in animal force and power--a giant in gracious affections; and when in such men the native inclinations burst the restraints of the new nature, it is no common wickedness that may be looked for. It was so with David. But it is one thing to account for Davids sin--it is another to excuse it. These remarks are designed for the one purpose, not the other. The whole transaction bears the character of a beacon, and the beacon is one of the darkest even in the faithful records of Scripture history.
(1) First of all, it shows the frightful danger of interrupting, however briefly, the exercise of watching and praying--of discontinuing communion with the great Source of spiritual strength, especially when the evils that first made us pray earnestly are removed. An hours sleep may leave Samson at the mercy of Delilah, and when he awakes his strength is gone.
(2) Further, it affords a sad proof of the danger of dallying with sin even in thought. Admit sin within the precincts of the imagination, and there is the utmost danger of its ultimately mastering the soul. The outposts of the spiritual garrison should be so placed as to protect even the thoughts, and the moment the enemy is discovered there the alarm should be given and the fight begun.
(3) Still further, his fail exemplifies the frightful risk of tolerating anywhere in our hearts a single sin. One sin leads on to another and another; especially if the first be a sin which it is desirable to conceal. (W. G. Blaikie, M. A.)
Transgression: its progress and, consummation
I. The origin of Davids transgressions. Seldom, if ever, is it the case that crime, to any enormous extent, is perpetrated by men even of the common Stamp, upon sudden and momentary impulse. There is almost invariably to be observed a regular gradation in sin, until it towers in all the fierce and frightful ascendancy of open guilt. Thus was it here. Despise not the fear of extreme iniquity, as if you were incapable of such a thing. If David fell, who once stood so high and holy in Christian character, to what a depth may we yet fall, we who have never yet attained to any thing like his early piety:, his primitive godliness.
II. The progress of sin now opens before us. Indolence and sensuality worked out their regular and invariable effect upon the erring monarch. He rises from his bed in the evening time--the bed of luxury, every passion pampered, every avenue to sin wide open, nothing further necessary to bring about his ruin than some external object to move the overt act of evil. The wife of Uriah, one of his principal and most faithful generals, becomes the object of temptation. The temptation triumphs, and the first work of iniquity is accomplished. Sin now becomes compulsory; the fear of detection and infamy, perhaps of personal danger from the just wrath of Uriah, drives the royal culprit to every mean and despicable expedient in order to conceal his transgression. Sin now drives on the soul to violence; and with cold and unfeeling treachery Uriah is made the innocent messenger of his own destruction. What a series of close-linked iniquities--indolence, luxury, lust adultery, hypocrisy, falsehood, treachery, murder! And this is not all; we have here but the single series of crimes; there is a complication likewise which we must not overlook if we would read off the history in all its forcible and solemn instructiveness. Bathsheba is made an accomplice in sin, a moral victim to the guilty passion of the king, while her husband is sacrifced to his fears. Here are souls and bodies of men, precious lives, sported away under the hellish dominion of triumphant guilt! What complicated crime! What an awful history!
III. The consummation of evil. All that we have hitherto looked at belongs only to substantial guilt; guilt branded, it is true, with atrocity, but the consummation of evil still remains for our reflections. Many months had elapsed since the commencement of this wretched business, and a long period of time, too, had intervened between the death of Uriah and the visit of Nathan, to awaken the royal transgressor to repentance. Throughout this whole interval, there was no movement of remorse towards heaven in the heart of the king; he feared the reproof of man, and the wrath of man, as we have seen, and laboured by murderous efforts to avoid them; but there was yet no remorse towards God, no recognition of his turpitude, as viewed by the Most High, no fear of Divine censure, of Divine indignation, no effort to arrest or even deprecate the wrath of Jehovah. Thus, then, David had fallen into practical infidelity; every active consideration of Gods existence, omniscience, and justice had vanished away. What a mystery is sin; it possesses us to self-destruction, while it diminishes nothing of our sagacity or skill in arraying and condemning the guilt of others. It is enough for satanic malice and purpose, if the soul be filled with every holy sentiment, and wisdom, and quality for external occupation, provided it remain dead to its own interests, unmoved by its own guilt! This prostration of judgment, this death of conscience, consummated the spiritual misery of the fallen monarch. How long should such a state have lasted, if God had not specially recalled the sinner to repentance? For ever! There was no human power, no natural remedy left for his restoration. To reclaim him, fear had failed, and conscience had failed, and memory of past obedience had failed. Reason was stupified, and stupified for ever, if God had not, in his faithfulness and mercy, sent a special waffling to his soul, calling forth repentance. Let us pause here one short moment, while we collect together the admonition, which may be adduced from what we have now perused.
1. And first, as we saw the steady, onward progress of sin, from the almost imperceptible germ of indolence and luxury, to the actual crime of murder, and the utter infatuation of all spiritual sense and judgment, let us hence, I say, beware of the least compliance with iniquity. We often trifle with sins of small account, set limitations to our compliance with the follies or luxuries, or harmless indulgences of the world, as they are termed.
2. Reflect with horror on the complication of sin. For our self-gratification alone it is that we are led on to crime at first; that gratification must have victims; aye, if the besetting evil within us be but pride or covetousness, it must have victims. Some must suffer for our indulgence, many will become hardened by our example in guilt; for often the man who is called, in the false language of the world, his own enemy alone, will have to answer, perhaps, for the eternal death of others.
3. Trust nothing to your own shrewdness of discernment between good and evil your own spiritual-mindedness and holiness, about the external objects and other men. Our profession is worth nothing, our spiritual attainments no proof of personal approbation with God, of personal holiness, while they range beyond self. We must deal with self, prove self, pass judgment on self, and live in communion, secret union with Christ, or our religion is but sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.
IV. The return to virtue. Mark the proof; here is a king, with all the powers of life and death over his subjects, in his own will, in his own hands. He is confronted by a man of humble state, of lowly lot, a man devoid of ally earthly influence. By this man he is accused of a grievous murder, and that, too in broad noon day, before his courtiers and counsellors, on his very throne of judgment; and so far from yielding to resentment at so daring an intrusion, or expressing the least displeasure at the abrupt and public accusation with which he is so assailed, he sinks at once into contrition, and confesses his iniquity--I have sinned against the Lord. This is what we need, a thorough conviction of our sins now; we shall have it certainly in the world to come, if it be not here attained. But conviction there is too late for anything but eternal torment; we must have it here, that under a thorough sense of our lost condition, we may apply to the rich mercies of the Redeemer for pardon.
V. Pardon I And may pardon be had for such iniquities as adultery and murder--for such extremes of crime? Yes, for all transgressions; the vilest may hope; this history is for our encouragement, to seek that grace which never was denied to suppliant man--Christ is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.
VI. No encouragement to careless sin, and fruitless admission of criminality, with the secret or avowed purpose of continuance in crime. That from which nature shrinks with more alarm than all the threatenings of eternal misery can inspire is present suffering; that was inflicted, in all its severity, upon David. (C. M. Fleury, A. M.)
Sloth and sin
I. David at this time enjoyed great prosperity. The promises made in adversity have not been forgotten. His devotion to God is fervid and growing. There were no rebellions at home. The land was quiet. The great wish of his heart had been formed into an avenue through which the service could be rendered to God.
1. Prosperity enervated him. Prosperity is a danger to men of Davids mould. Contrast the readiness with which he went forth in the old days when Saul hunted him as a bird! He was standing in high places! He needed clinging grace.
2. Prosperity induced sloth. Our inner life is very responsive to our outward condition.
II. When opportunity and temptation meet there is struggle. Without reserve the Bible tells the shameful story--shows how one sin drags after it another until it compels you to write against the name of the man (not free from the weakness of human imperfections, yet sincere and upright)--to write against that man the horrible list of crimes, deception, adultery, injustice, treachery, and murder.
III. The influences which sapped the wall of his will. You feel instinctively such a fall could not have been instantaneous--fifty years old, a devoted, upright man of God to so fall. The tempest has not strength in it to snap such an oak if the heart of the tree is sound. The sacred narrative shows the weakness, reveals the secret decay.
1. Close the doors of imagination against carnal imagery; make a covenant with your eves and keep it. There was a prepared plate in the camera of Davids mind, or the beauty of Bathsheba had been as nought to him. Take heed where you go for your recreations. Idle strolling may in some moods lead to pitfalls. He concealed when he should have confessed. Better to have crept to the mercy-seat covered with his filth than, as he did, wait in the palace with his sin. (H. E. Stone.)
David and Bathsheba
After so many splendid victories achieved by David, after such frequent triumphs over his enemies, nothing remained but the subjugation of those passions that are excited by prosperity and wealth: but these were enemies more difficult to subdue than the Philistines and the other powerful nations whom this valiant warrior had vanquished. He that ruleth his spirit is stronger than he that taketh a city. David was smitten with the charms of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, a brave and generous soldier, who was at that time fighting the battles of his country, and engaged at the siege of Rabbah. Contrary to the laws of God, to every sentiment of honour, and every dictate of generosity, he led her to violate her nuptial engagements. What shall we say to this conduct? Shall we with some well-intentioned but injudicious commentators extenuate the crimes of David? No; he himself, when his eyes were opened to behold the depth of the abyss into which he was fallen, would not attempt to diminish the horror of his transgressions. He was guilty of crimes than which none more enormous are to be found in the black list of sins.
1. Are there any who are ready to justify their enormities from the example of David? Who are saying to themselves, If David, notwithstanding these enormous crimes, was a saint of God, and obtained pardon, I am safe? Let such consider his habitual conduct, his splendid virtues, and his deep repentance. In examining his habitual conduct, we behold a heart devoted to God. He fell into acts of the greatest wickedness; but these were not permanent, but diametrically opposite to his general walk and conversation. Justice requires also that we should contrast his murder and adultery with the splendid actions of his life. David, says the sacred historian (1Ki_15:5) did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. Think of his confidence in God; of his trust in the everlasting covenant; of the magnanimity and clemency that he so often displayed; of his zeal for the glory of God; of his humility; of his acquiescence in the severest dispensations of providence; of the pious emotions which glow in his psalms, and were felt in his heart; and after taking this general review of his life, say if there are many who from the bed of death can look back to more numerous or more splendid monuments of piety and virtue. Consider, too, the depth of his repentance. Behold him prostrate in the dust, dissolved in tears, pleading for the life of his soul; looking back with unutterable anguish to his conduce; bearing the agonised remembrance of it to the grave; never palliating his crimes; fleeing for pardon to unmerited grace.
2. This subject teaches us that one sin gradually leads us to another; that he who enters upon a criminal course knows not where he shall stop in his course; that he who indulges impetuous passions and inordinate appetites will shortly be deprived of the power of saying to them, Hitherto shall ye come and no farther; and that, therefore, our only safety is to be found in resisting the first approaches to crime, and abstaining from all appearance of evil. Oppose, then, the beginnings of evil; beware of cherishing one sinful thought; you know not to what lengths of guilt and shame it may carry you; you cannot tell where its destructive consequences will end.
3. This subject addresses those who, like David, have departed from the ways of the Lord; have violated their engagements; have wounded their consciences; have grieved the Spirit of God and His saints. There is a sacrifice which has sufficient virtue to expiate all your accumulated guilt. By the application of the blood of Jesus, and the communication of his Spirit, you shall obtain the restoration of peace with God, and strength to serve Him in time to come; like David and like Peter recovered from your falls, you shall again participate of his favour and love.
4. In reviewing this history, we are naturally led to ask, Why did Providence permit this shameful fall in David? or, to extend the question, Why does God allow sin to remain, and sometimes to break out forcibly in his regenerate children? This question cannot easily be answered. It is not for want of power to prevent it; for He could perfectly sanctify them. It is not for want of hatred to their sin; it appears as odious, more odious in them than in others. It is not for want of love to them; he regards them as his friends and his children. Why, then, does he not render them immaculately holy? The following are, perhaps, some of the reasons of this dispensation. These do not at all justify the offender, though they vindicate the providence of God, and show its omnipotence in educing good from evil itself.
(1) By them, the grace of God, in justification, is illustriously, and will be eternally magnified.
(2) They are thus taught the depth of that iniquity which is in them, and rendered humble and dependent.
(3) Thus they are taught to value more dearly the advocacy and intercession of the Lord Jesus.
(4) The remembrance of the anguish of soul which they endured before God restored unto them the joy of His salvation; the recollection of the wormwood and the gall inspires them with additional fear of sin, and makes them more studious to mortify it. They tremble at the disease they have already felt, and walk in holy fear.
(5) They are thus, by the wonderful providence of God, fitted for service. When thou art converted, says Christ to Peter, after predicting his fall, strengthen thy brethren. By the bitter experience of the power of sin they can admonish others against it.
(6) The sins of believers make them tong for heaven. They are made ready to drop this body of flesh if with it they may drop the body of sin and death. They groan, being burdened, and sigh for that land of perfect holiness, where they shall no longer offend their God. (H. Kollock, D. D.)
Davids fall
What led to Davids great sin? He did by another what he ought to have done himself. Notice verse l, When kings go forth; David sent Joab; David tarried still.
1. The indulgence of the flesh in a little thing led to indulgence in a greater. (Rom_13:12-14; Rom_8:12-13; Gal_5:16.)
2. One sin leads to another, or requires another to cover it.
3. See the hardening effect of sin! The tender-hearted David becomes a monster of cruelty! (Read, after 2Sa_11:26; 2Sa_12:26 to end.)
4. The degradation of sin! Joab taken into counsel.
5. The Lords unseen contemplation of mans actions. (Verse 27. Heb_4:13; Pro_15:11.) I, the great onus of the crime. For Christians the terrible ingredient of wilful sin is this: They crucify Christ afresh. They cause His name to be blasphemed. (Rom_2:24.) This makes our responsibility; hence 1Pe_2:12; 2Co_6:3.
II. Davids repentance. Notice immediate confession on conviction of his sin. His confession brief, heartfelt, going to the root of the matter. (R. E. Faulkner.)
Davids dark days
If the heart is lifted up, if pride and self-conceit take the place of humility and manly self-forgetfulness, the soul is likely to lose its hold upon God and its close communion with Him, and there is danger of temptation prevailing over high principle, danger of the natural man usurping the place of the spiritual man, danger of a fall. So it was with David. The height of his success and the splendour of his triumph may have thrown him off his guard. He was a strong man with a passionate nature, and through his passions he fell. It was a true instance of St. Jamess awful statement. He was drawn away of his lust, and enticed; and when lust had conceived it brought forth sin; and sin, when it was finished, brought forth death. One deliberate sin has this terrible property about it, that, unless checked at once, by honest confession and return to God, it is sure to lead on to other sins. Such was the case with David. He tried to cover up the crime he had committed by various efforts to deceive Uriah, and make it impossible for the dark secret to be known.
2. A year had passed away since Davids fall. He had returned to Jerusalem in triumph. The dead Uriah was probably forgotten. The child of guilt was burn, and loved by David with a passionate tenderness. The dreadful story, however, was not, we maybe quite certain, all forgotten by the king himself. However much the commission of the crimes of adultery and murder had injured or blinded his conscience--as wilful sin always does--still, the man after Gods own heart, the man who had shown through many temptations an honest and good heart, the man who had loved and trusted God so faithfully, could not have rested quite at his ease under the terrible memory that he had allowed base passion to conquer his better self.
3. God was looking in mercy upon His servant, and Nathan was sent to him to bring him to the fulness of a sincere repentance, and to restore trim to peace with God. Nathan did his duty fearlessly and completely. Whatever sorrows there are and must be to penitents who have deeply fallen, still God is the God of comfort, and He comforted David. Bathsheba was now his wife. Another child was born to them and David--with the sense of restored peace with God--called him Solomon, the peaceful. (W. J. Knox Little, M. A.)
Davids downfall
This chapter holds out the history of Davids soul downfall from the very pinnacle of the highest prosperity to which God raised him. Davids downfall was double, into two sins (without repentance), namely, the sin of adultery and the sin of murder.
I. Remarks upon the concomitant circumstances Are:--
1. The time of Davids adultery. This has a three-fold description, as
(1) The time of the year, at springtime;
(2) The time of war, when David had renewed his war against the Ammonites; and
(3) The time of the day, in an eventide (2Sa_11:1-2.) To which may be added
(4) The time of Davids age and reign. Common computation makes it Davids seventh year, the forty-ninth of his age, and the nineteenth of his reign. But learned Dr. Lightfoot computes it to be the twenty-sixth of his reign and so the fifty-sixth of his age, seeing he was thirty years old when he began his reign in Hebron, being in the tenth year of Samuel.
2. The place of Davids sin: it was his own palace where he was indulging himself to ease and pleasure, when he should have been fighting the Lords battles in the field with his army against the Ammonites. While he kept abroad in the wars in his own person he was safe enough. It was at evening tide when David should have been at his devotion, as had been his custom (Psa_55:17), seeing he would not be in the field to fight.
3. Upon the third circumstance, the person, the sight whereof was the occasion of Davids soul fall. She is described here divers ways:
(1) A woman washing herself, to wit, from her legal uncleanness (Lev_15:19; Lev_18:19.) Possibly some window was carelessly left open for air in her chamber, that was near the palace royal, where she could espie no beholder; but lust, being quick sighted, lustful David espied her through the casement that then was casually or carelessly left open.
(2) Very beautiful to behold. This was a strong bait to David, who had been indulging himself with some excess of eating and drinking.
(3) She is described by her name, as well as by her beauty (2Sa_11:3.) David enquired after her, who she was, when he should rather have reproved himself for looking and lusting after a forbidden object; more especially when he found she was a daughter to one and a wife to another of his famous worthies (2Sa_23:34; 2Sa_23:39.)
(4) David sent messengers to fetch her. Unbridled lust, like the wild vine, will ramble over the hedge.
(5) She came from her own house into his palace, not by force but by persuasion, pretending only to speak with her; but she came not so well fortified for resisting a temptation as she should.
II. Let us turn aside with Moses to take a little prospect of this, a great wonder,
1. As to David, A man after Gods own heart, yet his unbridled lust had metamorphosed him into a beast, He might now well say in the words of Asaph, So foolish was I and ignorant, and even as a beast before Thee. (Psa_73:23.) This teacheth us, that the best of men are but men at the best; and who art thou, O man, that thinkst thou art safe and secure enough from acts Of sin? Surely thou knowest not the plague of thine own heart (1Ki_8:38.)
2. As to Bathsheba, some do say she was not free from faultiness upon several accounts.
(1) That she bathed herself in her garden, so nigh to the Kings court, for Uriah, being one of Davids worthies, had his house assigned him near to the royal palace.
(2) That she so willingly came with the first messenger without any jealousy of a snare to her, after such too open a washing herself in the view of the court.
(3) That she so easily yielded unto Davids tempting her without any reluctancy, forgetting her fidelity to her honourable husband, choosing rather to be a base harlot to a king than an honest wife to a good subject.
III. Davids adding murder to his adultery, instead of repenting for his sin.
1. First, Davids contrivement to congeal his sin from the eyes of men, in the meantime not regarding the all-seeing eye of God, etc.
(1) He sends for Uriah, that he, returning home and lying with his wife, might believe this now begotten child, to be of his own begetting.
(2) The discourse betwixt David and Uriah upon his return at royal summons (v. 7.)
(3) David deals still with Uriah while sober, and dissemblingly gives him an amicable dismission (v. 8) bidding him go home and refresh thyself after thy travail, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth (Pro_5:18.) Not doubting but he would converse with his wife, and so cover both their sin and their shame.
(4) Davids expostulation with Uriah, occasioned by his not embracing the Kings leave to go to his house, but sleeping all night, among the kings guard (v. 9.)
(5) Uriah still holds his resolution (v. 11) neither the dignity of the king (saith Peter Martyr) nor the beauty and importunity of his wife could reclaim him from his refractory humour. Thus the providence of God did counter-work all the policies and projects of David, who designed all along to have his sin concealed, when the most wise God will have it revealed; and lest the king should think it was too saucy a sullenness in a subject to be thus peremptory he renders a most pregnant reason for so persisting in his resolve.
(6) Still David, instead of repenting, proceeds from bad to worse (2Sa_11:12-13), when he found himself crossed in his former contrivances with Uriah while sober, he will try one trick more in making Uriah drunk, that when intoxicated he might forget his oath and lie with his wife, putting off all his former austerity.
2. The last, but worst link of that doleful chain of Davids lust: So far was David still from repenting of his sin that, seeing his craft (for concealing his adultery he failed him in all the other fair means he contrived, now) resolveth upon cruelty in the use of foul methods to get this good Uriah cut off insensibly, and so to cover his adultery with murder, that so he might not live to accuse the adulteress.
(1) In order hereunto he wrote a letter to Joab (v. 14), not with black but rather with blood, and Uriah must carry this sword to Joab for the cutting of his own throat.
(2) Uriah must be set in the hottest battle, and then lurched (v 15). Joab must believe this most excellent person had some way deserved death, and he must be the executioner; yet could he not be ignorant of the law, that no criminals should die without two or three witnesses against them; therefore, he was too obsequious in obeying so tyrannical a command (v. 16, 17), but Joab haply hoped thereby to ingratiate himself with David for the murder of Abner, which he had not yet answered, for now David was like to be no less guilty than himself. Right or wrong, hell please the king.
(3) Tidings hereof are dictated by Joab in what order the messenger must tell David (v. 18, 19), and if the king object any rashness in the enterprise, he must answer Uriah is slain also, and that answers all objections.
(4) David was pleased, saying Let not Joab be displeased, etc (v. 25), where he smootheth up his general, slights the slaughter of so many gallant men, and deeply dissembleth with the messenger, that so neither his bloody command nor Joabs fawning obedience might be discovered to him. David had, been still striving against the stream in the use of fair means, and none would do to his content; but, having found success in this foul policy, oh how he hugs himself under hardness of heart.
(5) Bathsheba mourned for the death of her husband (v. 26), and no doubt it was a feigned and a merry mourning. She was inwardly pleased, both as freed from fear of his rage and punishment of an adulteress, and: as hoping now to be made a queen. Had she been sensible of her sin (afterwards doubtless she was) she would have mourned like a dove, as Queen Huzzah did (Nah_2:7.) But after seven days of mourning (saith Josephus) the ordinary time (Gen_50:10, 1Sa_31:13) the adulterer married the adulteress; and probably more haste might be made here that she might be thought to be with child by David after they were married (v. 27.) But the thing that David had (lone displeased the Lord, which was not simply his marrying of her, for that is nowhere forbidden in Scripture, but for his alluring her to adultery, and for murdering her husband after it. (C. Ness.)
Susceptibility to sin
Professor George Lincoln Goodale, speaking of the cultivation of plants, said: It is impossible for us to ignore the fact that there appear to be occasions in the life of a species when it seems to be peculiarly susceptible to the influences of its surroundings. A species, like a carefully laden ship, represents a balancing of forces within and without. Disturbances may come through variation from within, as from a shifting cargo, or in some cases from without. We may suppose both forces to be active in producing variation, a change in the internal condition rendering the plant more susceptible to any change in its surroundings. Under the influence of any marked disturbance a state of unstable equilibrium may be brought about, at which times the species as such is easily acted upon by very slight agencies. Analogous to the learned scientists observation of growing plants is the experience of every growing human life. We cannot pass over its ever-repeated evidence that there are occasions when character, to use Dr. Goodales phrase, seems to be peculiarly susceptible to, the influence of its surroundings; and disturbances, whether from within or without, produce such a state of unstable equilibrium, that the character is easily acted upon by any very slight agencies. Then is it that, by the merest little only, lifes important steps are taken, and lead to either success or failure. (Homiletic Review.)
A mans weak hours
A man is weak, not by the power that assails, but by the want of defensive power. It made no difference where the assault was made at Gettysburg on the third day, by the adversary that attempted to pierce the centre of the lines; and it made no difference that they came after a perfect whirlwind of cannonading; for the resisting power was greater than the attacking power. That is an hour of weakness when the resisting power is weak. Now, nothing is weaker than the conscience when it is paralysed by the touch of avarice. There is such an appetite in some natures for gold that, although at times they are manly and good in a thousand respects, at other times, when avarice dominates, their moral sentiments are paralysed by it; and those are their weak hours. There are some men whose weak hour is connected with their passions. There are some men whose weak hour is in the lower grade of pleasures. There are some men whose weak hour is in eating. There are other men whose weak hour is in drinking. Oh, how many noble men have been girdled, how many men of genius have been utterly destroyed, how many persons of hope and promise have been completely overthrown, by intemperance! (H. W. Beecher.)
Watchfulness against riotous appetites imperative
The fleshly passions are like mutinous sailors, to be kept below deck. Never allow your lower nature anything better than a steerage passage. Let watchfulness wall: the decks as an armed sentinel and shoot down with great promptness anything like a mutiny of riotous appetites. Says the apostle: Mortify--literally, kill your members which are upon the earth. (E. P. Thwing.)
Sin, a malicious guest;
Sin is an ill guest, says Manton, for it always sets its lodgings on fire. Entertained within the human breast, and cherished and fondled, it makes its host no return but an evil one. It places the burning coals of evil desire within the soul with evident intent to fire the whole man with fierce passions. Let these passions be suffered to rage, and the flame will burn even to the lowest hell. Who would not shut his door on such a guest? Or, if he be known to be lurking within, who would not drag him out? How foolish are these who find delight in such an enemy, and treat him with more care than their best friend. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Looking at a wrong thing perilous
Weak dallying with forbidden desires is sure to end in wicked clutching at them. Young men, take care! You stand upon the beetling edge of a great precipice, when you look over, from your fancied security, at a wrong thing; and to strain too far, and to look too friendly, leads to a perilous danger of toppling over and being lost. If you know that a thing cannot be won without transgression do not tamper with hankering for it. Keep away from the edge, and shut your eyes from beholding vanity. (A. Maclaren, D.D.)
Satan ever near the idle
Davids giving himself to ease and pleasure was the root of all his wretchedness. Standing waters gather filth. Flies settle upon the sweetest perfumes when cold, and corrupt them. As the crab-fish seizeth upon the oyster gaping, so doth Satan upon the idle. No moss sticketh to the rolling stone: which if it lay still would be overgrown. The rankest weeds grow out of the fattest soil. The water that hath been heated soonest freezeth; the most active spirit soonest tireth with slacking. The earth standeth still, and is all dregs; the heavens ever move and are pure. Beware of ease and idleness: here began Davids downfall. Say not of this, as Lot did of Zoar, Is it not a little one? The parvity of a sin taketh not away the pravity of it: and a less maketh way for a greater, as wedges do in wood-cleaving. Pompey desired that all his soldiers might come into a certain city; when that was denied he said, Let nay weak and wounded soldiers come in; they did, and then soon opened the gates to all the army. (J. Trapp.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 4, 6, 9 So it came about
So it came about
"So it happened" or "So it came to pass." The author uses this phrase to introduce the next event in the story line. (See: Introduction of a New Event)
Read full note →
a woman who was bathing
The woman was not on the roof, she would have been bathing outside in the courtyard of her house. AT: "a woman who was bathing in the courtyard of her house" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
So David sent
Here the word "sent" means that David sent a messenger. AT: "So David sent a messenger" (See: Idiom)
he asked people who would know about the woman
David was trying to find out who the woman was. The word "he" refers to David, but is a metonym for the messenger that David sent. The messenger was to ask the people for information about her. AT: "the messenger asked the people who knew her about who she was" (See: Metonymy and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Is not this Bathsheba ... and is she not the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
This question gives information and can be written as a statement. AT: "This is Bathsheba ... and she is the wife of Uriah the Hittite." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
palace
people group
Bathsheba
Uriah
Hittite
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 3, 4, 8 11:2 walking on the roof: The roofs of houses…
11:2 walking on the roof: The roofs of houses were flat and were regularly used for a variety of purposes, such as drying and storing produce (Josh 2:6), strolling and socializing, and sleeping in warm weather. • Bathsheba was taking a bath in plain view of the roof of the king’s palace, but perhaps she assumed everyone would be inside, seeking refuge from the heat or having a midday rest.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.