David sent to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” Joab sent Uriah to David.
Parallel Translations
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David sent to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” Joab sent Uriah to David.
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And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
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And David sent to Joab, saying: 'Send me Uriah the Hittite.' And Joab sent Uriah to David.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to 2 Samuel 11:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
- Genesis 4:7 If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.”
- Genesis 38:18-23 He said, “What pledge will I give you?” She said, “Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him. She arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood. Judah sent the young goat by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand, but he didn’t find her. Then he asked the men of her place, saying, “Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the road?” They said, “There has been no prostitute here.” He returned to Judah, and said, “I haven’t found her; and also the men of the place said, ‘There has been no prostitute here.’ ” Judah said, “Let her keep it, lest we be shamed. Behold, I sent this young goat, and you haven’t found her.”
- 1 Samuel 15:30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet please honor me now before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God.”
- Job 20:12-14 “Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue, though he spare it, and will not let it go, but keep it still within his mouth; yet his food in his bowels is turned. It is cobra venom within him.
- Isaiah 29:13 The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught;
- Matthew 26:70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
- Matthew 26:72 Again he denied it with an oath, “I don’t know the man.”
- Matthew 26:74 Then he began to curse and to swear, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately the rooster crowed.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (6 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Sa 11:6 And David sent to Joab, [saying], Send…
2Sa 11:6 And David sent to Joab, [saying], Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
Ver. 6. And David sent to Joab, &c.] To prevent Bathsheba’s miseries, wherein he also was sure to have a great share, David casteth about how to colour and cover his sin with fair pretences, - as Alcibiades embroidered a curtain with lions and eagles, to cover his pictures of owls and apes, - but all would not do, God so disposing that David’s sin should come to light.
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Send me Uriah the Hittite.] As before, like the devil, {Mat 13:25} he had sowed another man’s ground, so now he would fain father upon him his bastardly brood, intrudens filium suum in agros Uriae, thrusting his son into Uriah’s inheritance.
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 Henry 1710 · Public Domain 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.
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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 And David sent to Joab,.... Who was with the…
And David sent to Joab,.... Who was with the army besieging Rabbah, which, according to Bunting (k), was sixty four miles from Jerusalem:
saying, send me Uriah the Hittite; the scheme David had contrived in his mind was to get Uriah home to his wife for a few days, that it might be thought the child she had conceived was his, whereby the sin of David, and her own, might be concealed:
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and Joab sent Uriah to David; not knowing his business, and besides it was his duty to obey his command.
(k) Travels, &c. p. 146.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (6) Send me Uriah.—David proposed thus to cover up…
(6) Send me Uriah.—David proposed thus to cover up his crime. By calling for Uriah and treating him with marked consideration, he thought to establish a friendly feeling on his part, and then by sending him to his wife to have it supposed that the child, begotten in adultery, was Uriah’s own.
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 Uriah the Hittite.
Uriah the Hittite.
Like Ahimelech, (1Sa_26:6) he belonged to a notable people (Gen_23:3; Eze_16:3; 1Ki_10:29; 2Ki_7:6) had adopted the faith of Israel, and joined David in exile; he was one of the famous "thirty" (1Ch_11:41; 2Sa_23:39) married Bathsheba (the young and beautiful daughter of a brother officer), to whom he was fondly attached, (2Sa_12:3) and had a house overlooked by the king"s palace. The story of this man, "immortal by his wrongs," constitutes a little tragedy. He was:
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1. Greatly distinguished for his heroic courage. For more than twenty years he had taken part in the conflicts of David, and contributed to his victories; and, by the valour which he displayed, gained and kept an honourable position.
2. Grievously wronged by his royal master. Having been secretly dishonoured by the king, he was specially sent for, treated with guile, and tempted to become an unconscious agent in concealing the crime. "Were honour driven out of the world, it should find a refuge in the breast of kings.
3. A noble example of patriotic devotion. "The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents," etc. (ver. 11). He "may be regarded from a moral standpoint as a type of the marvellous power and self-control for which those troops, then in their prime, must have been distinguished" (Ewald). In contrast with the indulgent habit (ver. 1) of the king, he exhibited sympathy, self-denial, zeal, and determination: "I will not do this thing.
The ark of God is in the field, Like clouds around the alien armies sweep; Each by his spear, beneath his shield, In cold and dew the anointed warriors sleep.
And can it be? thou liest awake, Sworn watchman, tossing on thy couch of down; And doth thy recreant heart not ache To hear the sentries round the leaguered town?
Oh, dream no more of quiet life; Care finds the careless out; more wise to vow Thine heart entire to faith"s pure strife; So peace will come, thou knowest not when or how. ("Lyra Apostolica.")
1. A pitiable instance of a common failing. (Ver. 13.) He was susceptible to the power of temptation, even as others. Though proof against indulgence in one form, he was overcome by it in another. But he did not entirely lose his self-control. And the guilt of the tempted is far surpassed by that of the tempter. Intoxication weakens the sense of duty, strengthens the force of the passions, is often used as an incitement to vice, and is a fruitful source of incalculable moral, and physical evil in the individual, the family, and society (1Sa_25:37, 1Sa_25:38; 2Sa_13:38)
2. The unsuspecting bearer of his own death warrant. "And David wrote a letter to Joab," etc. the first letter mentioned in the Bible telling him "that he had offended him," etc. (Josephus). And without suspecting its contents, he delivered the treacherous missive.
3. The hapless victim of his unswerving fidelity. "He assigned Uriah a place where he knew that valiant men were" (ver. 16). "Honour is pretended to poor Uriah; death is meant. He was not the first or last that perished by his friends" (Hall). "He fell unconscious of his wife"s dishonour" (Stanley). "Thus fell this brave man, a sacrifice to his own heroic virtue and his prince"s guilt. He fell, but not alone; some of his brave companions in arms stood by him to the last, nor deserted him in death" (Delany). The report of his fate was received by the king with the cold and commonplace reflection, "The sword devoureth one as well as another" (ver. 25). "That the sin of David was fulfilling some righteous judgment of God against Uriah and his house, I doubt not for God often makes his enemies his instruments and, without sanctifying the means, strikes out of them good. Still, a sin it was, great and grievous and offensive to that God to whom the blood of Uriah cried from the ground" (Blunt). D.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Then David sent
Then David sent
Here the word "sent" means that David sent a messenger. AT: "Then David sent a messenger" (See: Idiom)
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how Joab was, how the army was doing, and how the war was going
David was asking if Joab and the army were well and about the progress of the war. AT: "if Joab was well, if other soldiers were well, and how the war was progressing" (See: Idiom)
Go down to your house
Possible meanings for the phrase "go down" are 1) Uriah's house was located at a lower elevation than the king's palace or 2) Uriah's house was of lesser importance than the king's palace. AT: "Go to your house" (See: Idiom)
wash your feet
This phrase is a metonym for returning home to rest for the night after working all day. AT: "rest for the night" (See: Metonymy)
the king sent a gift for Uriah
David sent someone to bring the gift to Uriah. This can be stated clearly. AT: "the king sent someone to take a gift to Uriah" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
David
Joab
Uriah
Hittite
palace
gift
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.