29 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 11 This chapter begins with the destruction of the Ammonites, and the siege of Rabbah their chief city, 2 Samuel 11:1; and enlarges on the sins of David in committing adultery with Bathsheba, 2 Samuel 11:2; in contriving to conceal his sin by sending for her husband home from the army, 2 Samuel 11:6; in laying a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, that after the year was expired,.... Or at the end of the year, as the Targum, which concluded with the month Adar or February, the spring of the year: at the time when kings go forth [to battle]; in the month Nisan, as the Targum on 1 Chronicles 20:1; adds, the same with Abib, which was the first month of the year, Exodus...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
What David said of the mournful report of Saul's death may more fitly be applied to the sad story of this chapter, the adultery and murder David was guilty of.—"Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon." We wish we could draw a veil over it, and that it might never be known, might never be said, that David did such things as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And David sent and inquired after the woman,.... Who she was, what her name, and whether married or unmarried; if the latter, very probably his intention was to marry her, and he might, when he first made the inquiry, design to proceed no further, or to anything that was dishonourable; but it would have been better for him not to have inquired at...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And David sent messengers,.... To invite her to his palace: and took her; not by force, but through persuasion: and she came in unto him; into the apartment where he was: and he lay with her; she consenting to it, being prevailed upon, and drawn into it through the greatness and goodness of the man, which might make the sin appear the lesser to...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the woman conceived,.... Whereby the sin would be discovered, and shame, and disgrace, or worse, would follow upon it: and sent and told David, and said, I [am] with child; this message she sent to David, that he might think of some ways and means to prevent the scandal that would fall both upon him and her, and the danger she was exposed...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
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...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when Uriah was come unto him,.... To David, to whom he came first, before he went to his own house, desirous of knowing what was the special business of the king with him: David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered; he asked of the welfare of Joab the general, and of the common soldiers, and of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And David said to Uriah, go down to thy house, and wash thy feet,.... For his refreshment, and to prepare for bed, which was what he wanted to get him to: and Uriah departed out of the king's house; in order as it might seem to the king to go to his own: and there followed him a mess [of meat] from the king: no doubt a delicious dish, to eat with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house, with all the servants of his lord,.... The bodyguards, which were placed there to watch the palace in the night season; Uriah first fell into a conversation with these as is highly probable, to whom he was well known, and who might inquire of one and another of their friends in the army; and he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when they had told David,.... The next morning, either those that went with the mess of meat, or the guards with whom he slept all night: saying, Uriah went not down to his house; as the king had ordered him; which those persons being acquainted with, informed him of it, as an act of disobedience to him: David said unto Uriah; having sent for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Uriah said unto David,.... As an apology for this conduct: the ark, and Israel and Judah, abide in tents; meaning not the people of Israel and Judah in the land of Canaan; for they did not now dwell in tents, though indeed the ark of the Lord did, 2 Samuel 7:2, which some think is here referred to; but the armies of Israel and Judah besieging...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And David said to Uriah, tarry here today also,.... In his court, when he found he could not persuade him to go to his own house: and tomorrow I will let thee depart: after he had tried one method more with him: so Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day and the morrow; not in his own house, but the king's palace.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when David had called him,.... Invited him to sup with him: he did eat and drink before him; very freely and plentifully: and he made him drunk: this was another sin of David's, done in order to make him forget his oath and vow, and that being inflamed with wine, desires might be excited in him to go home and lie with his wife; but even this...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass in the morning,.... When David was informed that Uriah did not go to his own house, but slept with his servants, Satan put it into his head and heart to take the following wicked and cruel method: that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent [it] by the hand of Uriah; to have him cut off by the sword of the enemy. If Uriah...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he wrote in the letter, saying,.... Giving the following orders to Joab: set ye Uriah is the forefront of the hottest battle: over against that part of the city where the enemy was strongest, and the battle the fiercest, and the stones and arrows were cast the thickest: and retire ye from him; leave him to himself to combat the enemy alone;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city,.... Where lay its greatest strength, and where it was best defended; or besieged it, as the Targum: that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men [were]; who would not easily give way, and when they saw an opportunity would sally out, Joab cannot be excused from sin, unless he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the men of the city went out,.... Made a sally out, as Joab expected they would, when they appeared before them at that part of the city where valiant men were: and fought with Joab; at least with part of his army posted with Uriah: and there fell [some] of the people of the servants of David: which made David's sin the more heinous, that...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then Joab sent,.... Messengers to David, as soon as Uriah was killed: and told David all the things concerning the war; how the siege had been carried on; what success they had had, good or ill; what their advantages and disadvantages; what men they had lost, and especially in one sally of the enemy upon them, for the sake of which the express was...