719 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians,.... Fell upon them; attacked them first, began the battle with them; rightly judging, that if they, being hired soldiers, were closely pressed, they would give way, which would discourage the Ammonites, who depended much upon them; and the fight, according...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled,.... In whom they put great confidence: then they fled also before Abishai; without engaging at all with him, as it seems: and entered into the city; out of which they came, either Rabbah or Medeba, for their safety: so Joab returned from the children of Ammon; did not stay to lay siege...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel,.... Considered it in their minds, and conversed with one another about it, and fearing what would be the consequence of it: they gathered themselves together; not only the forces got together again, that fled before Joab, but all the kings of Syria united their forces together, as...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Hadarezer sent,.... The same with Hadadezer, 2 Samuel 8:3, who was at the head of this confederacy, and to whom the rest of the kings of Syria were servants, 2 Samuel 10:19; and brought out the Syrians that [were] beyond the river; the river Phrat or Euphrates, as the Targum; so the Arabic version and Josephus (y), who says, that he hired...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when it was told David,.... What preparations the Syrians were making to fight him, and where they were: he gathered all Israel together; all the fighting men in the country: and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam: which, according to Bunting (b), was twenty miles from Jerusalem. David seems to have gone himself in person to this war: and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Syrians fled before Israel,.... After an obstinate and bloody fight between them: and David slew [the men of] seven hundred chariots of the Syrians; the word "men" is rightly supplied, for chariots could not be said to be slain, but the men in them; in 1 Chronicles 19:17, they are said to be seven thousand, here seven hundred; which may be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when all the kings [that were] servants to Hadarezer,.... That were subject to him, and at his beck and command, at least were hired by him into his service: saw that they were smitten before Israel; could not stand their ground against them, being too powerful for them; they made peace with Israel, and served them; became tributaries to them,...
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...
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.