This chapter begins with the destruction of the Ammonites, and the siege of Rabbah their chief city, 2 Sam. 11:1; and enlarges on the sins of David in committing adultery with Bathsheba, 2 Sam. 11:2–5; in contriving to conceal his sin by sending for her husband home from the army, 2 Sam.

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 ; adds, the same with Abib, which was the first…

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;…

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…

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,…

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 David sent to Joab Who was with the army besieging Rabbah, which, according to Bunting [[9]], 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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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, , which some think is here referred to; but the…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

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…

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…

And charged the messenger Gave him a particular direction and instruction what he should say at the close of his narrative, according as he should observe the king’s countenance to be: saying, when thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king; giving an account of all the…

And if so be that the king’s wrath arise Which might be seen in his countenance, or expressed in his words: and he say, wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? as to expose the king’s troops to the enemy on the wall, who by stones or darts greatly annoyed them, or sallied…

Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? &c.] The same with Jerubbaal, who was Gideon, ; Baal, one part of his name, was the name of an idol, and sometimes called Bosheth or Besheth, which signifies shame, being a shameful idol; Gideon had a son called Abimelech, who was smitten, and it is here…

So the messenger went From Joab, from the army before Rabbah: and came; to David in Jerusalem, a course of sixty four miles: and showed David all that Joab had sent him for; all the events of the war hitherto.

And the messenger said unto David The particulars of his account follow: surely the men prevailed against us; the men of the city of Rabbah, the besieged there, in one onset they made upon them: and came out unto us in the field; the besiegers that lay encamped there; they sallied out upon them:…

And the shooters shot from off of the wall upon thy servants Arrows out of their bows, or stones out of their engines; the Israelites following them so closely to the gate of the city, came within the reach of their shot from the wall: and some of the king’s servants be dead; killed in the sally…

Then David said to the messenger Whom he dispatched again to Joab upon the delivery of his message: thus shall thou say to Joab; in the name of David: let not this thing displease thee; be not grieved, and cast down, and intimidated at the repulse he had met with, and the loss of so many brave men,…

And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead The news of which were soon sent her by David, though it is very probable she knew nothing of the plot to take away his life; and, besides, David chose to have his death published abroad as soon as possible, the more to hide his sin:…

And when the mourning was past The seven days were at an end, or sooner; for he stayed not ninety days from the death of her husband, which the Jews in later times enjoined [[12]], that it might be known whether with child by her former husband, and so to whom it belonged; and because David did not…