2 SAMUEL LESSON 12
We will begin this lesson in II Samuel 11:1 "And it came to pass,
after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth [to
battle], that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all
Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah.
But David tarried still at Jerusalem."
We must remember in the last lesson, that Joab allowed them to go
back into their city unharmed. David did not lead the battle against
Rabbah, but sent Joab. Perhaps, this was to finish the job, he started
a year ago. This army is made up of men of all the tribes. This is
quite a large army gathered against the Ammonites.
II Samuel 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."
Possibly, David was unable to sleep. The roof of the house was a
common place for these people to go, and cool off in the heat. There
would be a breeze on the roof. It appears, this woman's house was very
near the king's house. She was bathing herself. She was a very
beautiful woman, and David looked upon her. She was the wife of one of
his officers in the army.
II Samuel 11:3 "And David sent and inquired after the woman. And
[one] said, [Is] not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife
of Uriah the Hittite?"
This should settle the whole matter. She is a married woman. Her
husband is off fighting a war, that David has sent him to. Her name is
Bath-sheba, which means daughter of an oath.
II Samuel 11:4 "And David sent messengers, and took her; and she
came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her
uncleanness: and she returned unto her house."
David had a weakness, and it was women. He already had a large
number of wives and 10 concubines. His lust for this woman has caused
him to commit adultery. She had no choice in this matter. She would
not dare disobey the king. It appears that, this sin left him out of
God's good graces, and many sins took place between his children. This
was the beginning of the downfall of David.
II Samuel 11:5 "And the woman conceived, and sent and told David,
and said, I [am] with child."
The sin of adultery, for a woman, was punishable by stoning to
death. She is pregnant, and there is no way to conceal that very long.
The only thing she could do was get word to David, and perhaps, he
could save her life. We must remember that, she did not instigate this
thing. He did.
II Samuel 11:6 "And David sent to Joab, [saying], Send me Uriah
the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David."
David is supreme ruler of the land. The head of the army, Joab,
would not dare refuse to send Uriah home, if the king ordered it.
II Samuel 11:7 "And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded
[of him] how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war
prospered."
David pretended that his reason for calling Uriah home, was to
see how the war was going.
II Samuel 11:8 "And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house,
and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and
there followed him a mess [of meat] from the king."
David's plan was for Uriah to sleep with Bath-sheba, and everyone
would believe the baby was his. David, in a sense, is sending him home
to relax, before going back to the battleground. The mess of meat is a
present from the king for Uriah and his wife. Uriah was one of David's
highest ranking officers. Some believe he was one of the 37 heroes of
David.
II Samuel 11:9 "But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house
with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house."
The trick has not worked. he did not go home to be with Bath-
sheba. He stayed in the soldiers quarters at the door of the king's
house.
II Samuel 11:10 "And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went
not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from
[thy] journey? why [then] didst thou not go down unto thine house?"
David could not understand, why Uriah would not go to visit so
beautiful a wife as Bath-sheba? He calls him, to explain that he had
given him a day off to be with his wife, before going back into
battle.
II Samuel 11:11 "And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel,
and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my
lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine
house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? [as] thou livest,
and [as] thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing."
Uriah was a man who believed in fairness. He did not believe it
fair for him to be with his wife, when his men were still on the
battlefield. The ark, at this time, was housed in a tent. It had no
permanent building. The tent was a tabernacle, where the people could
worship. It was not in a permanent building. What he is really saying,
is that he feels bad about being home having a good time, when his men
are facing death on the battlefront.
II Samuel 11:12 "And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also,
and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that
day, and the morrow." II Samuel 11:13 "And when David had called him,
he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he
went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not
down to his house."
David thought surely, if he could get him drunk, he would go home
to his wife. Even while he was drunk, he was a man of honor. He did
not go home, but slept with the king's guards.
II Samuel 11:14 "And it came to pass in the morning, that David
wrote a letter to Joab, and sent [it] by the hand of Uriah."
Not everyone could write, but David had been taught in the school
of the prophets. Uriah was such a man of honor, that he would not look
at the message David sent to Joab by him.
II Samuel 11:15 "And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah
in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that
he may be smitten, and die."
Now, David has added premeditated murder to his sin of adultery.
Be sure, one sin leads to another. David is not only committing this
sin himself, but is including his nephew Joab in it, as well. The
worst thing of all this, is the fact that the doomed man took the
message, as a good soldier would, to Joab.
II Samuel 11:16 "And it came to pass, when Joab observed the
city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant
men [were]."
This is just saying, he put him in the most dangerous part of the
battle. They were stationed outside the city, but the place he sent
Uriah was a very vulnerable place.
II Samuel 11:17 "And the men of the city went out, and fought
with Joab: and there fell [some] of the people of the servants of
David; and Uriah the Hittite died also."
The enemies are the men of the city, who came out trying to break
the blockade against their city. During the battle, Uriah was killed
along with some of the other servants of David.
II Samuel 11:18 "Then Joab sent and told David all the things
concerning the war;" II Samuel 11:19 "And charged the messenger,
saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war
unto the king,"
This is a report of the disaster in which Uriah was killed. It
appears, the men of Israel had come too close to the wall of the city,
and some of the soldiers were killed with Uriah. Perhaps, Joab thought
this would be less conspicuous, than doing exactly what David had
said. The sad thing is that more innocent people were killed, because
of this.
II Samuel 11:20 "And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he
say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye
did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?"
Joab knew that David would not approve of this move, until he
hears that Uriah is killed. David would, generally, be angry with Joab
for making such a poor decision. It appears, from this, that Uriah was
killed with an arrow from someone shooting from the wall.
II Samuel 11:21 "Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did
not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that
he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy
servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also."
Joab, and all the mighty men of Israel, had been taught of
mistakes made in battles in the past, so they would not make them
again. "Jerubbesheth" is speaking of Gideon, who was known as
Jerubbaal. When David heard that Uriah was killed, he would understand
why Joab made such a foolish decision.
II Samuel 11:22 "So the messenger went, and came and shewed
David all that Joab had sent him for." II Samuel 11:23 "And the
messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and
came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the
entering of the gate." II Samuel 11:24 "And the shooters shot from
off the wall upon thy servants; and [some] of the king's servants be
dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also."
This is an even more detailed description of what happened here.
The servant, that Joab sent, is relating this, as if he were involved
in the battle, and therefore knew the details.
II Samuel 11:25 "Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt
thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword
devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against
the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him."
This messenger is unaware of what is going on. He is to carry a
message of encouragement back to Joab. David, also, insists on them
going ahead and taking the city. It appears the blockade is not
working, and they must go on in and take the city.
II Samuel 11:26 "And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her
husband was dead, she mourned for her husband."
One thing, we must remember, about Bath-sheba, is that she was
not in on the plan to kill her husband. She, probably, loved her
husband. She mourned for the appropriate number of days. Some people
were mourned for thirty days. We do not know for sure how long her
period of mourning was.
II Samuel 11:27 "And when the mourning was past, David sent and
fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son.
But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD."
We know that David had been a man, who pleased the LORD. This act
of adultery, and then, murder was displeasing to the LORD. It caused a
tear in the relationship of David with the LORD. This child that David
and Bath-sheba had, from this adulterous affair, was a son. The sad
thing in this, is that we see no confession of this sin of David, nor
do we see David repent of this. It is as if he feels he is above sin.
He has, probably, become calloused, and thinks the king can do
whatever he wants to. He has forgotten, that even kings have to answer
to God.
2 Samuel 12 Questions
1. Where had David sent Joab and his warriors in verse 1?
2. Where did David stay?
3. What did David do in the evening?
4. Who did he see from his rooftop?
5. When David inquired of her, what answers was he given?
6. Why should this have stopped his interest in her?
7. What did he have a messenger go and do?
8. What was David's weakness?
9. What sin did she and David commit?
10. What terrible news did she send back to David?
11. Who did David immediately send for?
12. What did David ask Uriah, when he came?
13. What was David's real plan for having Uriah come home?
14. What did Uriah do instead?
15. What did David do the second night, thinking surely Uriah would go
to his wife?
16. Why did he not go home?
17. When David saw he could not trick him into sleeping with Bath-
sheba, what did he do?
18. What was in the letter?
19. What sin has David, now, added to adultery?
20. What did Joab do about the note?
21. Was Uriah killed?
22. Who did Joab send with the news?
23. Why would the messenger not suspicion that he was bringing word of
Uriah's death?
24. What message did David send back to Joab?
25. What did Uriah's wife do, when she heard he was dead?
26. What is one thing we must remember about Bath-sheba?
27. When her mourning was over, what did David do?
28. What did this do to David's and the LORD's relationship?
29. What was really sad about all of this?
30. What had David forgotten about even kings?
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