2 Samuel 11:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing."

NIV: Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!"

NASB: And Uriah said to David, 'The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in temporary shelters, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Should I then go to my house to eat and drink and to sleep with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.'

CSB: Uriah answered David, "The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!"

NLT: Uriah replied, 'The Ark and the armies of Israel and Judah are living in tents, and Joab and my master’s men are camping in the open fields. How could I go home to wine and dine and sleep with my wife? I swear that I would never do such a thing.'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”

David has summoned Uriah home from a faraway battle with the Ammonites. On the surface, David wants his trusted general to give him an up-to-the-minute report on how the war is going, a believable-enough idea. Below the surface, David simply wants Uriah to come home and sleep with his wife, Bathsheba. David wants to hide the fact that he slept with Bathsheba, and Bathsheba is now pregnant with his child (2 Samuel 11:1–5).

Uriah doesn't go home; he sleeps in the guard barracks of David's palace with the servants (2 Samuel 11:9–10). Uriah will not indulge in domestic comforts while the ark and his fellow soldiers live in a field in tents.

There's more going on here than Uriah standing on some self-imposed point of honor. The law of Moses teaches that having sex makes a man ceremonially unclean, especially when the army of Israel is camped against its enemies. That man can't join the battle until he has been ceremonially purified (Deuteronomy 23:9–11). Long before he became king, David practiced this and enforced it among his men before going on a journey that might lead to battle (1 Samuel 21:5). Uriah is sticking to a principle that David himself had perhaps taught the man.

Uriah says the ark of the covenant is also in a tent. When the Israelites were at Mt. Sinai, God commanded Moses to build a tabernacle—an elaborate tent—and keep the ark in its innermost chamber (Exodus 25:10–22). Every time the Israelites moved, they would tear down and rebuild the tabernacle and place the ark inside. When they entered the Promised Land, they followed God's instructions and set up the tabernacle in Shiloh (Joshua 18:1; 1 Samuel 1:3).

When Samuel was a boy, the priest Eli's sons took the ark into battle with the Philistines, and the Philistines stole it (1 Samuel 4:4, 11). The Philistines probably destroyed Shiloh around this time. God cursed the Philistines, and they returned the ark (1 Samuel 5:1—6:1–18). It seems the ark stayed at a home in Kiriath-jearim, also known as Beth-shemesh, even though the priests moved the tabernacle to Nob (1 Samuel 6:21; 7:1–2; 21:1). Saul, it seems, regularly took the ark into battle (1 Samuel 14:18). The timing of the events in as recorded in 2 Samuel is a little out of order; David hasn't moved the ark to Jerusalem, yet. It's still carried by the army when needed and then returned to Kiriath-jearim.

Although keeping the ark at a private estate and carrying it into battle wasn't an option in the Mosaic law, the text never condemns the practice.

In 2 Samuel 11:6–13, David plans a cover-up. While Uriah the Hittite was fighting the Ammonites at David's command, David slept with Uriah's wife Bathsheba. Now, Bathsheba is pregnant, and there's no way to pretend Uriah is the father. David recalls Uriah from the front line, thinking Uriah will visit home and have sex with his wife. Thinking about his comrades, sleeping in tents, Uriah refuses. So, David takes things a step further. He sends Uriah back with orders for Joab to arrange for Uriah's death in battle (2 Samuel 11:14–15).

In 2 Samuel 11, David commits grievous sins. Joab and the Israelite army, including the warrior Uriah, are finishing the battle against the Ammonites. Back in Jerusalem, David takes notice of Uriah's wife and impregnates her. When she informs David of the pregnancy, David recalls Uriah. The king expects the soldier to sleep with his wife and claim the child. Uriah's intense loyalty and integrity prevent him from even visiting his house while the others are still at war. David tells Joab to have Uriah killed in battle. God sends Nathan to confront David. David sincerely repents, but God takes the child (2 Samuel 12).

Second Samuel 11 begins the account of David's greatest sins. David sleeps with and impregnates a soldier's wife, Bathsheba. To hide his sin, David has the soldier killed in battle. God tells Nathan to rebuke David, and David repents fully. But God still takes the life of the baby boy (2 Samuel 12; Psalm 51). The story reveals two things about God. First, He is willing to restore His relationship with us when we repent from even the most horrible sin. And second, He has no interest in shaming vulnerable victims of powerful people.