2 Samuel 11:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: In the letter he wrote, "Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die."

NIV: In it he wrote, "Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die."

NASB: He had written in the letter the following: 'Station Uriah on the front line of the fiercest battle and pull back from him, so that he may be struck and killed.'

CSB: In the letter he wrote: Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies.

NLT: The letter instructed Joab, 'Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.'

KJV: 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.

NKJV: And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.”

The Israelite army is encamped by the Ammonite city of Rabbah. The year prior, Joab, the Israelite military commander, had routed the Ammonites into hiding in the heavily walled city. David wants them taken care of and sends the army to destroy the city. Uriah, one of David's thirty greatest warriors, is at the battle. He doesn't know that while he fights the Ammonites, his wife is being impregnated by his king, David (2 Samuel 11:1–5).

David needs to hide his adultery from Uriah and everyone else. His first plan, to trick Uriah into thinking the baby is his, didn't work (2 Samuel 11:6–13). David's next plan is to admit the baby is his, but fool everyone into thinking he's legitimate. To do that, he needs Uriah to die so he can marry Bathsheba.

David sends Uriah back to the front with a message for Joab: put Uriah in the heaviest fighting, then pull the rest of the soldiers back. That would leave Uriah as the only enemy target and assure his death. Joab recognizes this pattern. Long ago, in the time of the Judges, Abimelech, Gideon's son with a slave woman, murdered sixty-nine of Gideon's wives' seventy sons and declared himself king. Eventually, Abimelech's supporters turned on him. During a battle, Abimelech stood too close to the wall of a tower, and a woman dropped a millstone on his head (Judges 9).

Joab anticipates that when David hears that Uriah is dead, and how it happened, he will mention this story (2 Samuel 11:20–21). It's incredibly bad tactics, But Joab trusts that David knows what he's asking.

In 2 Samuel 11:14–21, David completes his greatest sin. While the army is away, David has sex with one of his greatest warriors' wives. She's now pregnant. David calls him back to Jerusalem, intending him to sleep with his wife and claim the child, but he refuses (2 Samuel 11:1–13). To hide his sin, David sends the man back to the battle with instructions for the general to have him die in battle. David's secret is safe until God tells Nathan, the prophet. Nathan confronts David, and God judges David by taking his son (2 Samuel 12).

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.

Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.