2 Samuel 11:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men.

NIV: So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were.

NASB: So it was as Joab kept watch on the city, that he stationed Uriah at the place where he knew there were valiant men.

CSB: When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were.

NLT: So Joab assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall where he knew the enemy’s strongest men were fighting.

KJV: And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were.

NKJV: So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men.

The most frequent practice for taking an enemy city during this era was siege warfare. An attacking army would surround a city, making it impossible for anyone to go in or out without being killed. Ideally, the attackers would not have to fight but simply wait for those inside the city to surrender when they ran out of water or food.

Sometimes, though, a well-stocked city could hold out for far longer than their attackers wanted to wait. In those cases, the attacking army might start looking for ways to breach the walls at vulnerable spots. The defenders might come out to defend the city and keep the invaders from entering.

Joab is an excellent and experienced military commander. He knows the dangers of standing too close to a besieged city wall: in one infamous story, a commander ventured too close and had a millstone dropped on his head (Judges 9). Usually, the danger comes from archers.

When Joab reads the message that Uriah has brought from David, he must be confused. David tells him to put Uriah in the heaviest fighting, by the wall, and then pull back the surrounding soldiers. David wants Uriah dead, and he wants the Ammonites to do it (2 Samuel 11:14–15).

Joab doesn't know that while they were fighting, David got Uriah's wife pregnant. He doesn't know Uriah is completely innocent, but David is trying to hide his sin. He just knows what David has said to do, and so he does it. He sends Uriah into heavy fighting, leaves him without back-up, and lets the Ammonite archers kill him (2 Samuel 11:17–20).

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.