2 Samuel 11:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting.

NIV: Joab sent David a full account of the battle.

NASB: Then Joab sent a messenger and reported to David all the events of the war.

CSB: Joab sent someone to report to David all the details of the battle.

NLT: Then Joab sent a battle report to David.

KJV: Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;

NKJV: Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war,

A few days or weeks earlier, David had sent a message to Joab, his military commander, who was fighting the Ammonites at the fortified city of Rabbah. David ordered Joab to send Uriah, one of Israel's thirty greatest warriors, back to Jerusalem with news of the battle. Usually, such tasks were handled by messenger, but Joab complied (2 Samuel 11:6). Rabbah, modern-day Amman, capital of Jordan, was several day's journey away and required covering difficult terrain, a river crossing, and significant elevation gain in both directions.

David proceeded to concoct a plan to ensure Uriah went home and made love to his wife. David needed to hide the fact that he had slept with Uriah's wife and conceived a child with her. But Uriah refused to go home while his fellow soldiers were encamped in tents in a field. Now David is resorting to murder. He sent Uriah back with instructions to Joab to make sure Uriah dies (2 Samuel 11:2–15).

David sits and waits. No news can travel faster than a man can ride a horse during this era. David had to wait for Uriah to make the trip, for Joab to conduct his orders to have Uriah killed in battle, and then for a messenger to make the trip back with the news. It's possible that several weeks went by as Bathsheba's pregnancy advances, risking exposure, and David's anxiety soars.

The messenger finally arrives and tells David that Uriah, as well as several others, have been killed. Instead of wrath, David responds with encouragement. Joab is to regroup and take out the city (2 Samuel 11:22–25).

Bathsheba mourns her husband, and David marries her (2 Samuel 11:26–27).

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.