2 Samuel 11:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: then, if the king 's anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?

NIV: the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall?

NASB: then it shall be that if the king’s wrath rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you move against the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?

CSB: if the king’s anger gets stirred up and he asks you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall?

NLT: But he might get angry and ask, ‘Why did the troops go so close to the city? Didn’t they know there would be shooting from the walls?

KJV: 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?

NKJV: if it happens that the king’s wrath rises, and he says to you: ‘Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall?

Joab is leading the Israelite army in battle against a fortified Ammonite city (2 Samuel 11:1). He was interrupted when Uriah, one of his best generals, returned from Jerusalem with a message from David. In the message, David orders Joab to place Uriah where the most valiant Ammonites are fighting, withdraw his support, and let the Ammonites kill him. Joab does so, and Uriah is killed along with several other soldiers (2 Samuel 11:14–17).

As Joab tells the messenger what to tell David, he tries to anticipate what David will say (2 Samuel 11:19). What happened to Uriah and the others is similar to what happened to Gideon's son Abimelech. Gideon's wives had seventy sons; his slave woman had one: Abimelech. Abimelech convinced his mother's family to join him in killing his rivals and to declare him king. One of Abimelech's half-brothers survived but went into hiding. Eventually, Abimelech's supporters turned against him. Some fled to a tower in the city of Thebez. Abimelech came close to the door, intending to burn it down. A woman, high above, dropped a millstone on his head. Mortally wounded, Abimelech ordered his armor-bearer to kill him with the sword (Judges 9).

Joab thinks David will criticize Joab's tactics and blame him for the deaths. So, Joab tells the messenger, if David mentions Abimelech, tell him that Uriah died. Joab doesn't know that David wants to hide the fact he got Uriah's wife pregnant (2 Samuel 11:2–5). He just knows David wants Uriah dead.

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.