2 Samuel 11:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell.

NIV: The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say.

NASB: So the messenger departed and came and reported to David everything that Joab had sent him to tell.

CSB: Then the messenger left. When he arrived, he reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell.

NLT: So the messenger went to Jerusalem and gave a complete report to David.

KJV: So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for.

NKJV: So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him.

The year before, David sent messengers to console the new Ammonite king upon the death of his father. The king foolishly misinterpreted David's gesture and humiliated the messengers. David sent Joab and the army, and the Ammonites locked themselves in a walled city (2 Samuel 10:1–14).

It's now the next spring, and David wants the Ammonites destroyed. But while Joab and the army lay siege to the city, David has slept with the wife of Uriah, one of his generals, and she's become pregnant (2 Samuel 11:1–5). To hide his sin, David tells Joab to arrange for the Ammonites to kill Uriah in battle. Joab follows orders, and Uriah is killed, along with several other soldiers (2 Samuel 11:14–17).

Joab doesn't know why David sent such orders. He must send a messenger to tell David that several soldiers got too close to the city wall, and Ammonite archers killed them. Joab considers what David might say. The situation mirrors when a woman of the city of Thebez killed Gideon's son Abimelech (Judges 9:50–55). Joab tells the messenger that if David brings up Abimelech, mention that Uriah is dead, too (2 Samuel 11:18–21).

The messenger doesn't take the chance. He rushes through his report, including the fact that Uriah is dead. David's response isn't what he expects. David tells the messenger to tell Joab to keep up his spirits and continue his campaign against the Ammonites (2 Samuel 11:23–25).

In 2 Samuel 11:22–27, David learns his plan worked. While the army was off at war against the Ammonites, David slept with one of his generals' wives and got her pregnant. To cover up his sin, David ordered Uriah home, so he'd sleep with his wife and think the baby was his. When that didn't work, David ordered his commander, Joab, to have Uriah killed in battle (2 Samuel 11:1–21). Now, David learns his plan worked. He can marry Bathsheba and claim his son. What David doesn't plan for is that God sees all and demands justice (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.