2 Samuel 11:23 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The messenger said to David, "The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate.

NIV: The messenger said to David, "The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate.

NASB: The messenger said to David, 'The men prevailed against us and came out against us in the field, but we pressed them as far as the entrance of the gate.

CSB: The messenger reported to David, "The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the city gate.

NLT: The enemy came out against us in the open fields,' he said. 'And as we chased them back to the city gate,

KJV: And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate.

NKJV: And the messenger said to David, “Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate.

Joab is an excellent military commander, even when he's not sure what's going on. While laying siege to the Ammonites who have holed up in a walled city, several Israelite soldiers get too close to the wall, and Ammonite archers take them out. Joab must send a messenger to Jerusalem to let David know. He anticipates that David will think of Gideon's son Abimelech who stood too close to a wall and took a millstone to the head. Joab doesn't want David to get upset with him or his messenger, so he tells the messenger that if David mentions Abimelech, he is to tell David that Uriah is among the dead (2 Samuel 11:16–21).

The messenger doesn't know that David ordered Joab to send Uriah to fight where the Ammonites were strongest and then pull back so he'd be killed. Joab doesn't know that David wanted Uriah dead because David had gotten Uriah's wife pregnant while the army fought the Ammonites (2 Samuel 11:1–15).

The messenger does know it's best not to let David get angry. He quickly explains what happened, that the Ammonite archers shot from the wall, and includes that Uriah has been killed before David can respond (2 Samuel 11:24).

David's response is probably not what the messenger expected. Rather philosophically, David says to tell Joab, "Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another" (2 Samuel 11:25). In modern speech, David is casually saying, "Oh, well. That's what happens in war. People die."

David can afford to be gracious. He's now free to marry Bathsheba and hide the fact that he committed adultery against Uriah.

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.