2 Samuel 11:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: David said to the messenger, "Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him."

NIV: David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab."

NASB: Then David said to the messenger, 'This is what you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; fight with determination against the city and overthrow it’; and thereby encourage him.'

CSB: David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him."

NLT: Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,' David said. 'The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!'

KJV: Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.

NKJV: Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.”

The Israelite army has besieged Rabbah, a fortified city of the Ammonite kingdom. During the battle, Joab received a message from David that Uriah, one of the thirty fiercest warriors, was to go home to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:6). When Uriah returned to the battle, he carried a sealed letter. In the letter, David instructed Joab to place Uriah against the Ammonites' "valiant men," withdraw his backup, and let him die. Joab follows orders, and the Ammonites kill Uriah, as well as other Israelite soldiers (2 Samuel 11:14–17).

Joab has sent a messenger to give David an update on the battle. He's done what he can to prepare the messenger for David's angry outburst for losing so many men in a tactically horrible maneuver, but when David hears that Uriah is dead, he speaks kindly. David casually, almost coldly, points out that death in battle is often random. Joab is to continue the campaign.

David's hypocrisy is thick. He wanted Uriah dead because while the general was fighting, David slept with his wife and made her pregnant. Uriah must die so that David can hide his sin (2 Samuel 11:2–5).

But David wants the Ammonites destroyed for a far lesser crime. When the old Ammonite king died, David sent messengers with condolences. The new king feared they were spies, reconnoitering for an invasion. He had his men cut off half the messengers' beards and half their cloaks. David told the men to stay in Jericho until their beards came in. Then he sent Joab to take care of the Ammonites (2 Samuel 10:1–7).

The Ammonite king and his advisors disrespected David's messengers, so David commands the destruction of an entire city. David sins against his general's wife, so David murders his general. He thinks he's gotten away with it, too. He forgets that God is watching (2 Samuel 12).

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.