2 Samuel 11:26 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband.

NIV: When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.

NASB: Now when Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband.

CSB: When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah had died, she mourned for him.

NLT: When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.

KJV: And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.

NKJV: When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.

Bathsheba was a young wife of Uriah, one of Israel's mightiest warriors. Seven days after she finished menstruating, she took ceremonial bath. Soon after, she received a message from David, inviting her to his house. She went, and he slept with her. Not long after, she sent him a message: she is pregnant (2 Samuel 11:2–5).

The Bible gives no mention of Bathsheba's feelings or intentions. We're not told if she gladly slept with David, or if he coerced or intimidated her. But when Nathan later tells a parable about the events, he portrays her as an innocent lamb who was greatly loved by a poor man who treated her like a daughter (2 Samuel 12:3). David is compared to a rich man who steals her as dinner for a traveler (2 Samuel 12:4). We recognize Nathan's example and consider her effectively innocent in the whole situation.

We can't know the depth of her suffering. She was betrayed by her king. She has lost her husband. Soon, she will lose her son. In judgment for David's sin, God declares that the child will die. David fasts and mourns for seven days while the child is sick. Finally, the boy dies. David takes comfort that he will see him in the afterlife (2 Samuel 12:14–23).

In 2 Samuel 11:26–27, David completes his deception. While his army fought the Ammonites, he slept with his general Uriah's wife and got her pregnant. David tried to get Uriah to sleep with her, so he'd assume the baby was his. When he refused, David had him murdered on the battlefield (2 Samuel 11:1–17). Now, after Bathsheba mourns her husband, David can marry her, and everyone will think the baby was conceived after the wedding. But God is not mocked. He sends Nathan the prophet to confront David. Then He takes the life of the baby (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.