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2 Samuel 11-12
Amplified Bible

Bathsheba, David’s Great Sin

11 Then it happened in the spring, [a]at the time when the kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all [the fighting men of] Israel, and they destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

2 One evening David got up from his couch and was walking on the [flat] [b]roof of the king’s palace, and from there he saw a woman bathing; and she was very beautiful in appearance. 3 David sent word and inquired about the woman. Someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 David sent messengers and took her. When she came to him, he lay with her. And [c]when she was purified from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. 5 The woman conceived; and she sent word and told David, “I am pregnant.”

6 Then David sent word to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him [d]how Joab was, how the people were doing, and how the war was progressing. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet (spend time at home).” Uriah left the king’s palace, and a [e]gift from the king was sent out after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s palace with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not [just] come from a [long] journey? Why did you not go to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in huts (temporary shelters), and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Should I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? By your life and the life of your soul, I will not do this thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today as well, and tomorrow I will let you leave.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Now David called him [to dinner], and he ate and drank with him, so that he [f]made Uriah drunk; in the evening he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, and [still] did not go down to his house.

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it [g]with Uriah. 15 He wrote in the letter, “Put Uriah in the front line of the heaviest fighting and leave him, so that he may be struck down and die.” 16 So it happened that as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew the [enemy’s] valiant men were positioned. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, and some of the people among the servants of David fell; Uriah the Hittite also died. 18 Then Joab sent word and informed David of all the events of the war. 19 And he commanded the messenger, “When you have finished reporting all the events of the war to the king, 20 then if the king becomes angry and he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot [arrows] from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth (Gideon)? Was it not a woman who threw an upper millstone on him from the wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ Then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”(A)

22 So the messenger left, and he came and told David everything that Joab had sent him to report. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men indeed prevailed against us and came out to us in the field, but we were on them and pushed them as far as the entrance of the [city] gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.” 25 Then David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab this, ‘Do not let this thing disturb you, for the sword devours one [side] as well as another. Strengthen your battle against the city and overthrow it’; and so encourage Joab.”

26 When Uriah’s wife [Bathsheba] heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27 And when the time of mourning was past, David sent word and had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done [with Bathsheba] was evil in the sight of the Lord.

Nathan Rebukes David

12 And the Lord sent Nathan [the prophet] to David. He came and said to him,

“There were two men in a city, one rich and the other poor.
2 
“The rich man had a very large number of flocks and herds,
3 
But the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb
Which he had purchased and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It ate his food, drank from his cup, it lay in his arms,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 
“Now a traveler (visitor) came to the rich man,
And to avoid taking one from his own flock or herd
To prepare [a meal] for the traveler who had come to him,
He took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for [h]his guest.”

5 Then David’s anger burned intensely against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die. 6 He shall make restitution for the ewe lamb four times as much [as the lamb was worth], because he did this thing and had no compassion.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you as king over Israel, and I spared you from the hand of Saul. 8 I also gave you your master’s house, and put your master’s wives into your [i]care and under your protection, and I gave you the house (royal dynasty) of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have given you much more! 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife. You have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.(B) 10 Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will stir up evil against you from your [j]own household; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in [k]broad daylight. 12 Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and [l]in broad daylight.’”(C) 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has allowed your sin to pass [without further punishment]; you shall not die.(D) 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have given [a great] opportunity to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme [Him], the son that is born to you shall certainly die.” 15 Then Nathan went [back] to his home.

Loss of a Child

And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, and he was very sick. 16 David therefore appealed to God for the child [to be healed]; and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood by him [in the night] to lift him up from the ground, but he was unwilling [to get up] and would not eat food with them. 18 Then it happened on the seventh day that the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “While the child was still alive, we spoke to him and he would not listen to our voices. How then can we tell him the child is dead, since he might harm himself [or us]?” 19 But when David saw that his servants were whispering to one another, he realized that the child was dead. So David said to them, “Is the child dead?” And they said, “He is dead.” 20 Then David got up from the ground, washed, anointed himself [with olive oil], changed his clothes, and went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he came [back] to his own house, and when he asked, they set food before him and he ate.

21 Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? While the child was alive you fasted and wept, but when the child died, you got up and ate food.” 22 David said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me and the child may live.’ 23 But now he is dead; why should I [continue to] fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him [when I die], but he will not return to me.”

Solomon Born

24 David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and went to her and lay with her; and she gave birth to a son, and David named him Solomon. And the Lord loved the child; 25 and He sent word through Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah (beloved of the Lord) for the sake of the Lord [who loved the child].

War Again

26 Now Joab fought against [m]Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal city. 27 Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah; I have even taken the city of waters. 28 So now, assemble the rest of the men, and camp against the city and capture it, or I will take the city myself, and it will be named after me.” 29 So David gathered all the men together and went to Rabbah, then fought against it and captured it. 30 And he took the crown of their king from his head; it weighed a [n]talent of gold, and [set in it was] a precious stone; and it was placed on David’s head. And he brought the spoil out of the city in great amounts. 31 He also brought out the people who were there, and put them to [work with] the saws and sharp iron instruments and iron axes, and made them work at the brickkiln. And he did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the men returned to Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 11:1 I.e. after the spring harvest provisions for the armies were plentiful.
  2. 2 Samuel 11:2 In middle eastern homes the roof was often used as a living space or patio.
  3. 2 Samuel 11:4 This casual observation reflects the hypocrisy of David and Bathsheba’s sin. Evidently they both bathed and observed other ritual requirements of the Mosaic Law regarding sexual relations (Lev 15:18 etc.), as if that somehow mitigated the much graver sin of adultery. Both participants in adultery were to be punished by death (Lev 20:10).
  4. 2 Samuel 11:7 In each of these inquiries the noun shalom is used.
  5. 2 Samuel 11:8 The Hebrew word suggests food, but the actual nature of the gift is not specified.
  6. 2 Samuel 11:13 At this point David was hoping that Uriah’s drunkenness would make him forget his decision to stay with the troops, and that he would go home and have relations with his wife. David apparently thought that Bathsheba could later persuade Uriah that the child was his, even though she would be giving birth early.
  7. 2 Samuel 11:14 Lit by the hand of.
  8. 2 Samuel 12:4 Lit the man who had come to him.
  9. 2 Samuel 12:8 Lit bosom.
  10. 2 Samuel 12:11 This prophesy was fulfilled by David’s lawless children: Amnon’s attack on his half-sister Tamar (13:14) and his subsequent murder by his half-brother Absalom (13:28, 29); Absalom’s escape to a foreign land (13:38) and his three years in exile, followed by his estrangement from David for two more years (14:28); Absalom’s deliberate, rebellious attempt to win the hearts of the people and supplant his father (15:6); David’s flight from Jerusalem, with the mass of the people against him (15:14), the terrible battle in the forest of Ephraim, won by David’s forces, with Absalom killed in flight (18:6). David’s heartbreak is echoed repeatedly in the history of these tragedies (2 Sam 13:1; 19:4) and in some of his psalms. Even when David was dying, his son Adonijah was attempting to usurp the throne, and was later executed as a traitor (1 Kin 1:5; 2:25).
  11. 2 Samuel 12:11 Lit the sight of this sun.
  12. 2 Samuel 12:12 Lit before the sun.
  13. 2 Samuel 12:26 The modern city of Amman, Jordan, is located approximately on the same site as Rabbah.
  14. 2 Samuel 12:30 I.e. about 75 lbs. If the crown actually weighed 75 lbs. it must have been used primarily as a decorative symbol of power.
Listen to 2 Samuel 11-12, 1 Chronicles 20
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2 Samuel 11-12
New International Version

David and Bathsheba

11 In the spring,(A) at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab(B) out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army.(C) They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah.(D) But David remained in Jerusalem.

2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof(E) of the palace. From the roof he saw(F) a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba,(G) the daughter of Eliam(H) and the wife of Uriah(I) the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her.(J) She came to him, and he slept(K) with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.)(L) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah(M) the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.”(N) So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”

11 Uriah said to David, “The ark(O) and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,[a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love(P) to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

14 In the morning David wrote a letter(Q) to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down(R) and die.(S)”

16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 20 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? 21 Who killed Abimelek(T) son of Jerub-Besheth[b]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall,(U) so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”

22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23 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. 24 Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”

25 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.”

26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning(V) was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased(W) the Lord.

Nathan Rebukes David(X)

12 The Lord sent Nathan(Y) to David.(Z) When he came to him,(AA) he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

5 David(AB) burned with anger(AC) against the man(AD) and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives,(AE) the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over,(AF) because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!(AG) This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed(AH) you(AI) king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you,(AJ) and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise(AK) the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down(AL) Uriah(AM) the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed(AN) him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword(AO) will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

11 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household(AP) I am going to bring calamity on you.(AQ) Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight.(AR) 12 You did it in secret,(AS) but I will do this thing in broad daylight(AT) before all Israel.’”

13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned(AU) against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away(AV) your sin.(AW) You are not going to die.(AX) 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for[c] the Lord,(AY) the son born to you will die.”

15 After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck(AZ) the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying(BA) in sackcloth[d] on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused,(BB) and he would not eat any food with them.(BC)

18 On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

19 David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed,(BD) put on lotions and changed his clothes,(BE) he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

21 His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept,(BF) but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows?(BG) The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’(BH) 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him,(BI) but he will not return to me.”(BJ)

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba,(BK) and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon.(BL) The Lord loved him; 25 and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.[e](BM)

26 Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah(BN) of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. 27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. 28 Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”

29 So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. 30 David took the crown(BO) from their king’s[f] head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent[g] of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city 31 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking.[h] David did this to all the Ammonite(BP) towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Samuel 11:11 Or staying at Sukkoth
  2. 2 Samuel 11:21 Also known as Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon)
  3. 2 Samuel 12:14 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text for the enemies of
  4. 2 Samuel 12:16 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text does not have in sackcloth.
  5. 2 Samuel 12:25 Jedidiah means loved by the Lord.
  6. 2 Samuel 12:30 Or from Milkom’s (that is, Molek’s)
  7. 2 Samuel 12:30 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
  8. 2 Samuel 12:31 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
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1 Chronicles 20
Amplified Bible

War with Philistine Giants

20 Then it happened at the end of the year, [a]at the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged and devastated the land of the Ammonites, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem [with Bathsheba]. Joab struck Rabbah and overthrew it.(A) 2 David took the crown of their king from his head and found that it [b]weighed a talent of gold and that there was a precious stone in it; so it was set on David’s head. He also brought a very great amount of spoil (plunder) out of the city [of Rabbah]. 3 He brought out the people who were in it, and [c]put them [to work] with saws, iron picks, and axes. David dealt in this way with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

4 Now it came about after this that war broke out at Gezer with the Philistines; then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the [d]giants, and they were subdued. 5 There was war again with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. 6 Again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the giants. 7 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him. 8 These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 20:1 I.e. after the spring harvest.
  2. 1 Chronicles 20:2 A crown of this weight would have been practical only for ceremonial display.
  3. 1 Chronicles 20:3 MT reads cut with saws, but the parallel passage (2 Sam 12:31) reads put them to [work with] the saws, which can mean “put to work.” Due to the brutality implied by the reading cut, most expositors prefer to reject it as an early scribal error for put, which is possible because the two Hebrew verb forms closely resemble each other. If the MT reading is in fact an error, it may have escaped detection due to its juxtaposition with saws.
  4. 1 Chronicles 20:4 Heb Rephaim, and so in vv 6, 8.
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1 Chronicles 20
New International Version

The Capture of Rabbah(A)

20 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, Joab led out the armed forces. He laid waste the land of the Ammonites and went to Rabbah(B) and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah and left it in ruins.(C) 2 David took the crown from the head of their king[a]—its weight was found to be a talent[b] of gold, and it was set with precious stones—and it was placed on David’s head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city 3 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes.(D) David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

War With the Philistines(E)

4 In the course of time, war broke out with the Philistines, at Gezer.(F) At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaites,(G) and the Philistines were subjugated.

5 In another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod.(H)

6 In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. 7 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.

8 These were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Chronicles 20:2 Or of Milkom, that is, Molek
  2. 1 Chronicles 20:2 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
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