2 Samuel 11:1

_AND IT CAME TO PASS, AFTER THE YEAR WAS EXPIRED, AT THE TIME WHEN KINGS GO FORTH TO BATTLE, THAT DAVID SENT JOAB, AND HIS SERVANTS WITH HIM, AND ALL ISRAEL; AND THEY DESTROYED THE CHILDREN OF AMMON, AND BESIEGED RABBAH. BUT DAVID TARRIED STILL AT JERUSALEM._ At the time when kings go forth to battle. The return of spring was the usual time of commencing military operations. This expedition took place the year following the war against the Syrians; and it was entered upon because the disaster of the former campaign having fallen chiefly upon the Syrian mercenaries, the Ammonites had not been punished for their insult to the ambassadors. DAVID SENT JOAB, AND HIS SERVANTS ... THEY DESTROYED THE CHILDREN OF AMMON. The powerful army that Josh commanded ravaged the Ammonite country, and committed great havoc both on the people and their property, until, having reached the capital, they besi...

1-5 Observe the occasions of David's sin; what led to it. 1. Neglect of his business. He tarried at Jerusalem. When we are out of the way of our duty, we are in temptation. 2. Love of ease: idleness gives great advantage to the tempter. 3. A wandering eye. He had not, like Job, made a covenant with his eyes, or, at this time, he had forgotten it. And observe the steps of the sin. See how the way of sin is down-hill; when men begin to do evil, they cannot soon stop. Observe the aggravations of the sin. How could David rebuke or punish that in others, of which he was conscious that he himself was guilty?...

CHAPTER XI _David sends Joab against the Ammonites, who besieges the city_ _of Rabbah_, 1. _He sees Bath-sheba, the wife of Uriah, bathing; is enamoured of_ _her; sends for and takes her to his bed_, 24. _She conceives, and informs David_, 5. _David sends to Joab, and orders him to send to him Uriah_, 6. _He arrives; and David having inquired the state of the army,_ _dismisses him, desiring him to go to his own house_, 7, 8. _Uriah sleeps at the door of the king's house_, 9. The next day the king urges him to go to his house; but

AFTER THE YEAR WAS EXPIRED - The next spring after the escape of the Ammonites into their city 2 Samuel 10:14. THE CHILDREN OF AMMON - The marginal reference supplies the word “the land of,” which is obviously the right reading. DAVID TARRIED AT JERUSALEM - The Syrians being subdued, the war with Ammon was not of sufficient moment to require David’s personal presence. The whole section relating to David’s adultery and Uriah’s death, from this verse to 2 Samuel 12:26, is omitted in the Book of Chronicles....

EXPOSITION 2 SAMUEL 11:1 AFTER THE YEAR WAS EXPIRED; Hebrew and Revised Version, _at the return of the year; _that is, as Josephus paraphrases it, "the next spring." It seems quite certain that the war with Hadarezer did not take place in the same year as the defeat of the Syrians at Medeba. For the gathering of his mercenaries by Nahash would occupy a long time, and it was done so leisurely, that not only did news of it reach Jerusalem, but David was able to collect his forces, and instead of awaiting the invasion, could deliver his attack on the enemy's ground. The battle at Medeba took place in the autumn, and, as it was impossible to keep the field with winter so near, Joab marched back to Jerusalem, intending in the spring to return to the siege of Rabbah. But David quickly had information that a more serious war was impend

AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT AFTER THE YEAR WAS EXPIRED,.... Or at the end of the year, as the Targum, which concluded with the month Adar or February, the spring of the year: AT THE TIME WHEN KINGS GO FORTH [TO BATTLE]; in the month Nisan, as the Targum on 1 Chronicles 20:1; adds, the same with Abib, which was the first month of the year, Exodus 12:2, a fit time to go out to war; when, as the Jewish commentators observe, the rains were over, and there were grass in the fields, and fruit on the trees, and corn ripe, and so food for horse and men. This month was called Nisan, as some think d, from נסים, the military banners then erected; so by the Romans it is called Martius, and by us March, from Mars, the god of war; though some e take this to be the month Tisri, answerin

III. DAVID'S SIN, CHASTISEMENT AND RESTORATION 1. David's Great Sin CHAPTER 11 _ 1. David's great sin (2 Samuel 11:1)_ 2. David sends for Uriah (2 Samuel 11:6) 3. The murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11:14) 4. David makes Bath-sheba his wife (2 Samuel 11:26) We see the king once more in his house. He sent Joab, his servants and all Israel to battle again against Ammon. Was it not his business as king to go forth with Israel as he had done before? Instead he remains in ease and comfort at home. Evidently he rested all day on his couch, during the heat of the day, and when the

SAM 11. DAVID, BATH-SHEBA, AND URIAH (J). 2 SAMUEL 11:1. In the spring, at the beginning of the season suitable for military operations, Joab and the army set out to besiege Rabbah (Jeremiah 49:2 *); David stayed at home. He committed adultery with Bath-sheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, who was in the field with Joab. Uriah would be a _ger_ (2 Samuel 1:13 *); his name, Yahweh is light, shows that he was a worshipper of Yahweh. 2 SAMUEL 11:6. David makes an unsuccessful attempt to conceal the facts. Note that the Ark was taken into the field as a talisman ...

AT THE TIME, &c.: i. e, the next spring. CHILDREN. sons. RABBAH. The capital of Ammon (Deuteronomy 3:11.Joshua 13:25; Joshua 13:25). BUT DAVID TARRIED. Note contrast with "kings" going forth, above, and this word "But"....

2 Samuel 11:1. The siege of Rabbah = 1 Chronicles 20:1 1. _after the year was expired_ Better, AT THE RETURN OF THE YEAR: that is when spring set in with the commencement of the year in the month Abib or Nisan. Cp. 1Ki 20:22; 1 Kings 20:26; 2 Chronicles 36:10. If Joab's return to Jerusalem (ch. 2 Samuel 10:14) was due to the lateness of the season, the next year was probably occupied with the Syrian campaign, and the expedition against Rabbah did not take place until the year after it. at the