2 Samuel 11:2

_AND IT CAME TO PASS IN AN EVENINGTIDE, THAT DAVID AROSE FROM OFF HIS BED, AND WALKED UPON THE ROOF OF THE KING'S HOUSE: AND FROM THE ROOF HE SAW A WOMAN WASHING HERSELF; AND THE WOMAN WAS VERY BEAUTIFUL TO LOOK UPON._ In an evening-tide, that David arose from off his bed. The Hebrews, like other Orientals, rose at day-break, and always took a nap during the heat of the day, and afterward they lounged in the cool of the evening on their flat-roofed terraces. It is probable that, since the climate of Palestine in spring is exceedingly mild and balmy, the custom may have obtained among the Hebrews, as is still universal in Persia and other Eastern countries, of sleeping on the house-top. The repose in the open air is much more refreshing than in the confinement of a room (see Morier's 'Second Journey to Persia'). Most of the people in modern Palestine sleep there in warm weather still....

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?...

Verse 2 Samuel 11:2. _IN AN EVENING-TIDE - DAVID AROSE_] He had been reposing on the roof of his house, to enjoy the breeze, as the noonday was too hot for the performance of business. This is still a constant custom on the flat-roofed houses in the East. _HE SAW A WOMAN WASHING HERSELF_] How could any woman of delicacy expose herself where she could be so fully and openly viewed? Did she not know that she was at least in view of the king's terrace? Was there no _design_ in all this? _Et fugit ad salices, et se cupit_ _ante videri_. In a Bengal town pools of water are to be seen everywhere, and women _may be seen_ morning and evening _bathing_ in them, and carrying water home. Thus David might have seen Bath-sheba, and no blame attach to her. Ver....

AN EVENINGTIDE - The evening began at three o’clock in the afternoon....

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 IN AN EVENINGTIDE,.... Some time in the afternoon, when the sun began to decline; not in the dusk of the evening, for then the object he saw could not have been seen so distinctly by him: THAT DAVID AROSE FROM OFF HIS BED; having taken a nap in the heat of the day after dinner; indulging himself more than he used to do to sloth and luxury, which prepared him, and led him on the more eagerly to the lust of uncleanness: AND WALKED UPON THE ROOF OF THE KING'S HOUSE; to refresh himself after his sleep, it being the cool of the day, and the roof of the house being flat and fit to walk upon, as the houses of Judea were; see Deuteronomy 22:8; AND FROM THE ROOF HE SAW A WOMAN WASHING HERSELF; in a bath in her garden, or in an apartment in her house, the window being open: and the woman

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 ...

WASHING. bathing. Probably in the court below....

_arose from off his bed_ In the cool of the afternoon, after his midday siesta. Cp. ch. 2 Samuel 4:5. _walked upon the roof_ The flat roofs of Oriental houses "afford a most delightful promenade.… During a large part of the year the roof is the most agreeable place about the establishment, especially in the morning and the evening." Thomson's _The Land and the Book_, p. 39. David's palace on Mount Zion (ch. 2 Samuel 5:9) commanded a view of Uriah's house, which was in the Lower City (2 Samuel 11:8, _go down_)....