XI. (1) AFTER THE YEAR WAS EXPIRED. — Literally, as in margin, _at the return of the year._ This refers back to 2 Samuel 10:14. Joab had spent the winter or rainy season at Jerusalem; now he returns to Ammon. David had evidently hurried his campaign against Hadarezer to prevent the junction of his... [ Continue Reading ]
IN AN EVENINGTIDE. — Late in the afternoon, when David had taken the _siesta_ customary in Oriental countries, he rose from his couch and walked on the roof of his palace, which in the cool of the day was the pleasantest part of an eastern house. This palace was on the height of Mount Zion, and look... [ Continue Reading ]
BATH-SHEBA, THE DAUGHTER OF ELIAM. — Her name is spelt in Chronicles _Bath-shua,_ and her father’s name is said to be _Ammiel._ Ammiel and Eliam are the same name with its component parts transposed, as Scripture names are often varied: _God’s people_ and _the people of God._ WIFE OF URIAH THE HITT... [ Continue Reading ]
SENT MESSENGERS, AND TOOK HER. — This does not imply the use of violence. Bath-sheba, however beautiful, appears from the narrative of 1 Kings 2:13, to have been a woman of little discretion, and now yielded to David’s will without resistance, perhaps flattered by the approach of the king. FOR SHE... [ Continue Reading ]
SENT AND TOLD DAVID. — Because her sin must now become known, and by the Law (Leviticus 20:10) adulterers must both be punished with death.... [ Continue Reading ]
SEND ME URIAH. — David proposed thus to cover up his crime. By calling for Uriah and treating him with marked consideration, he thought to establish a friendly feeling on his part, and then by sending him to his wife to have it supposed that the child, begotten in adultery, was Uriah’s own.... [ Continue Reading ]
A MESS OF MEAT. — Lit. _a present._ The same word is used in Genesis 43:34, and no doubt refers to some choice dish sent by the king to the guest whom he wished to honour.... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THE DOOR OF THE KING’S HOUSE. — Probably in the guard chamber at the entrance of the palace. (Comp. 1 Kings 14:27.) It is quite unnecessary to suppose that Uriah had any suspicion of what had been done. His conduct and language is simply that of a brave, frank, generous-hearted soldier.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ARK, AND ISRAEL, AND JUDAH. — notwithstanding the experience of the capture of the Ark by the Philistines in the days of Eli (1 Samuel 4:11), it seems to have been still customary to carry it out in war as a symbol of God’s presence and pledge of His favour. (Comp. 1 Samuel 14:18.) The separate... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MADE HIM DRUNK. — This fresh attempt of David to conceal his crime by attempting to send Uriah to his house while in a state of intoxication does not need comment, but Uriah’s resolve was so strong that it still governed his conduct while in this almost irresponsible condition.... [ Continue Reading ]
SENT IT BY THE HAND OF URIAH. — The brave soldier is made the bearer of his own death-warrant, and his well-known valour for his king is to be the means of accomplishing his destruction, to relieve that king of the consequences of his crime, which also involved a great wrong to himself. No reason is... [ Continue Reading ]
RETIRE YE FROM HIM. — This part of David’s orders was not carried out. Perhaps Joab thought it would make the stratagem too evident, or perhaps it was impracticable. At all events, the consequence was that others were slain with Uriah, and thus a larger blood-guiltiness fell upon David.... [ Continue Reading ]
OBSERVED THE CITY. — The word means _watched, or blockaded._ In the operations of the siege Joab so arranged some of his forces as to invite a sally from the city under circumstances in which it would be successful. It appears from 2 Samuel 11:24 that Uriah’s party had been sent so near as to come w... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO SMOTE ABIMELECH? — See Judges 9:53. Joab anticipated David’s anger at his apparent rashness, and charged the messenger, when he should observe it, to mention’s Uriah’s death. This was not likely to awaken any suspicion in the messenger, as it would appear to him rather as an effort on Joab’s par... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE AS WELL AS ANOTHER. — While David’s reply to Joab is ostensibly to encourage him, on the ground that the mishap was a mere accident of war, it is yet couched in such language as to imply a special regret for the loss of Uriah. “One as well as another,” _i.e.,_ “though Uriah was a brave hero whom... [ Continue Reading ]
MOURNED FOR HER HUSBAND. — How long this mourning lasted we are not told. The usual period was seven days (Genesis 1:10; 1 Samuel 31:13), and although that of a widow may well have been somewhat longer, it was doubtless, under the circumstances, made as short as was consistent with decency.... [ Continue Reading ]
BARE HIM A SON. — Several months must have passed since the beginning of David’s course of sin, and as yet his conscience had not brought him to a sense of what he had done, nor had the prophet Nathan been sent to him. It is to be remembered that during all this time David was not only the civil rul... [ Continue Reading ]