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NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

From: 2 Samuel 11:1-4a, 5-10a, 13-17

David’s Sin
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[1] In the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

[2] It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking upon the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. [3] And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” [4a] So David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her. Then she returned to her house. [5] And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am with child.”

[6] So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. [7] When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. [8] Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. [9] But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. [10a] (When) they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house.” [13] And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

[14] In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. [15] In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” [16] And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. [17] And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab; and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite was slain also.

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Commentary:

11-12:25. The birth of Solomon, chosen by God to be the first and greatest of David’s successors (12:20-25), is preceded by the drama that results from the gravest sins committed by David. The book of Chronicles, perhaps in a desire not to tarnish the image of David, makes no mention of David’s adultery. But the book of Samuel reports it in detail; by so doing it shows that salvation history is not the result of the merits and virtues of its protagonists, but of the mercy of God who forgives sins and always keeps his project of salvation on track. Here we see David, like Adam, and despite all God has given him, yielding to temptation and committing the two most grievous sins, the only sins punishable by death both in Israel and among its neighbors--murder and adultery. And yet as also happened in the case of Adam, the mercy of God prevails and David finds his way again. Once he has repented and been pardoned he will have another son by Bathsheba, “by the wife of Uriah” (Mt 1:6), but this time within marriage, thereby fulfilling the prophecy of Nathan. This son, Solomon called by Nathan "Jedidiah" that is, “beloved of the Lord” (12:25), will be the first link in the “sons of David” and will mark the start of hope in a future Messiah.

11:1-27. David’s grave sin involves three actions--adultery (vv. 1-5), the scheme to cover up evidence of that sin and avoid the penalty attaching to it (vv. 6-13), and his decision to get rid of Uriah (vv. 14-24).

The adultery is reported very plainly, just enough to identify David as the father of the child. The text also shows in a veiled way (by referring to Bathsheba’s imprudence in bathing within sight of the king) that she herself is not an innocent party. Thus there is a marked analogy between this sin and that of Adam and Eve. The woman who will play an important part in the life of Solomon also had an active role from the very start of her relationship with David. The image of the idle king, exposed to the onslaught of passion, is used in Christian tradition as a warning about the need to keep one’s senses under control in order to avoid falling into other sins. “The appetites are inflamed by the sensuality of the gaze, and our eyes, used to looking lustfully at our neighbor because we are so idle, spark impure desires” (Clement of Alexandria, "Paedagogus", 3, 77, 1). And St J. Escrivá writes: “The eyes! Through them many iniquities enter the soul. So many experiences like David’s !--If you guard your sight you will have assured the guard of your heart” ("The Way", 183).

The account goes into more detail when describing the malice of the king as he makes every effort to ensure that his good name is not sullied: he twice tries to get Uriah to go down to his house (“wash your feet”: v. 8 is a euphemism for marital relations) and, when he sees that he cannot make Uriah responsible for Bathsheba’s pregnancy, he decides to arrange for him to die in battle. It is the worst sort of cynicism a king could be guilty of. The death of Uriah (vv. 16-17), one of the best and most loyal soldiers in the army, marks the climax of David’s sin: the murderer has planned a perfect crime which hides his own part in that crime and will also cover up his earlier adultery. His accomplice in this sordid business is Joab, his cold and unscrupulous lieutenant who is interested only in his personal advantage (vv. 19-21) and who has nothing to lose.

Everything seemed to go smoothly once Bathsheba was installed in the palace as the king’s wife and gave birth to her son. But David, as Adam was in the first days, is unmasked by the Lord: just when the cover-up seems to have worked, a severe divine sentence is pronounced: “the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (v. 27).