Uriah

1Spring came, the time of year when kings went out to fight. David sent Joab, the leader of his army, with his soldiers and all Israel. They beat the Ammonites and surrounded their city, Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

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.

NoteKings fought wars in spring. Winter roads were muddy and hard to travel. Armies could find food in the fields in spring. To surround a city meant to camp all around it. No food or help could get in. The army waited until the people inside gave up. The Ammonites were a people who lived near Israel.

2One evening David got up from his bed. He walked around on the flat roof of the king's house. From up there he saw a woman taking a bath. She was very beautiful.

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.

NoteHouses then had flat roofs, not pointed ones. A roof was like an extra room outside. People walked there, ate there, and slept there when it was hot. The king's house was a palace, a very big house.

3David sent someone to find out who she was. The man said, "That is Bathsheba. Her father is Eliam. She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite."

And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

NotePeople often said whose son or daughter you were. That told everyone which family you came from. The Hittites were a people from another land. Uriah was a Hittite, but he fought in David's army.

4David sent men to bring her to him. She came, and David slept with her. She had just made herself clean, the way God's law told women to. Then she went back home.

And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.

NoteGod's law asked women to wash at certain times each month. After that washing they could join in worship again.

5Later the woman knew she was going to have a baby. She sent a message to David that said, "I am going to have a baby."

And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.

6So David sent word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent Uriah to David.

And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.

7When Uriah arrived, David asked him questions. He asked how Joab was, how the soldiers were, and how the war was going.

And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered.

8Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and rest." Uriah left the king's house. The king sent a gift of food after him.

And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.

NoteThe King James says "wash thy feet." People wore sandals on dusty roads. Washing your feet was the first thing you did at home. So it was a way of saying, go home and rest.

9But Uriah did not go down to his house. He slept by the door of the king's house with the king's other servants.

But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house.

NoteThe king's servants slept right by his door. They stayed there to guard him through the night.

10People told David, "Uriah did not go home." So David asked him, "You just came back from a long trip. Why didn't you go home?"

And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?

11Uriah said, "The ark, the special gold box that showed God was with Israel, is out in a tent. The soldiers of Israel and Judah are living in tents too. Joab and my master's men sleep out in open fields. How could I go home to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you are alive, I will not do that."

And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing.

NoteSoldiers in a war stayed away from home comforts. They kept ready to fight at any moment. Uriah would not rest at home while his friends slept in fields. "As surely as you are alive" was a very strong promise. It was like saying, I really mean this.

12David said, "Stay here one more day. Tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next.

And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow.

13David asked Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he made Uriah drunk. That evening Uriah went out and slept with the king's servants again. He still did not go home.

And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk: and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.

NoteDrunk means he drank so much wine he could not think clearly.

14The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab. He sent the letter with Uriah, who carried it himself.

And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

NoteUriah carried the letter himself and did not know what it said. Letters were folded and sealed shut with wax. Most people could not read, so a sealed letter stayed secret.

15The letter said, "Put Uriah at the front, where the fighting is hardest. Then pull the other men back from him. Let him be struck down and killed."

And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.

16Joab was watching the city carefully. He put Uriah in the spot where he knew the strongest enemy soldiers were.

And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were.

17The men of the city came out and fought against Joab. Some of David's soldiers were killed. Uriah the Hittite was killed too.

And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

18Then Joab sent a messenger to tell David everything about the fighting.

Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war;

NoteA messenger was a person who carried news by walking or running. There were no phones or letters that traveled fast.

19Joab told the messenger what to do. He said, "First tell the king all about the battle."

And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king,

20"The king may get angry. He may ask you, 'Why did you fight so close to the city? Didn't you know they shoot arrows from the top of the wall?'"

And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?

NoteCities had tall thick walls around them for safety. Men stood on top and shot arrows down at enemies.

21"'Remember Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth. A woman dropped a heavy grinding stone on him from a wall. He died in the town of Thebez. So why did you go near the wall?' If the king says that, tell him, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too.'"

Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

NoteAbimelech was a leader in Israel long before David. Everyone knew that old story. A millstone is a heavy round stone used to crush grain into flour. It takes two hands to lift one. Jerubbesheth is another name for Abimelech's father, Gideon.

22So the messenger went to David. He told him everything Joab had sent him to say.

So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for.

23The messenger said, "Their men were stronger and came out at us in the open field. But we pushed them back to the gate of the city."

And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate.

NoteA city wall had one big gate that could be shut. Pushing enemies back to the gate meant pushing them all the way home.

24"Then men on top of the wall shot arrows at your soldiers. Some of the king's men were killed. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead too."

And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king’s servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

25David said to the messenger, "Tell Joab this: 'Do not let this upset you. A sword kills one man as easily as another. Fight harder against the city and tear it down.' Tell Joab to keep his courage."

Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.

26Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead. She cried and mourned for him.

And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.

NoteMourning was a special time of crying for someone who died. Family and friends often cried together for about seven days.

27When the time of mourning was over, David sent for her. She came to his house and became his wife, and she had a son. But what David had done was wrong in the LORD's eyes.

And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

NoteWhen LORD is printed in big letters, it stands for God's own name.

7Nathan said to David, "You are that man." Then he said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. I made you king over Israel. I kept you safe from Saul."

And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

NoteTo anoint a king, someone poured oil on his head. It showed that God had picked him for the job. Saul was the king before David. Saul hunted David and tried to kill him.

8"I gave you your master's house. I gave you his wives to be your own. I gave you the people of Israel and Judah. If that was not enough, I would have given you much more."

And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

NoteDavid's master was King Saul. When a new king took over, he took care of the old king's whole household. Israel and Judah were the two parts of God's people.

9"So why did you push aside what the Lord told you? Why did you do what I say is wrong? You had Uriah the Hittite killed with a sword. You took his wife to be your wife. The army of Ammon killed him for you."

Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

NoteUriah was a brave soldier in David's own army. Hittites were people from another land who lived among the Israelites. Ammon was a country next door that Israel was fighting.

10"So now fighting and killing will never leave your family. You turned away from me. You took Uriah's wife to be your own wife."

Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.

Note"The sword shall never depart" means fighting will keep happening. A sword stood for war and killing.

11"This is what the Lord says. I will bring trouble on you from inside your own family. I will take your wives away while you watch. I will give them to a man close to you. He will sleep with them in the open daylight."

Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

NoteBack then, taking a king's wives was a way of saying, I am king now. So this trouble would come from someone in David's own family.

12"You did your wrong in secret. I will do this where all Israel can see it."

For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.

13David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." Nathan said to David, "The Lord has taken your sin away. You will not die."

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

NoteTo sin means to do something God says is wrong.

14"But what you did gives the Lord's enemies a reason to say bad things about him. So the baby boy born to you will die."

Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

Note"Blaspheme" means to say ugly, insulting things about God.

4Even so, the LORD his God still cared about David. So God gave David's family a lamp that kept burning in Jerusalem. God gave Abijam a son to be king after him. And God kept the city of Jerusalem strong.

Nevertheless for David’s sake did the LORD his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:

NoteA lamp here is a word picture. It means David's family kept on being kings. Their light did not go out.

5David had done what was right to the LORD. All his life, David obeyed everything God told him. There was only one time he did not: what he did to Uriah the Hittite.

Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

NoteUriah was a soldier in David's army. David wanted Uriah's wife. So David had Uriah sent where he would be killed. That was the one big wrong thing David did.