Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
Sin with Balh-sheba. 2 SAMUEL Xr, XII. 2tathan's Faralle.
their sin were necessary, as well for the king's honour as for her safety, for death was the punishment of an adulteress (Leviticus 20. 10). 8. David said to UriaU, Go down to tliy iiouse—Tliis suiddeu recall, the manner of the king, his frivolous questions (v. 7), and his urgency chief rtependpiice upon a foreign aid, then retreated toentveucli Iht-ni Kel ves williin the walls of the town. H. So Joab rcturunl ai»«l caine to Jerasalein—lrobably the Reason was too far advanced for entering on a siege.
15-19. The Syrians Defeated. 16. Hadadezer scut and brouglit out tlie Syrians that were beyond tlie rl Ter—This prince had enjbyed a breathing-time after for Uriali to sleep in his own house, probably awakened suspicions of tlie cause of this procedure, tlicre followed liiin a mess of meat from tlie king—A portion of meat from the royal table, sent to one's own house or lodgings, is one of the greatest compliments which an Eastern prince can pay. U. But Uriali slept at tlie door of tile king's liouse—It is customary for servants to sleep in the porch or long gallery; and the guards of the Hebrew king did the same. Whatever his secret suspicions might have been, Uriah's refusal to indulge in the enjoyment of domestic pleasure, and his determination to sleep "at the door of the king's house," arose {v. 11) from a high and honourable sense of military duty and probis defeat (cli. 8. 3), and alarmed at the increasing power aud greatness of David, as well as being an ally of the Ammonites, levied a vast army not only in Syria, but in Mesopotamia, to invade the Hebrew kingdom. Shobach, his general, in pursuance of this design, had marched his troops as far as Kelam, a border town of eastern Mauas-
BPh, when David, crossing the Jordan by forced marches, suddenly surprised, defeated, and dispersed them. The result oC this great and decisive victory was, that all the petty kingdoms of Syria submitted and became his tributaries (nee on 1 Chronicles 19).
priety. But, doubtless, tlie resolution of Uriah was overruled by that Providence whicli brings good out of evil, and which lias recorded this sad episode for the warning of the church.
CHAPTER XI.
Ver. 1. JoAB Besieges Rabbah. 1. atthetlmewlien kings go fortli to battle—The return of spring was the asual 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 tlie former campaign having fallen chiefly upon the Syrian mercenaries, the Ammonites had not been punisliod for their insult to the ambassadors. David gent .Toa1> and liis servants . . . tliey destroyed tlic l-t-27. UlllAH Sl.AlN. 14, 15. David wrote a letter to Jo.ab, and sent it l>y tCte bniid of Uriali . . . Set Uriali in tbe fore-front of tlie Iiottest battle — The various arts and stratagems by whicli the king tried to cajole Uriah, till at last lie resorted to the horrid crime of murder—the cold-blooded cruelty of despatching the letter by the hands of the gallant but much-wronged soldier himself, the enlistment of Joab to be a partaker of his sin, the heartless aliectalion of moarning, and the indecent haste <fi his marriage witli Bath-sheba, have left an indelible stain upon the character of David, and exhibit a painfully humiliating proof of the awful length* to which the best of men may go when they want the restraining grace of God.
clkililren of Amnion—Tlie powerful army that Joab commanded ravaged the Ammonite country, and committed great havoc both on the people and their property, until having rrac-hed the capital, they besieged Rabbah—" Rabbah "denotes a great city. This metropolis of the Ammonites was situated in the mountainous tract of Gilead, not tar from the source of the Arnon. Extensive ruins ore still found on its site.
CHAPTER XII.
2-12. David Commits Adultery with Bath-sheba.
2. it came to pass in an even-tide, tliat David arose from oft" l»is bed—The Hebrews, like other Orientals, rose at dayliivak, and always took a nap during the heat of the ilay, and afterwards they lounged in the cool of the evening on their flat-roofed terraces. It is probable that David had ascended to enjoy the open-air refreshment
Ver. 1-6. Nathan's Parable. 1. tlie L,ord sent IVatlian unto David—The use of parables is a favourite style of speaking amongst Oriental people, especiallj' in the conveyance of unwelcome truth. This exquisitely pathetic parable was founded on a common custom of pastoral people who have pet lambs, which they bring up with their children, and which they address in terms of endearment. The atrocity of the real, however, far exceeded that of the fictitious offence. 5. tliem tliat IiatU done tills tiling sliall surely die—This award was more severe than the case deserved, or than was warranted by the Divine statute (Exodus 22. 1). The sympathies of the king had been deeply enlisted, his indignation aroused, but his conscience was still asleep; and at the time when he was most fatally indulgent to his own sins, he was most ready to condemn the delinquencies and errors of others.
earlier than usual. 3. one said lit., he said to himself, "Is not this Bath-sheba?" etc. She seems to have been a celebrated beauty, whose renown had already reached the ears of David, as happens in the East, from reports carried by tlie women from harem to harem. BatH-sIieba, tine daugliter of £Iiam—or Ammiel (1 Chronicles 3. 5), one of David's worthies (ch. 2.'!. :Ui, and son of Aliitliophel. 4. David sent messcjigers, and took her—The despotic kings of tlie East, when they take a fancy for a woman, send an ollicer to the hou.se where she lives, wlio announces it to be the royal pleasure she should remove to the palace. An apartment is there assigned to her; and if she Is made queen, the monarch orders the announceineut to be made that he has made clioica of her to be queen. Many instances in modern Oriental history show the ease and <lespatch with whiclisuch secondary marriages are contracted, and a new beauty added to the royal seraglio. But David had to make a promise, or rather an express stipulation, to Bath-sheba, before she complied with the royal will (1 Kings 1. 13, 15, 17, 2«); for in addition to her transcendent Iieauty, she appears to have been a woman of superior talents and address in olitaining the object of her ainbi lion; and in her securing that her son should succeed on the throne; in her promptitude to give notice of her pregnancy; in her activity in defeating Adonijah's natural expectation of su(K'eeding to the crown ; in her dignity as tlie king's mother ;—we see very strong in<Ucations of the ascendency she gained an<l maintained over David, who, perh.nps, had ample leisure and opportunity to discover the punishment of this uiinappy connection in more ways than one. [Tavloii's Cai.MKT.) 5. tlie woman conceived, and sent and told DuTld—.Some immediate lueasiU'.s of concealing
7-23. He Applies it to David, who Confesses His Sin, and is Pardoned. 7. Natlian said to David, Tliou art tlie man— These awful words pierced his heart, aroused his conscience, and brought him to his knees. The sincerity and dejjth of his penitent sorrow are evinced by the Psalms he composed [32. ; 51.; 103]. He was pardoned, so far as related to the restoration of the Divine favour. But as from his high character for piety, and his eminent rank in society, his deplorable fall was calculated to do great injury to the cause of religion, it was necessary that God should testify l)is abhorrence of sin by leaving even his own servant to reap the bitter temporal fruits. David was not himself doomed, according to his own view of what justice demanded (v. 5); but he had to sutler a quadruple expiation in tlie successive deaths of four sons, liesides a lengthened train of other ev'ls. 8.
gave dice tliy master's lioiisc, and tliy master's wivea —The iihraseology means nothing more than that God in his providence had given Uavid, as king of Israel, every thing that was Saul s. Tlie historv furnishes conclusive evidi iice that he never actually married any of the wives of S:iul. ISut the harem of tlu' pirceding king belongs.