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2 Samuel 11:1
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David, Bathsheba, and Uriah

1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the atime when kings go out to battle, that bDavid sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged cRabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.  
2 Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed aand walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he bsaw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold.  
3 So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not1 Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife aof Uriah the bHittite?”  
4 Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and ahe lay with her, for she was bcleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house.  
5 And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”
6 Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David.
7 When Uriah had come to him, David asked how Joab was doing, and how the people were doing, and how the war prospered.
8 And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and awash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him.  
9 But Uriah slept at the adoor of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house.  
10 So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”
11 And Uriah said to David, a“The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and bmy lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.”  
12 Then David said to Uriah, “Wait here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.
13 Now when David called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him adrunk. And at evening he went out to lie on his bed bwith the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.  
14 In the morning it happened that David awrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.  
15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may abe struck down and die.”  
16 So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men.
17 Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war,
19 and charged the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king,
Commentaries:
Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?
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What Does 2 Samuel 11:1 Mean?



2 Samuel 11:1

Ezekiel 40:1 contains a phrase, "the head of the year" (KJV) or "the beginning of the year" (New King James Version [NKJV]), in concert with a date, the tenth day of the month, which Judaism identifies as Tishri, making this the Day of Atonement. (This phrase, Hebrew rosh hashana, is used by Jews today to designate the Feast of Trumpets, the first day of the seventh month.)

In addition, in Exodus 23:16, the Feast of Ingathering (Tabernacles) is said to be "at the end [going out] of the year," and in Exodus 34:22, the same feast is dated "at the year's end," a phrase more literally rendered as "at the turn of the year." Further, II Samuel 11:1 begins with a phrase that designates springtime as "the return of the year" (in the NKJV, this phrase is directly interpreted as "the spring of the year").

Scholars argue that these phrases indicate two calendar years in simultaneous use. Tishri 1, they assert, began what can be called the "civil" or "secular" year, while Abib 1 inaugurated the "sacred," "cultic," or "religious" year. However, each of these indications of a Tishri 1 New Year can be disputed. For instance, the name of the month in Ezekiel 40:1 does not appear in the text, and further, throughout his book, the prophet consistently uses the Babylonian system of reckoning—which had a spring New Year. "Head of the year," then, would indicate the tenth day of the first month, Abib, making Abib 1 the true rosh hashana.

As for the Feast of Tabernacles taking place "at the end of the year," it does—at the end of the agricultural year. The context says nothing about a calendar but a great deal about Israelite agrarian activities throughout a typical annual cycle. Finally, calling springtime "the return of the year" makes sense, as it is indeed the time when the year "returns" to begin anew.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Biblical New Year




Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing 2 Samuel 11:1:

Exodus 12:2
Ezekiel 40:1


 
<< 2 Samuel 10:19   2 Samuel 11:2 >>

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