2 Samuel 11:1-4 – Deconstructing the Mental Process of Adultery

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 8 May 2022

Introduction

v.1 An Idle King

vs. 2 A Covetous Mind

v.3 Sin Rationalized

v.4 The Act of Adultery

Conclusion

2 Samuel 11:1-4Side-by side comparison of versionsA

LXX

Brenton

DRB

KJV

NAW

MT

1 Καὶ ἐγένετο ἐπιστρέψαντος τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ εἰς τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἐξοδίας τῶν βασιλέων καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Δαυιδ τὸν Ιωαβ καὶ τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν πάντα Ισραηλ, καὶ διέφθειραν τοὺς υἱοὺς Αμμων καὶ διεκάθισαν ἐπὶ Ραββαθ· καὶ Δαυιδ ἐκάθισεν ἐν Ιερουσαλημ.

1 And it came to pass when the time of the year for kings going out [to battle] had come round, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbath: but David remained at Jerusalem.

1 And it came to pass at the return of the year, at the time when kings go forth [to war], that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they spoiled the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabba: but David remained in Jerusalem.

1 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.

1 Then, when the year began to turn to the time that kings go campaigning, David commissioned Joab - and his servants with him - along with all of Israel, and they laid waste to the descendents of Ammon, then laid seige to Rabbah. Meanwhile David sat in Jerusalem.

1B וַיְהִי לִתְשׁוּבַת הַשָּׁנָה לְעֵת צֵאת הַמַּלְאכִיםC וַיִּשְׁלַח דָּוִד אֶת- יוֹאָב וְאֶת-עֲבָדָיו עִמּוֹ וְאֶת-כָּל- יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיַּשְׁחִתוּ אֶת- בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן וַיָּצֻרוּ עַל-רַבָּה וְדָוִד יוֹשֵׁב בִּירוּשָׁלִָם: ס

2 Καὶ ἐγένετο πρὸς ἑσπέραν καὶ ἀνέστη Δαυιδ ἀπὸ τῆς κοίτης αὐτοῦ καὶ περιεπάτει ἐπὶ τοῦ δώματος τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ εἶδεν γυναῖκα λουομένην ἀπὸ τοῦ δώματος, καὶ ἡ γυνὴ καλὴ τῷ εἴδει σφόδρα.

2 And it came to pass toward X evening, that David arose off his couch, and walked on the roof of the king's house, and saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

2 In the mean time it happened that Dav­id arose from his bed after X noon, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: And he saw from the roof [of his house] a woman washing herself, [over against him]: and the woman was very beautiful X.

2 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.

2 So it was at the time of the evening that David got up from his bed and walked around on the housetop of the palace of the king, and he saw from the housetop a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful-looking.

2 וַיְהִי לְעֵת הָעֶרֶב וַיָּקָם דָּוִד מֵעַל מִשְׁכָּבוֹ וַיִּתְהַלֵּךְ עַל-גַּג בֵּית-הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיַּרְא אִשָּׁה רֹחֶצֶת מֵעַל הַגָּגD וְהָאִשָּׁה טוֹבַת מַרְאֶה מְאֹד:

3 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Δαυιδ καὶ ἐζήτησεν τὴν γυναῖκα, καὶ εἶπεν Οὐχὶ αὕτη Βηρσαβεε θυγάτηρ Ελιαβ γυνὴ Ουριου τοῦ Χετταίου;

3 And David sent and enquired about the woman: and one said, Is not this Bersabee the daughter of Eliab, the wife of Urias the Chettite?

3 And the king sent, and inquired who the woman was. And it [was] told [him], that she was Beth­sabee the dau­ghter of Eliam, the wife of Urias the Hethite.

3 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?

3 So David sent someone and sought out information about the woman, and the man said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

3 וַיִּשְׁלַח דָּוִד וַיִּדְרֹשׁ לָאִשָּׁה וַיֹּאמֶר הֲלוֹא- זֹאת בַּת-שֶׁבַעE בַּת-אֱלִיעָםF אֵשֶׁת אוּרִיָּה הַחִתִּיG:

4 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Δαυιδ ἀγγέλους καὶ ἔλαβεν αὐτήν, καὶ εἰσῆλθεν πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ ἐκοιμήθη μετ᾿ αὐτῆς, καὶ αὐτὴ ἁγιαζομένη ἀπὸ ἀκαθαρσίας αὐτῆς καὶ ἀπέστρεψεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς.

4 And David sent messengers, and took her, and X went in to her, and he lay with her: and she was purified from her uncleanness, and returned to her house.

4 And David sent messengers, and took her, and she came in to him, and he slept with her: and [presently] she was purified from her uncleanness: 5 And she returned to her house

4 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.

4 Nevertheless, David sent messengers and took her, and she went to him, and he laid down with her, then she sanctified herself from her uncleanness and went back to her house.

4 וַיִּשְׁלַח דָּוִד מַלְאָכִים וַיִּקָּחֶהָ וַתָּבוֹא אֵלָיו וַיִּשְׁכַּב עִמָּהּ וְהִיא מִתְקַדֶּשֶׁתH מִטֻּמְאָתָהּ וַתָּשָׁבI אֶל-בֵּיתָהּ:


1Therefore a few commentators thought it was the Fall (after the Mosaic new year), rather than the Spring. Alternately, Tsumura claimed it “would refer not so much to a particular season such as spring, as to the beginning of a new administrative year...”

2To be fair, several commentators (incl. K&D) interpreted “evening” as afternoon, and thus not a sign of laziness, since siestas were common in the hot midday of the middle east.

3So Willett, citing “Josephus... Vata[bulus]. Eman. Sa.” in support, so also Gill. K&D, on the other hand, with characteristic emphaticness declared it to be “an uncovered court of a... house where there was a spring with a pool of water...”

4The Dead Sea Scroll of this verse (dated around 50 B.C.) and the Jewish historian Josephus (who wrote in the first century AD), added that Uriah was “Joab’s armor-bearer.”

5Although some commentators noted this as a possibility, Jamieson was the only one I found who actually vouched for it, theorizing that it was at this time that David promised the kingdom to her son, using it as an inducement to convince her to join him, but since the promise in 1 Kings 1:13 seems to have contained the name of “Solomon,” and since no child is in existence at this point, it seems an unlikely theory.

6The only other place the phrase occurs is Lev. 16:19, where the High Priest, on the Day of Atonement, was to “sprinkle [the altar with blood to] ... purify it and sanctify it from the uncleannesses of the children of Israel.”

7Geneva, KJV, RV, ASV, NET, NIV, ESV, NLT, so also commentators Willett, Gill, and Tsumura.

8Most of the commentators I read (Willett, Goldman, Ben Gersom, and Gill) believed that this phrase was explaining that Bathsheba had been cleansing herself after her monthly cycle when David saw her bathing and that the point was to show that she was at the most fertile point in her cycle, heightening her sexual interest in David and making pregnancy more likely, but Tsumura’s point that it would have proved that the pregnancy wasn’t Uriah’s (since she had experienced a cycle after Uriah had left town) is more compelling to me. It seems strange, howeveer, that Bathsheba had no children by Uriah, even though, according to the law, Uriah couldn’t have left for a battle until he had been married to her for a year.

9Among the commentators I read, only Keil & Delitzsch agreed with me.

AMy original chart includes the NASB and NIV, but their copyright restrictions have forced me to remove them from the publicly-available edition of this chart. I have included the ESV in footnotes when it employs a word not already used by the KJV, NASB, or NIV. (NAW is my translation.) When a translation adds words not in the Hebrew text, but does not indicate it has done so by the use of italics (or greyed-out text), I put the added words in [square brackets]. When one version chooses a wording which is different from all the other translations, I underline it. When a version chooses a translation which, in my opinion, either departs too far from the root meaning of the Hebrew word or departs too far from the grammar form of the original text, I use strikeout. And when a version omits a word which is in the original text, I insert an X. (I also place an X at the end of a word if the original word is plural but the English translation is singular.) I occasionally use colors to help the reader see correlations between the various editions and versions when there are more than two different translations of a given word. The only known Dead Sea Scroll containing 2 Samuel 11 is 4Q51Samuela, which contains fragments of vs. 2-20, and which has been dated between 50-25 B.C. Where the DSS is legible and in agreement with the MT, the MT is colored purple. Where the DSS supports the LXX (or Vulgate) with omissions or text not in the MT, I have highlighted with yellow the LXX and its translation into English, and where I have accepted that into my NAW translation, I have marked it with {pointed brackets}.

B1 Chronicles 20:1 parallels this verse, skipping the beginning, “At the time that kings go campaigning, Joab instead led the force of the army away, and laid waste to the land of the descendents of Ammon, then went and laid seige to Rabbah. Meanwhile David sat in Jerusalem, while Joab attacked Rabbah and did demolition on it.” (NAW, different wording in orange and inserted words in grey). It then skips over the story of Bathsheba and Uriah and continues in verse 2 with the same text that is at the end of 2 Sam. 12. (1 Chron 20:2 Then David took the crown of their king from his head, and he found it to be 75 pounds of gold with a precious stone in it, and it came to be upon the head of David. He also brought out a vast abundance of plunder from the city. ~NAW)

CThe extra aleph towards the end of this word reads like the Hebrew word for “messengers” instead of “kings.” Several Hebrew manuscripts (including the Cairo Geniza) support this, but none of the ancient versions do (Greek, Latin, Aramaic), nor does the parallel account in 1 Chronicles 20, all of which read “kings” (except for the Syriac which reads singular “king”). Alone in his position among all the commentators I read, Tsumura argued nevertheless that the way it is spelled cannot be a form of the word for “kings,” and must mean “messengers.” Notice that the vowel in that place in the word, in the MT of 1 Chronicles 20, is a long a-class vowel pointing, whereas in the MT of 2 Samuel 11, it is the mater lectionis letter for the a-class vowel, so I don’t think this should be considered an actual variant. (Keil & Delitzsch agreed, “The א interpolated is a perfectly superfluous mater lectionis.”)

DThe Vulgate (which see) and Syriac (‎חדא סשׁיא כד סחיא) vary from the MT, and the DSS had space for a few extra words in illegible parts of this verse, but the LXX supports the MT.

EDSS runs the two parts of her name together without a maqif/hyphen. In some places in Scripture, the beth is reduced to a vav, but it’s the same person.

FEliam and Ammiel (1Chron. 3:5) have the same signification; the difference simply consists in the transposition of the component parts of the name.” ~Keil & Delitzsch

GDSS adds bawy ylk a?wn (“Joab’s armor-bearer”)

HThis Hitpael participle only ocurs one other time in the Hebrew O.T., referencing ceremonial rites conducted before a pagan garden orgy in Isa. 30:29. There are about 25 other instances of this verb in the Hitpael stem, and almost all of them refer to Israelites preparing themselves to be in the special presence of God (the Pentateuch instances being Exod. 19:22; Lev. 11:44; 20:7; Num. 11:18), washing themselves and staying away from anything that would make them unclean in order that fault would not be found in them when they had their interaction with God.

IDSS omits “from her uncleanness” and appears to read “went to her home” instead of “returned to her home.” The Syriac, Targums, Septuagint, and Vulgate all support the MT. These variants don’t change the meaning of the story, though.

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