Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 15 May 2022
Read passage in NAW: Then, when the year began to turn to the time that kings go campaigning, David sent 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. 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. 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?” 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. The woman, however, was pregnant, so she sent someone and had it communicated to David and said, “I am pregnant.” David then sent someone to Joab {and said}, “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. And Uriah came to him, and David asked about the welfare of Joab and about the welfare of the people and about the welfare of the battle. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet!” Then Uriah went out from the palace of the king, and a food-basket from the king went out after him. But Uriah laid down by the door of the king’s palace with {} the servants of his master, and he did not go down to his house. So they communicated this to David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house!” Then David said to Uriah, “Is it not from the road that you have come? Why don’t you go down to your home?" And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are residing in bivouacs, and my master Joab and the servants of my master are taking up positions on the ground of the field, and I, shall I go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie down with my wife? [Cursed] be your life and the life of your soul if I do such thing!” Then David said to Uriah, sit in here today as well, and tomorrow I will send you off.” So Uriah sat in Jerusalem during that day and the next day. Meanwhile, David called for him, and he ate before his presence and drank and got him drunk. Then he went out in the evening to lie down at his bed with the servants of his master, and he did not go down to his house. So it was, in the morning, that David wrote a note to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. Now he wrote in the note saying, “Y’all render Uriah to the forefront of the of the fiercest battle front, then turn back from being behind him so that he will be struck down and will die.” So it came about while Joab was laying seige to the city that he promoted Uriah to the place where he knew that men who were veterans would be there. Then the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, and some of the people – some of the servants of David – fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died. Then Joab sent a commission and communicated to David all the issues of the war, and he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you are finished with telling all the issues of the war to the king, then, if the fury of the king happens to rise and he says to you, ‘Why did you let yourselves get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t y’all know that they might shoot from over the wall?! Who struck down Abimelek, son of Jerubbesheth? Wasn’t it a woman who launched an upper millstone onto him from over the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you let yourselves get so close to the wall?!’ Then you shall say, ‘Also your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’” So the messenger went, and when he arrived, he communicated to David all that Joab had sent him for. And the messenger said to David, “The men were stronger than us when they came out against us on the field, then we fought against them back to the opening of the gate. But their archers shot from over the wall at your servants, and some of the servants of the king died. And also your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.” Then David said to the messenger, “Tell this to Joab: ‘Do not let this be a bad thing in your eyes, for the sword devours this way as well as that way. Strengthen your assault against the city and demolish it.’ And so strengthen him.” Presently, the wife of Uriah heard that her man Uriah was dead, and she mourned over her husband. Then, when the mourning-period had passed, David sent a commission and gathered her into his household, and she became a wife of his, and she gave birth to his son. But, in the eyes of Yahweh, it was an evil thing that David had done.
In the last sermon, we considered the many wrong steps in David’s thinking which led up to him committing adultery with Uriah’s wife. Verse 4 ends the affair with David and Bathsheba just going on with their lives and acting like they had not done anything wrong and hoping that nothing further would come of it.
I’m going to guess that it took a month before it was obvious to Bathsheba that she was pregnant, a month of just trying to act like nothing had happened. But now with the prospect of Bathsheba having a baby that is not Uriah’s baby, their initial strategy of ignoring their sin and going on with their lives isn’t going to work.
As the civil magistrate called by God to administrate justice, David knew what the law said about this matter: Deut. 22:22 "If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them shall die: the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put away the evil from Israel.” (NKJV) But he was not willing to submit himself and Bathsheba to justice and death.
He wanted some other way than God’s way. What other options did he have?
He could conspire with Bathsheba to kill the baby before it was born, but that would be murder, and it’s possible Bathsheba wouldn’t have gone along with it because she doesn’t seem to have any children, even though, according to the law, Uriah had to have been married to her for at least a year before he went off to a battle. She might want to keep the child.
But if she keeps the child, it will be obvious that the child is not Uriah’s. Everybody knows that it takes nine months to grow a baby to birth, and they’ll all come up short if the baby is born and they count back nine months and realize Uriah was gone at the seige of Rabbah at that time. If Uriah is upset enough about his wife sleeping around while he’s off at war, to bring her before the authorities, David would be responsible to put her to death. David surely wouldn’t want to go there.
The third option was to trick Uriah into thinking it was his baby. Then everything would be fine and nobody would have to die, and it would remain David’s little secret with Bathsheba.
But were those his only options? NO! David could have come clean and confessed his sin right then, and taken whatever the consequences came. But since he wasn’t thinking straight, he was more afraid of what men would do than he was afraid of God.
The rest of chapter 11 has to do with David’s attempt to cover up this sin.
If I were Joab, in the middle of a war, and my deadbeat king asked me to send my aide-de-camp back to the capitol, I’d be annoyed. Nevertheless, Joab sent Uriah back from the battlefront, and David attempted to get Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba so that when she has the baby, he will think it is his baby.
How long did it take for Uriah to figure out that this was what David was doing? The scripture doesn’t say, but it seems Uriah realized that something was not right about it all.
Why does one of the best warriors have to get pulled off the field to give a report to the king instead of just sending an errand boy?
And if David is so interested in the battle, why doesn’t he just go there himself?
And why is David so keen on wining and dining him and trying to get him to go home each night?
The first night David tells him to go down to his home and wash his feet.
The king’s palace was at the top of the hill in Jerusalem, and everybody else’s houses were downhill from there.
Washing feet after a journey was customary1.
David also sent a servant to carry a gift basket of food behind Uriah, so Uriah could “bring home the bacon,” as it were, and treat his wife to a nice meal when he arrived. It seems likely that the servant tasked with carrying the gift basket was also supposed to report back to David that Uriah actually went home and spent the night with Bathsheba.
But Uriah doesn’t leave the palace. He just leaves the throne room and rolls out his bedroll next to the porters and guards near the entryway of the palace, where there were probably a couple of rooms for servants. (Later in 1 Kings 14:27, we read of “...captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king's house.”)
Now, the servants in David’s palace surely knew what was going on. They had been delivering messages back and forth between David and Bathsheba, and it was some of those same servants who had gone and gotten Bathsheba and brought her into David’s bedroom. So when Uriah spent the night hanging around the servant’s quarters at David’s palace instead of going home, he probably got an earful from the servants.
Rabbi Goldman in the Soncino commentary wrote, “[I]t is unlikely that David’s court was more discreet and less addicted to… gossip than royal courts have been throughout... history.”
Uriah may have been uncertain how much of it was true, but if he was suspicious, it would explain the great resolve he maintained over the next two nights to keep from going home. If what David’s servants said was true, he wanted to be sure not to aid and abet David in an adultery cover-up scheme2.
Now, David is worried. If he can’t get Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba, then David’s adultery with Bathsheba will be exposed publicly when her pregnancy starts showing. So he calls Uriah back the next day and puts a little more pressure on him to go home to his wife. David doesn’t seem to think at this point that Uriah is on to him. David merely says, “Hey man, it’s o.k. to go home; you’ve been on the road. It’s all good.”
Uriah is careful, in his response, not to confront David directly. He argues that he must take the high ground of “roughing it” as long as he is in the army and there is a war on, not taking privileges that his fellow soldiers couldn’t take. This emphasises the part of his character that is truly honorable while also communicating indirectly that David shouldn’t have been staying home during the war, and furthermore letting David know (as politely as possible) that he isn’t going to cooperate with David’s scheme concerning Bathsheba.
Uriah concludes at the end of v.11 with a curse. Most English versions translate it as a statement of stubborn obstinance: “I will not do this,” but the Hebrew grammar is actually not a negative; it is rather an oath/curse formula, literally, “Your life and the life of your soul if I do this,” in other words, “May God take away your life if you make me do this.”
It is at this point that David must have realized that Uriah was on to him. This curse puts David in an awkward position: if he forces Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba before the war is over, he opens himself up to being struck dead by God, but David has no other way to cover up his adultery with Bathsheba without killing someone, so he is determined to keep trying. He tells Uriah to sit tight until the next day, and he spends the rest of the day and night pondering how he can get Uriah to go to his house.
Presently, David came up with a plan: “If I can get Uriah drunk, maybe he won’t be able to think straight enough to resist the suggestion of going home to his wife.” So he calls Uriah back to enjoy dinner with him.
It is not explained how David got Uriah drunk: perhaps David exploited a weakness that Uriah already had for alcohol by offering him too much,
or perhaps David tricked Uriah into drinking something that had a higher alcohol content than Uriah realized.
In any case, the prophet Habakkuk lets us know what God thinks about this kind of wicked behavior: "Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, Pressing him to your bottle Even to make him drunk..!” (2:15, NKJV)
But Uriah, even in an innebriated state, would not go home to Bathsheba. He went right back to his bedroll at the palace door again that night.
“God disposed things this way so that David’s sin would come to light, for there is no counsel against God; His purpose will stand.” (Willett)
On the morning of the next day, it was time for David to send Uriah back to the battlefield, but what would he do now that his plan to cover up his sin with Bathsheba had failed?
Even at this point, David could have confessed his sin to Uriah and taken the consequences, and, he would have found some mercy. Instead he stubbornly persisted in trying to cover up his sin, even though it was not working. Proverbs 28:13 teaches us, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (NKJV)
David came up with another cover-up plan, this time his plan was to get Uriah killed. If Bathsheba’s husband were dead, there would be no offended husband to press charges against David for adultery, and Bathsheba would be a widow and free game to marry legally. Problem solved! (So he thought!)
He had Uriah deliver a sealed message to General Joab which instructed Joab to put Uriah in harm’s way during the war and to withdraw supporting troops so that Uriah would be killed in battle and not rescued.
David stooped to doing the very thing Saul had tried to do to kill him! (1 Sam. 18:25 “...It was Saul's scheme to cause David to fall by the hand of Philistines.” ~NAW)
The command in David’s letter to Joab is not the usual Hebrew verb for “setting/putting/placing” someone somewhere, but rather it is a word for “rendering up” someone or something. He’s asking Joab to sacrifice Uriah for David’s convenience.
This command is also plural in Hebrew. David is commanding Joab as well as all the officers under Joab to be accomplices to the murder of Uriah.
At this point, Joab – or anyone in his chain of command – could have said, “Wait a minute. It is not right for us in the army to expose Uriah to extra danger in order to get him killed. If King David thinks he should be killed, then we should follow what God’s law says about conducting a fair trial with a jury of peers, and a public sentencing and negotiation process and execution if necessary. I’m not going to help even King David to do an end-run around justice.” That’s the Biblical doctrine of the lesser magistrate. You can stand up against any human authority who commands you to disobey God.
The scary thing is that nobody was willing to stand up for God’s law; they just followed orders and became participants in the murder of Uriah.
We’ve already seen that Joab had no qualms with participating in assasinations, and the more people he killed, the more callous he became toward the sin of murder (cf. 1Ki 2:5).
We need to evaluate the righteousness of the things that those in authority over us command us to do and not blindly obey them when they are commanding us to disobey God.
Joab has probably been conducting this seige for over a month now, so he’s got a good idea of the Ammonite’s strategy and where the weakest points were where the Ammonites liked to put their most experienced fighters, and so that’s where he assigned Uriah upon his return.
So, one day, the Ammonites made a sortie out of the gates of Rabbah and tried to burst through the Israelite seige-front. Uriah was there, where the fighting was fiercest, but he and his regiment were able to push the Ammonite warriors back to their city gates. Joab didn’t follow David’s orders as cleanly as David had given them, so Uriah wasn’t left alone, and when he and his regiment got within range of the archers and catapults on the wall of the city, he and a number of others were struck down.
The collateral damage of the other soldiers being killed besides Uriah may have been what made Joab nervous that David would get upset (Goldman).
Joab then sends a message-boy to report to David that he had followed the orders and that Uriah was dead.
If what he had done wasn’t so sick, it would be funny how he uses the messenger to “push David’s buttons.”
He knows David well enough to know that the message-boy is in for a lecture in the history of seige warfare, particularly on how Gideon’s son Abimelek (from Judges chapter 9), got conked on the head from a woman dropping a stone while he was attacking the tower of Thebez in a doomed effort to get rid of his competitors among the Israelites.
(Gideon the Judge was also called Jerub-baal, but by David’s time, names that ended with “baal” were being replaced with the Hebrew word for “shame” sheth by devout Jews who despised the pagan god Baal.)
The oldest-known manuscripts add a note that David did indeed give a lecture on Abimelek and a rant about getting too close to the wall.
David was knowledgeable and passionate about war strategy, and Joab knew David would get worked up, but he tells the messenger to save the piece of news that David most wants to hear for last: “Uriah is dead.”
After that mic-drop statement, David should have begun to weep, as the realization set in that he had just committed murder. But David is still in cover-up mode.
Now he has to worry about controlling everyone that he had made accomplices to his murder, in order to keep it a secret,
so he sends a horribly subversive message to Joab, instructing him to harden his conscience: “Do not let this be a bad thing in your eyes – Don’t let the fact that you have just committed another murder upset or trouble you. Instead, turn Uriah and the other victims into martyrs and try to rally the troops to finish off the city of Rabbah3.”
Brothers and sisters, I hope you never encourage anyone to minimize a violation of one of the 10 commandments like David did. Sin is not something to laugh at or shrug off; sin is something to take seriously, and grieve over, and turn away from, and confess to God, and find His forgiveness from.
Bathsheba did the right thing when she got the news. She mourned over Uriah’s death.
Surely she knew that Uriah had been summoned to the palace and that Uriah had not come home to see her before being sent back to the battlefield, and surely it was suspicious that her mighty-man who had gotten into a disagreement with the king at the palace “just so happened” to be on the war-casualty list a week later. Putting two and two together, she must have guessed what all happened, and that must have made her grief painful beyond words.
It was one thing to know that the king was such a womanizer that he would leave his nine wives and chase after another married women while her husband was away and then act like nothing was wrong afterward. (What does that do to a woman who has to live under leaders who lack integrity like that??)
It was an even deeper grief to have to carry the king’s baby, throwing up with morning sickness, while watching the king try to cover up his adultery by deceiving her husband. (What does that do to a woman’s heart when the man who violates her gets away with it?)
But what an unbearable burden of grief to know (or at least suspect) that her husband had been murdered simply to keep the king from looking bad. (What does it do to a woman when she sees the men who are supposed to defend her from evil and lay down their lives for her well-being, instead chosing to expose her to greater risk and loss, in order to protect themselves and make their lives easier? When those people are the army and the king, what can she do? There is no one over them to bring them to justice. No one but God.)
You who hold power – whether you are an older sibling, a parent, a church officer, or a civil officer, do you see how important it is to confess your sin as soon as you do wrong so that you do not bring greater harm to those under you? Don’t you risk being the one responsible for subverting justice and causing them to harden their heart and turn away from God and burn in hell forever. Don’t cover up your sin!
Mourning for the dead seems to have normally lasted a week4. It’s doubtful that David would have waited much longer than that to complete his cover-up scheme.
Then David sent servants to “gather/collect” her, as though she were some kind of tax or a piece of furniture that he would add to his house and use for his benefit. Her name is not even mentioned.
On the one hand, it meant that this widow was quickly provided for financially, but on the other hand, it meant Uriah was treated as though he had never existed in Israel, and all his assets went to David. And a week was never enough time for Bathsheba to process that much injustice and loss!
David thinks that at last he has fixed the problems of his slip into adultery and murder and now has all the consequences under control. Boy is he ever wrong!
Back in v.25, David had told Joab, “Don’t let it be an evil thing in your eyes; don’t let it displease you.” As if to say, “Don’t ask yourself what God thinks about our actions; we did what we thought was best, and that’s all that counts. Don’t submit to God and try to make this right with Him; He would just make it worse.”
But good and evil are not in the power of humans to control; only God has the moral right to determine what is good and what is evil, and God tells us what He thinks of this whole debacle: “But, in the eyes of Yahweh, it was an evil thing that David had done.”
That’s the end of the chapter where we have to stop for now. Thankfully, the story isn’t over yet, but we can still take away important lessons from the story thus far.
One important lesson is that if David was susceptible to such deep levels of self-deception and ability to do such eggregious sins, then we are capable of great evil and blindness too, so we need to appropriate every bit of help God provides to guard against spiraling into sin.
This story is “...a painfully humiliating proof of the awful lengths to which the best of men may go when they forfeit the restraining grace of God.” ~Robert Jameison
“We may see from this how deep a soul may fall when it turns away from God, and from the guidance of His grace. This David, who in the days of his persecution would not even resort to means that were really plausible in order to defend himself, was now not ashamed to resort to the greatest crimes in order to cover his sin. O God! how great is our strength when we lay firm hold of Thee! And how weak we become as soon as we turn away from Thee! The greatest saints would be ready for the worst of deeds, if Thou shouldst but leave them for a single moment without Thy protection. Whoever reflects upon this, will give up all thought of self-security and spiritual pride.” ~ Berleburg Bible
Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
What can we do?
In the last sermon, we saw the importance of engaging heartily in the work of your vocation and engaging the mental battle of taking every thought captive before it gives birth to sin.
In addition to that, we need to daily renew our minds with reading or listening to God’s word and praying, giving the Holy Spirit ample time and material to convict us and keep us from blindly stumbling on in the self-deception of covering up our sin.
Don’t let yourself get stuck in the echo chamber of your own thoughts, and don’t fall into the trap that Rehoboam did of getting advice only from a few friends your age who are just like you. Ask brothers and sisters and parents and elders in the church for advice and accountability.
Also, give accountability when you see a brother or sister straying from God’s word; don’t sit on your hands and let people get away with doing evil unchallenged.
If your calling and time in life is appropriate for it, get married and invest in healthy relationships with your spouse and children. I’ve never heard an elderly person say they wished they had spent more of their life at the club, but many elderly folks have said they wished they had had more children.
Trust God’s word that, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13, NKJV) Resist the urge to cover up your sin and instead confess it to God and ask Him to forgive you in Jesus’ name and ask Him to free you from the power of that sin, and then start living like you believe in God’s mercy.
“[I]t pleased God to leave Dauid to himself, and to suffer him to fall into this great sin, both in respect of himself, that he might throughly be humbled, seeing God purposed to exalt him: and for the example of others... that no man should bragg of his estate seeing David did fall, nor yet any should despair of rising again with David.” ~Andrew Willett
Incidences* |
KJV |
NKJ |
NASB |
NIV |
NLT |
ESV |
Genesis 47:6 |
men of activity |
competent men |
capable men |
any with special ability |
those with special skills |
able men |
Exodus 18:21 |
able men |
able men |
able men |
capable men |
capable men |
able men |
Exodus 18:25 |
able men |
able men |
able men |
capable men |
capable men |
able men |
Judges 20:44 |
men of valour |
men of valor |
valiant warriors |
valiant fighters |
strongest warriors |
men of valor |
Judges 20:46 |
men of valour |
men of valor |
valiant warriors |
valiant fighters |
strong warriors |
men of valor |
2 Sam 11:16 |
valiant men |
valiant men |
valiant men |
strongest defenders |
strongest men |
valiant men |
Nehemiah 11:6 |
valiant men |
valiant men |
able men |
men of standing |
outstanding men |
valiant men |
Psalm 76:6 |
men of might |
mighty men |
warriors |
warriors |
warrior |
men of war |
Nahum 2:4 |
valiant men |
valiant men |
warriors |
warriors |
valiant troops |
soldiers |
* There are about 28 more instances of these two root words, mostly in historical literature, but not with this same spelling or word order.
SUMMARY of the 54 translations
37% = valiant/men of valor
31% = capable/able/active/competent
13% = warriors/soldiers
9% = [out]standing/strongest5/special
9% = strong/mighty
KJV, NAU and ESV each use three of the different meanings, but none of them used the meaning of “special/outstanding/strongest.” NIV used 4 of the meanings, and NLT used all 5.
I would like to propose an additional translation in an attempt to combine all five meanings in one word, and that is the English word “veteran,” denoting experience in fighting by which they proved themselves to be soldier material, courageous enough to fight, and strong and competent enough at fighting to survive.
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 sent 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
|
2
And it came to pass in |
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 Ελια |
3
And David sent and enquired about the woman: and one said, Is not
this Bersabee the daughter of Elia |
3
And |
3
And David sent and enquired |
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-אֱלִיעָם אֵשֶׁת אוּרִיָּה הַחִתִּיF: |
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 |
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 מִתְקַדֶּשֶׁתG מִטֻּמְאָתָהּ וַתָּשָׁבH אֶל-בֵּיתָהּ: |
5 καὶ ἐν γαστρὶ ἔλαβεν ἡ γυνή· καὶ ἀποστείλασα ἀπήγγειλεν τῷ Δαυιδ καὶ εἶπεν Ἐγώ [εἰμι] ἐν γαστρὶ ἔχω. |
5 And the woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, I am with child. |
X X having conceived. And she sent and told David, and said: I have conceived. |
5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child. |
5 The woman, however, was pregnant, so she sent someone and had it communicated to David and said, “I am pregnant.” |
5 וַתַּהַר הָאִשָּׁה וַתִּשְׁלַח וַתַּגֵּד לְדָוִד וַתֹּאמֶר הָרָה אָנֹכִיI: |
6 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Δαυιδ πρὸς Ιωαβ [λέγων] Ἀπόστειλον πρός με τὸν Ουριαν τὸν Χετταῖον· καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ιωαβ τὸν Ουριαν πρὸς Δαυιδ. |
6 And David sent to Joab, [saying], Send me Urias the Chettite; and Joab sent Urias to David. |
6 And David sent to Joab, [sayingJ]: Send me Urias the Hethite. And Joab sent Urias to David. |
6 And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. |
6 David then sent someone to Joab {and said}, “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. |
6 וַיִּשְׁלַח דָּוִד אֶל-יוֹאָבK שְׁלַח אֵלַי אֶת-אוּרִיָּה הַחִתִּי וַיִּשְׁלַח יוֹאָב אֶת-אוּרִיָּה אֶל-דָּוִדL: |
7 [καὶ παραγίνεται] Ουριας καὶ εἰσῆλθεν πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν Δαυιδ εἰς εἰρήνην Ιωαβ καὶ εἰς εἰρήνην τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ εἰς εἰρήνην τοῦ πολέμου. |
7 And Urias [arrived and] went in to him, and David asked him how Joab was, and how the people were, and how the war went on. |
7 And Urias came to David. And David asked how Joab did, and the people,X X and how the war was carried on. |
7 And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. |
7 And Uriah came to him, and David asked about the welfare of Joab and about the welfare of the people and about the welfare of the battle. |
7 וַיָּבֹא אוּרִיָּה אֵלָיוM וַיִּשְׁאַל דָּוִד לִשְׁלוֹם יוֹאָב וְלִשְׁלוֹם הָעָם וְלִשְׁלוֹם הַמִּלְחָמָה: |
8 καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ τῷ Ουρια Κατάβηθι εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου καὶ νίψαι τοὺς πόδας σου· καὶ ἐξῆλθεν Ουριας ἐξ οἴκου τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ ἄρσις τοῦ βασιλέως. |
8 And David said to Urias, Go to thy house, and wash thy feet: and Urias departed from the house of the king, and a portion of meat from the king X followed him. |
8 And David said to Urias: Go into thy house, and wash thy feet. And Urias went out from the king's house, and there went out after him a mess of meat from the king. |
8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and X there followed him a mess of meat from the king. |
8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet!” Then Uriah went out from the palace of the king, and a food-basket from the king went out after him. |
8 וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד Nלְאוּרִיָּה רֵד לְבֵיתְךָ וּרְחַץ רַגְלֶיךָO וַיֵּצֵא אוּרִיָּה מִבֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ וַתֵּצֵא אַחֲרָיו מַשְׂאַתP הַמֶּלֶךְ: |
9 καὶ ἐκοιμήθη Ουριας [παρὰ] τῇ θύρᾳ τοῦ X X βασιλέως μετὰ X τῶν δούλων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐ κατέβη εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ. |
9 And Urias slept at the door of the X X king with X the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. |
9
But Urias slept [beforeQ]
the gate of the king's house, with the |
9 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. |
9 But Uriah laid down by the door of the king’s palace with {} the servants of his master, and he did not go down to his house. |
9 וַיִּשְׁכַּב אוּרִיָּה פֶּתַח בֵּית הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵת כָּלR-עַבְדֵי אֲדֹנָיו וְלֹא יָרַד אֶל-בֵּיתוֹ: |
10 καὶ ἀνήγγειλαν τῷ Δαυιδ λέγοντες ὅτι Οὐ κατέβη Ουριας εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ. καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ πρὸς Ουριαν Οὐχὶ ἐξ ὁδοῦ σὺ ἔρχῃ; τί ὅτι οὐ κατέβης εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου; |
10 And they brought David word, saying, Urias has not gone down to his house. And David said to Urias, Art thou not come from a journey? why hast thou not gone down to thy house? |
10 And it was told David by some that said: Urias went not to his house. And David said to Urias: Didst thou not come from [thy] journey? why didst thou not go down to thy house? |
10 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? |
10 So they communicated this to David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house!” Then David said to Uriah, “Is it not from the road that you have come? Why don’t you go down to your home? |
10 וַיַּגִּדוּS לְדָוִד לֵאמֹר לֹא-יָרַד אוּרִיָּה אֶל-בֵּיתוֹ וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל- אוּרִיָּה הֲלוֹא מִדֶּרֶךְ אַתָּה בָא מַדּוּעַ לֹא-יָרַדְתָּ אֶל-בֵּיתֶךָ: |
11
καὶ εἶπεν Ουριας
πρὸς Δαυιδ Ἡ
κιβωτὸς καὶ
Ισραηλ καὶ
Ιουδας κατοικοῦσιν
ἐν σκηναῖς,
καὶ ὁ κύριός
μου Ιωαβ καὶ
οἱ δοῦλοι
τοῦ κυρίου
μου ἐπὶ πρόσωπον
τοῦ ἀγροῦ
παρεμβάλλουσιν·
καὶ ἐγὼ εἰσελεύσομαι
εἰς τὸν οἶκόν
μου φαγεῖν καὶ
πιεῖν καὶ κοιμηθῆναι
μετὰ τῆς γυναικός
μου; |
11
And Urias said to David, The ark, and Israel, and Juda dwell in
tents;
and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the
open
fields; and X
shall
I go into my house to eat and drink, and lie with my wife? |
11
And Urias said to David: The ark [of
God]
and Israel and Juda dwell in tents,
and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord |
11
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; X
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 |
11 And Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are residing in bivouacs, and my master Joab and the servants of my master are taking up positions on the ground of the field, and I, shall I go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie down with my wife? [Cursed] be your life and the life of your soul if I do such thing!” |
11 וַיֹּאמֶר אוּרִיָּה אֶל-דָּוִד הָאָרוֹןU וְיִשְׂרָאֵל וִיהוּדָה יֹשְׁבִים בַּסֻּכּוֹת וַאדֹנִי יוֹאָבV וְעַבְדֵי אֲדֹנִי עַל-פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה חֹנִים וַאֲנִי אָבוֹא אֶל-בֵּיתִי לֶאֱכֹל וְלִשְׁתּוֹת וְלִשְׁכַּב עִם-אִשְׁתִּי חַיֶּךָ וְחֵי נַפְשֶׁךָ Wאִם- אֶעֱשֶׂה אֶת- הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה: |
12 καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ πρὸς Ουριαν Κάθισον ἐνταῦθα καί γε σήμερον, καὶ αὔριον ἐξαποστελῶ σε· καὶ ἐκάθισεν Ουριας ἐν Ιερουσαλημ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ καὶ τῇ ἐπαύριον. |
12
And David said to Urias, Remain
X
here
to-day also, and to-morrow I will |
12 Then David said to Urias: Tarry X here to day X, and to morrow I will send thee away. Urias tarried in Jerusalem X that day and the next X. |
12
And David said to Uriah, Tarry
X
here
to day also, and to morrow I will |
12 Then David said to Uriah, sit in here today as well, and tomorrow I will send you off.” So Uriah sat in Jerusalem during that day and the next day. |
12 וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל-אוּרִיָּה שֵׁב בָּזֶה גַּם-הַיּוֹם וּמָחָר אֲשַׁלְּחֶךָּ וַיֵּשֶׁב אוּרִיָּה בִירוּשָׁלִַם בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וּמִמָּחֳרָת: |
13 καὶ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸν Δαυιδ, καὶ ἔφαγεν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔπιεν, καὶ ἐμέθυσεν αὐτόν· καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἑσπέρας τοῦ κοιμηθῆναι ἐπὶ τῆς κοίτης αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῶν δούλων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ οὐ κατέβη. |
13 And David called him, and he ate before him and drank, and he made him drunk: and he went out in the evening to lie upon his bed with the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. |
13
And David called him X
to
eat and to drink before him, and he made him drunk: and he went
out in the evening, |
13 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. |
13 Meanwhile, David called for him, and he ate before his presence and drank and got him drunk. Then he went out in the evening to lie down at his bed with the servants of his master, and he did not go down to his house. |
13 וַיִּקְרָא-לוֹ דָוִד וַיֹּאכַל לְפָנָיו וַיֵּשְׁתְּ וַיְשַׁכְּרֵהוּ וַיֵּצֵא בָעֶרֶב לִשְׁכַּב בְּמִשְׁכָּבוֹ עִם-עַבְדֵי אֲדֹנָיו וְאֶל-בֵּיתוֹ לֹא יָרָד: |
14 καὶ ἐγένετο πρωὶ καὶ ἔγραψεν Δαυιδ βιβλίον πρὸς Ιωαβ καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ἐν χειρὶ Ουριου. |
14 And X the morning came, and David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Urias. |
14 And when the morning was come, X David wrote a letter to Joab: and sent it by the hand of Urias, |
14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. |
14 So it was, in the morning, that David wrote a note to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. |
14 וַיְהִי בַבֹּקֶר וַיִּכְתֹּב דָּוִד סֵפֶר אֶל-יוֹאָב וַיִּשְׁלַח בְּיַד אוּרִיָּה: |
15 καὶ ἔγραψεν ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ λέγων Εἰσάγαγε τὸν Ουριαν X ἐξ ἐναντίας τοῦ πολέμου τοῦ κραταιοῦ, καὶ ἀποστραφήσεσθε ἀπὸ ὄπισθεν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πληγήσεται καὶ ἀποθανεῖται. |
15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Station Urias in X front of the severe part of the fight, and retreat from behind him, so shall he be wounded and die. |
15 X Writing in the letter X: Set ye Urias in X the front of the battle, where the fight is strongest: and leave ye X X him, that he may be wounded and die. |
15
And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set
ye Uriah in the forefront of the |
15 Now he wrote in the note to say, “Y’all render Uriah to the forefront of the of the fiercest battle front, then turn back from being behind him so that he will be struck down and will die.” |
15 וַיִּכְתֹּב בַּסֵּפֶר לֵאמֹרX הָבוּY אֶת-אוּרִיָּה אֶל-מוּל פְּנֵי הַמִּלְחָמָה הַחֲזָקָה וְשַׁבְתֶּם מֵאַחֲרָיו וְנִכָּה וָמֵת: ס |
16 καὶ ἐγενήθη ἐν τῷ φυλάσσειν Ιωαβ ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν καὶ ἔθηκεν τὸν Ουριαν εἰς τὸν τόπον, οὗ ᾔδει ὅτι ἄνδρες δυνάμεως ἐκεῖ. |
16 And it came to pass while Joab was watching against the city, that he set Urias in a place where he knew that valiant men were X. |
16
Wherefore as Joab was besieging
X
the
city, he put
Urias in the place where he knew |
16
And it came to pass, when Joab observed
X
the
city, that he assigned
Uriah unto |
16 So it came about while Joab was laying seige to the city that he promoted Uriah to the place where he knew that men who were veterans would be there. |
16 וַיְהִי בִּשְׁמוֹרZ יוֹאָב אֶל-הָעִיר וַיִּתֵּן אֶת-אוּרִיָּה אֶל-הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יָדַע כִּי אַנְשֵׁי- חַיִלAA שָׁם: |
17 καὶ ἐξῆλθον οἱ ἄνδρες τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἐπολέμουν μετὰ Ιωαβ, καὶ ἔπεσαν ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ ἐκ τῶν δούλων Δαυιδ, καὶ ἀπέθανεν καί γε Ουριας ὁ Χετταῖος. |
17
And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and some
of the people |
17
And the men coming out of the city, fought against Joab, and there
fell some of the people |
17
And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab: and there
fell some
of the people |
17 Then the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, and some of the people – some of the servants of David – fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died. |
17 וַיֵּצְאוּ אַנְשֵׁי הָעִיר וַיִּלָּחֲמוּ אֶת-יוֹאָב וַיִּפֹּל מִן-הָעָםAB מֵעַבְדֵי דָוִד וַיָּמָת גַּם אוּרִיָּה הַחִתִּיAC: |
18 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Ιωαβ καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν τῷ βασιλεῖ πάντας τοὺς λόγους τοῦ πολέμου |
18 And Joab sent, and reported to David all the events of the war[, so as to tell them to the king]. |
18 Then Joab sent, and told David all X things concerning the battle. |
18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; |
18 Then Joab sent a commission and communicated to David all the issues of the war, |
18 וַיִּשְׁלַח יוֹאָב וַיַּגֵּד לְדָוִד אֶת-כָּל-דִּבְרֵי הַמִּלְחָמָה: |
19 καὶ ἐνετείλατο τῷ ἀγγέλῳ λέγων Ἐν τῷ συντελέσαι σε πάντας τοὺς λόγους τοῦ πολέμου λαλῆσαι πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα |
19 And he charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast finished reporting all the events of the war to the king, |
19 And he charged the messenger, saying: When thou hast X told all the words of the battle to the king, |
19 And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling X the matters of the war unto the king, |
19 and he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you are finished with telling all the issues of the war to the king, |
19 וַיְצַו אֶת-הַמַּלְאָךְ לֵאמֹר כְּכַלּוֹתְךָ אֵת כָּל-דִּבְרֵי הַמִּלְחָמָה לְדַבֵּר אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְ: |
20 καὶ ἔσται ἐὰν ἀναβῇ ὁ θυμὸς τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ εἴπῃ σοι Τί ὅτι ἠγγίσατε πρὸς τὴν πόλιν πολεμῆσαι; οὐκ ᾔδειτε ὅτι τοξεύσουσιν ἀπάνωθεν τοῦ τείχους; |
20 then it shall come to pass if the anger of the king shall arise, and he shall say to thee, Why did ye draw nigh to the city to fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from off the wall? |
20
X
If
|
20 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? |
20 then, if the fury of the king happens to rise and he says to you, ‘Why did you let yourselves get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t y’all know that they might shoot from over the wall?! |
20 וְהָיָה אִם- תַּעֲלֶה חֲמַת הַמֶּלֶךְ וְאָמַר לְךָ מַדּוּעַ נִגַּשְׁתֶּם אֶל-הָעִיר לְהִלָּחֵם הֲלוֹא יְדַעְתֶּם אֵת אֲשֶׁר-יֹרוּ מֵעַל הַחוֹמָה: |
21
τίς ἐπάταξεν
τὸν Αβιμελεχ
υἱὸν Ιερο |
21
Who smote Abimelech the son of Jero |
21
Who |
21 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. |
21 Who struck down Abimelek, son of Jerubbesheth? Wasn’t it a woman who launched an upper millstone onto him from over the wall so that he died in Thebez? Why did you let yourselves get so close to the wall?!’ Then you shall say, ‘Also your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’” |
21 מִי-הִכָּה אֶת-אֲבִימֶלֶךְ בֶּן-יְרֻבֶּשֶׁת הֲלוֹא-אִשָּׁה הִשְׁלִיכָה עָלָיו פֶּלַח רֶכֶב מֵעַל הַחוֹמָה וַיָּמָת בְּתֵבֵץ לָמָּה נִגַּשְׁתֶּם אֶל-הַחוֹמָה וְאָמַרְתָּ גַּם עַבְדְּךָ אוּרִיָּה הַחִתִּי מֵת: |
22
καὶ ἐπορεύθη
ὁ ἄγγελος
[Ιωαβ
πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα
εἰς Ιερουσαλημ]
καὶ παρεγένετο
καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν
τῷ Δαυιδ πάντα,
ὅσα |
22
And the messenger [of
Joab]
went [to
the king to Jerusalem],
and he came and reported
to David all that Joab |
22
So the messenger departed, and came and told
David all that Joab had |
22 So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for. |
22 So the messenger went, and when he arrived, he communicated to David all that Joab had sent him for. |
22 וַיֵּלֶךְ הַמַּלְאָךְ וַיָּבֹא וַיַּגֵּד לְדָוִד אֵת כָּל-אֲשֶׁר AEשְׁלָחוֹ יוֹאָב: |
23 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ ἄγγελος πρὸς Δαυιδ Ὅτι ἐκραταίωσαν ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς οἱ ἄνδρες καὶ ἐξῆλθαν ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸν ἀγρόν, καὶ ἐγενήθημεν ἐπ᾿ αὐτοὺς ἕως τῆς θύρας τῆς πύλης, |
23 And the messenger said to David, The men prevailed against us, and they came out against us into the field, and we came upon them even to the door of the gate. |
23
And the messenger said to David: The men prevailed
against us, and they came out to us into the field: and we
vigorously
[charged
and]
|
23 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. |
23 And the messenger said to David, “The men were stronger than us when they came out against us on the field, then we foughtAF against them back to the opening of the gate. |
23 וַיֹּאמֶר הַמַּלְאָךְ אֶל-דָּוִד AGכִּי-גָבְרוּ עָלֵינוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים וַיֵּצְאוּ אֵלֵינוּ הַשָּׂדֶה וַנִּהְיֶה עֲלֵיהֶם עַד-פֶּתַח הַשָּׁעַר: |
24 καὶ ἐτόξευσαν οἱ τοξεύοντες πρὸς τοὺς παῖδάς σου ἀπάνωθεν τοῦ τείχους, καὶ ἀπέθαναν τῶν παίδων τοῦ βασιλέως, καί γε ὁ δοῦλός σου Ουριας ὁ Χετταῖος ἀπέθανεν. |
24 And the archers shot at thy servants from off the wall, and someAH of the king's servants died, and thy servant Urias the Chettite is dead also. |
24 And the archers shot [their arrows] at thy servants from off the wall [above]: and some of the king's servants are slain, and thy servant Urias the Hethite is also dead. |
24 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. |
24 But their archers shot from over the wall at your servants, and some of the servants of the king died. And also your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.” |
24 וַיֹּרְאוּAI הַמּוֹרְאִים אֶל- עֲבָדֶךָ מֵעַל הַחוֹמָה וַיָּמוּתוּ מֵעַבְדֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ וְגַם עַבְדְּךָ אוּרִיָּה הַחִתִּי מֵת: ס |
25 καὶ εἶπεν Δαυιδ πρὸς τὸν ἄγγελον Τάδε ἐρεῖς πρὸς Ιωαβ Μὴ πονηρὸν ἔστω ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς σου τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο, ὅτι ποτὲ μὲν οὕτως καὶ ποτὲ οὕτως φάγεται ἡ μάχαιρα· κραταίωσον τὸν πόλεμόν σου πρὸς τὴν πόλιν καὶ κατάσπασον αὐτὴν καὶ κραταίωσον αὐτόν. |
25
And David said to the messenger, Thus shalt thou say to Joab, Let
not the matter be
grievous
in thine eyes, for the sword devours one way [at
one time]
and another way [at
another]:
strengthen thine |
25
And David said to the messenger: Thus shalt thou say to Joab: Let
not this thing discourage
X
thee
X:
for [various
is the event of war: and]
sometimes one, sometimes another [is]
consumed by the sword: encourage thy |
25 Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease X X thee, for the sword devoureth X one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him. |
25 Then David said to the messenger, “Tell this to Joab: ‘Do not let this be a bad thing in your eyes, for the sword devours this way as well as that way. Strengthen your assault against the city and demolish it.’ And so strengthen him.” |
25 וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִד אֶל-הַמַּלְאָךְ כֹּה- תֹאמַר אֶל-יוֹאָב אַל-יֵרַע בְּעֵינֶיךָ אֶת-הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה כִּי-כָזֹה וְכָזֶה תֹּאכַל הֶחָרֶב הַחֲזֵק מִלְחַמְתְּךָ אֶל-הָעִיר וְהָרְסָהּ וְחַזְּקֵהוּ: |
26 καὶ ἤκουσεν ἡ γυνὴ Ουριου ὅτι ἀπέθανεν Ουριας ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐκόψατο τὸν ἄνδρα αὐτῆς. |
26 And the wife of Urias heard that Urias her husband was dead, and she mourned for her husband. |
26
And the wife of Urias heard that Urias her husband was dead, and
she mourned for X
|
26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. |
26 Presently, the wife of Uriah heard that her man Uriah was dead, and she mourned over her husband. |
26 וַתִּשְׁמַע אֵשֶׁת אוּרִיָּה כִּי-מֵת אוּרִיָּה AJאִישָׁהּ וַתִּסְפֹּד עַל-בַּעְלָהּ: |
27 καὶ διῆλθεν τὸ πένθος, καὶ ἀπέστειλεν Δαυιδ καὶ συνήγαγεν αὐτὴν εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐγενήθη αὐτῷ εἰς γυναῖκα καὶ ἔτεκεν αὐτῷ υἱόν. Καὶ πονηρὸν ἐφάνη τὸ ῥῆμα, ὃ ἐποίησεν Δαυιδ, ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς κυρίου. |
27 And the time of mourning expired, and David sent and took her into his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son: but the thing which David did was evil in the eyes of the Lord. |
27 And the mourning being over, X David sent and brought her into his house, and she became his wife, and she bore him a son: and this thing which David had done, was displeasing to the X X Lord. |
27 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 X X the LORD. |
27 Then, when the mourning-period had passed, David sent a commission and gathered her into his household, and she became a wife of his, and she gave birth to his son. But, in the eyes of Yahweh, it was an evil thing that David had done. |
27 וַיַּעֲבֹר הָאֵבֶל וַיִּשְׁלַח דָּוִד וַיַּאַסְפָהּ אֶל-בֵּיתוֹ וַתְּהִי-לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ בֵּן וַיֵּרַעAK הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר-עָשָׂה דָוִד בְּעֵינֵי יְהוָה: פ |
1Genesis 18:4, 19:2, 24:32, 43:24, Luke 7:44, John 13:5
2Jameison Faucett & Brown and Keil & Delitzsch also expressed the opinion that Uriah’s suspicions were aroused. Tsumura, on the other hand, claimed Uraiah was merely staying ritually pure for battle based on 1 Sam 21:5.
31 Chron 20:1 states that Joab did just that: he went on to “demolish/tear down/overthrow” Rabbah.”
4(Gen. 50:10, 1 Sam 31:13), but in special cases was drawn out to a month (Deut. 34:8, 2 Samuel 14:2)
5I put one of the two instances of “strongest” under the “strong” category and the other instance of “strongest” in the “outstanding” category since “strongest” carries both meanings.
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”). 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 matrice lexionis letter for the a-class vowel, so I don’t think this should be considered an actual variant.
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.
FDSS adds bawy ylk a?wn (“Joab’s armor-bearer”)
GThis 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.
HDSS 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.
ILXX (which implies an original reading of hrh htyh ykwna) and DSS hrh ykwna hnh and Syriac (לה דבטנא אנא) (“Behold I [am] pregnant”) all suggest that a word was dropped out of the MT, in all three cases, emphasizing the “I,” perhaps shading the meaning with a request to consider her best interests rather than merely informing him of the pregnancy.
Jdicens
KAlthough this part of the verse is illegible in the DSS, there is space for an extra 4-letter word, and that word ends with a letter not in the part of the verse in the MT. It is the letter resh, which is the last letter of the Hebrew word for “and he said,” which matches the extra word here in the LXX and Vulgate and makes for a smoother reading. The Syriac also has an extra phrase, but it is a repetition of “send” (ושׁלח) rather than “and he said.” DSS also adds a directional he suffix on to the next word, but this doesn’t change the meaning.
LAlthough the last word in the DSS is illegible, the word spacing would indicate a prepositional object with only one letter, such as “him” instead of the 3-letter word “David,” but this wouldn’t change the meaning at all.
MThe Latin and Syriac versions read “to David” instead of “to Him,” and this is supported by a few Hebrew manuscripts as well, but the DSS and LXX support the MT, and it doesn’t make a difference in the meaning.
NDSS uses the fuller form of this preposition אל, but there’s no difference in meaning.
OThe DSS is illegible at this point in the verse, but there is space for up to 15 extra letters and spaces between “David said to Uriah” and “Uriah went out from.” The ancient versions do not have any extra text, though.
PAbarbinel claimed it was “bread, wine, and flesh,” and he and Ben Gersom suggested that the word could also include “a torch to light him home to his house that night.” (Gill)
Qante
RMost ancient manuscripts read differently from “house with all” – Syriac (על גנב כולהון), Septuagint omits “house of” and “all” (although the Lucian rescription corrects to the MT), and Vulgate changes “all” to “other” (aliis). DSS is illegible, but the spacing between the legible sections suggests two letters and a space less than the MT, agreeing with the LXX omission of “all” (which is a 2-letter word in Hebrew).
SIt appears that the DSS omits the final sureq in this word, making the subject singular instead of plural (which may be why the NIV rendered it passive singular instead of the MT’s plural active), but no other ancient manuscript or version seems to support the DSS in this.
TLXX reads as though the Hebrew were א’ך instead of ח’ך.
UTsumura noted the irony that David had said a similar thing in 2 Sam. 7:1-2 that he felt guilty for residing in a house when the ark was in a tent (Cf. Psalm 132:3-5).
VIn the DSS, the text between “the ark” and “Joab my master” is illegible, but there is space for about 10 more characters and spaces than the MT has, but no other manuscript has extra words here. Joab was Uriah’s immediate commanding officer and thus “lord” and David was Joab’s authority, thus also his “lord.” David takes no offense at this title for Joab. (Gill)
WThis is not technically a negative; it is actually an oath/curse formula, akin to “over my dead body,” although the curse is taken out on David, “May you die if I do this.” This puts David in an awkward position; if the curse is legitimate, then if he forces Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba before the war is over, then he opens himself up to being struck dead by God.
XSyriac reads “my servant” instead of the MT “in a note saying”
YThis verb means “give/render.” Greek translates it “lead in,” Latin ponite, Syriac לה (“cause to go”? - notably this is singular instead of the plural imperative in the MT and LXX). Of the 33 instances in the OT, this is the only time that the NASB or the KJV translated this word with the meaning of “place/set.” (There are a couple of other Hebrew verbs which are more centered around the meaning of “place/put/set” than this verb.) The NASB translated it “come” 4x, “give” 15x, “ascribe” 10x, “Here” 1x, “choose” 1x, “provide” 1x. KJV: “go to” 4x, “come on” 1x, “give” 24x, “take” 1x, “bring” 2x, and “ascribe” 1x. Note that he synonym in v.16 is NTN, the more common Hebrew word for “gave.”
ZDSS omits the letter mem in the middle of this word, changing “during the keeping” to “during the striving,” which doesn’t effectively change the story.
AASee appendix on translating anoshey chiyl
ABSince “the people” is not in construct state, and the cantillation separates the phrases “from the people” and “from the servants of David,” it should not be interpreted as one long construct chain (e.g. “some of the people of the servants of David”) but rather as two synonymous phrases, the one specifying the other. A stronger set of disjunctive accents than the ones which set off these two phrases separates these two phrases from the end of the verse, so “some” is the subject of “fell” and “Uriah” is the subject of “died.”
ACThere is extra space in the DSS manuscript between the end of this verse and the beginning of the next. Perhaps this indicated a paragraph break that is not reflected in the MT.
AD“son of Ner” is only found in the Vaticanus, not in any other manuscript.
AEThe fact that the Septuagint (ἀπήγγειλεν = proclaimed), Syriac (דפקדה = held accountable), and Vulgate (praeceperat = commanded) all have a different verb from the MT makes me wonder what the original was. No DSS manuscript of this verse has been found to date.
AFLiterally “were” probably by ellipsis to be supplied with a repetition of “were stronger than” from earlier in the verse.
AGThe presence of this word “because” here seems to support the extra words in the LXX, indicating that the messenger was answering the question from David, “Why did you get so close to the wall?”
AHTsumura quotes McCarter as finding the number 18 in the LXX text, but I don’t see it there.
AIThe Qere of the MT suggests the alternate spelling וַיֹּרוּ הַמּוֹרִים, removing the alephs in the first two words to avoid confusion with the verb “they saw” [ירא], but this is just a vowel change, not a different meaning. K&D noted that the forms with alephs are Aramaic. Tsumura called it “historic” and said that there Qere was a “phonetic spelling” resulting from a “sandhi” loss of vowels. Could it be that Jerome saw this Qere note (which usually only suggests one word change) and mistook the second word for Kethib text, thus adding sagittarii (followed by the NIV’s “arrows”)?
AJTargums and Syriac render this word as well as the last word in the verse as בעלה, but the LXX and Vulgate use two different words like the MT does. The first literally translates “man” and the second literally translates “overlord,” but both can fairly be translated “husband.”
AK“The Hebrewes, to excuse Dauids sinne, haue deuised, that it was the vse, that they which went to battell gaue their wiues a bill of separation to marrie where they would. But this is their fiction: for if there had beene any such vse, to make it lawfull to marie such women so separated by bill of diuorce, what needed Dauid so to haue practised against Vriah? and why did the Prophet afterward reprooue him? But if they say such a bill was but to take place after the husbands death, then was it superfluous, for by death, without any such bill, the marriage was fully dissolued.” ~Andrew Willett