Bible Strands
2 Samuel 11:13
Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David summons Uriah to eat and drink during the day, then gets him intoxicated in the evening before Uriah departs to lie down with his master's servants. This occurs after David commands Uriah to remain in Jerusalem and immediately precedes the delivery of a written order to Joab.
The words — וַ/יְשַכְּרֵ֑/הוּ (va/y.sha.ke.Re./hu) translates literally as "and he made him drunk," while וַ/יֵּצֵ֣א (va/i.ye.Tze') means "and he went out." These terms mark the transition from forced hospitality to Uriah's deliberate refusal to return home.
The thread — This pattern of intoxication appears in Habakkuk 2:15, where making neighbors drunk to expose them is condemned, and echoes the manipulative drinking in Genesis 19:32. The resulting corruption mirrors Moses' rebuke in Exodus 32:21 regarding leaders leading people into sin.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of how authority corrupts hospitality and turns a meal into a mechanism of control. It requires the reader to confront the deliberate obstruction of duty behind seemingly ordinary social acts.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Habakkuk 2:15 Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin until they are drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!
- Genesis 19:32 Come, let us get our father drunk with wine so we can sleep with him and preserve his line.”
- Exodus 32:21 “What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?”
- Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.