Bible Strands
2 Samuel 11:2
One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative places King David on his palace roof one evening, during the spring military campaign when kings normally lead armies from the front but he remains in Jerusalem.
The words — The Hebrew וַ/יִּתְהַלֵּךְ (va/i.yit.ha.leKh) literally means "and he walked about," describing his aimless pacing that directly precedes his unguarded observation.
The thread — This scene follows 2 Samuel 11:1 and immediately precedes 2 Samuel 11:3, while the same dynamic of unguarded sight and idle time is addressed in Matthew 5:28, Psalm 119:37, and Job 31:1.
Why it lands — The text records David’s plain sequence of rising, strolling, and seeing, showing how unstructured leisure and unguarded attention create the conditions for moral failure. It asks the reader to identify where personal comfort replaces duty and where observation replaces restraint.
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 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.
Cross-references
- Matthew 5:28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
- Psalms 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.
- Job 31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
- Proverbs 6:25 Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.
- Acts 10:9 The next day at about the sixth hour, as the men were approaching the city on their journey, Peter went up on the roof to pray.
- 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
- Deuteronomy 22:8 If you build a new house, you are to construct a railing around your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if someone falls from it.
- Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:6 So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober.