Bible Strands
2 Samuel 11:6
At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — David issues a direct command to his commander Joab immediately after Bathsheba reports her pregnancy. The order initiates the retrieval of Uriah the Hittite from the battlefield to David’s presence.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיִּשְׁלַח (va.yishlach) appears twice, literally “he sent,” marking both David’s directive and Joab’s compliance. The proper name אֽוּרִיָּה (Uriyah) identifies the specific soldier targeted for recall.
The thread — This sequence of concealment and cover-up aligns with the warnings in Genesis 4:7 and Proverbs 28:13 regarding the refusal to do right and the failure to confess sin. The narrative continues in 2 Samuel 11:7 as Uriah arrives and David attempts to mask the pregnancy through tactical questioning.
Why it lands — The text records the mechanical execution of a corrupt command without moral commentary, requiring the reader to observe how authority is deployed to manage guilt. It demands recognition of the gap between stated military concern and the hidden personal motive driving the order.
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 David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- Genesis 4:7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”
- Genesis 38:18 “What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.
- 1 Samuel 15:30 “I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”
- Job 20:12 Though evil is sweet in his mouth and he conceals it under his tongue,
- Isaiah 29:13 Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.
- Matthew 26:70 But he denied it before them all: “I do not know what you are talking about.”
- Matthew 26:72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man!”
- Matthew 26:74 At that he began to curse and swear to them, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed.