The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  10:14 So Joab returned. He did not attempt to siege and capture the city of Rabbah at this time because the time was unseasonable (see note on 11:1). Cf. 12:26–29.

  10:16 Hadadezer. See note on 8:3. Helam. The place of battle, about 7 mi. N of Tob.

  10:18 seven hundred…horsemen. See note on 1 Chr. 19:18.

  10:19 made peace with Israel. All the petty kingdoms of Syria became subject to Israel and feared to aid Ammon against Israel.

  2 Samuel 11

  11:1 the spring…when kings go out to battle. In the Near East, kings normally went out to battle in the spring of the year because of the good weather and the abundance of food available along the way. See note on 10:14. David sent Joab. David dispatched Joab, his army commander, with his mercenary soldiers and the army of Israel to continue the battle against Ammon begun the previous year (10:14). Rabbah. The capital of the Ammonites, about 24 mi. E of the Jordan River opposite Jericho. The previous year, Abishai had defeated the Ammonite army in the open country, after which the remaining Ammonites fled behind the walls of the city of Rabbah for protection (10:14). Joab returned the next year to besiege the city. But David remained at Jerusalem. Staying home in such situations was not David’s usual practice (5:2; 8:1–14; 10:17; but cf. 18:3; 21:17); this explicit remark implies criticism of David for remaining behind, as well as setting the stage for his devastating iniquity.

  11:2 walked on the roof. The higher elevation of the palace roof allowed David to see into the courtyard of the nearby house. That same roof would later become the scene of other sinful immoralities (see 16:22).

  11:3 Bathsheba. Not until 12:24 is her name used again. Rather, to intensify the sin of adultery, it is emphasized that she was the wife of Uriah (vv. 3, 26; 12:10, 15). Even the NT says “her of Uriah” (Matt. 1:6). Cf. Ex. 20:17. Eliam. The father of Bathsheba was one of David’s mighty men (23:34). Since Eliam was the son of Ahithophel, Bathsheba was Ahithophel’s granddaughter (cf. 15:12; 16:15). This could explain why Ahithophel, one of David’s counselors (15:12), later gave his allegiance to Absalom in his revolt against David. Uriah. Also one of David’s mighty men (23:39). Although a Hittite (cf. Gen. 15:20; Ex. 3:8, 17), Uriah bore a Heb. name meaning “the LORD is my light,” indicating he was a worshiper of the one true God.

  11:4 she came…he lay. These terms are euphemistic references to sexual intercourse (cf. Gen. 19:34), indicating that both Bathsheba and David were guilty of adultery. her impurity. Her recent days had involved menstruation and the required ceremonial purification (Lev. 15:19–30). They were followed by adulterous intercourse. The fact that she had just experienced menstruation makes it plain that Bathsheba was not pregnant by Uriah when she came to lie with David.

  11:5 I am with child. The only words of Bathsheba recorded concerning this incident acknowledge the resultant condition of her sin, which became evident by her pregnancy and was punishable by death (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22).

  11:6, 7 This inane conversation was a ploy to get Uriah to come home and sleep with his wife, so it would appear that he had fathered the child, thus sparing David the public shame and Bathsheba possible death.

  11:8 wash your feet. Since this washing was done before going to bed, the idiom means to go home and go to bed. To a soldier coming from the battlefield, it said boldly, “enjoy your wife sexually.” Hopefully, David’s tryst with Bathsheba would be masked by Uriah’s union. gift of food. This was designed to help Uriah and Bathsheba enjoy their evening together.

  11:9 Uriah slept. Wanting to be a loyal example to his soldiers who were still in the field, Uriah did not take advantage of the king’s less-than-honorable offer (v. 11).

  11:11 The ark. The ark of the covenant was residing in either the tent in Jerusalem (6:17) or in a tent with the army of Israel on the battlefield (1 Sam. 4:6; 14:18).

  11:13 made him drunk. Failing in his first attempt to cover up his sin, David tried unsuccessfully to make Uriah drunk so he would lose his resolve and self-discipline and return to his home and his wife’s bed.

  11:15 he may…die. Failing twice to cover up his sin with Bathsheba, the frustrated and panicked David plotted the murder of Uriah by taking advantage of Uriah’s unswerving loyalty to him as king, even having Uriah deliver his own death warrant. Thus David engaged in another crime deserving of capital punishment (Lev. 24:17). This is graphic proof of the extremes people go to in pursuit of sin and in the absence of restraining grace.

  11:18–24 Joab sent…Uriah…dead. He sent a messenger with a veiled message to tell David his wish had been carried out. Joab must have known the reason behind this otherwise stupid military deployment.

  11:25 So encourage him. David hypocritically expressed indifference to those who died, and he consoled Joab, authorizing him to continue the attack against Rabbah.

  11:26, 27 her mourning was over. The customary period of mourning was probably 7 days (Gen. 50:10; 1 Sam. 31:13). Significantly, the text makes no mention of mourning by David.

  11:27 displeased the LORD. Lit. “was evil in the eyes of the LORD,” and would bring forth evil consequences.

  2 Samuel 12

  12:1–14 Psalm 51 records David’s words of repentance after being confronted by Nathan over his sin with Bathsheba (cf. Ps. 32, where David expresses his agony after Nathan’s confrontation).

  12:1 the LORD sent Nathan. The word “LORD” is conspicuously absent from the narrative of chap. 11 until v. 27, but then the Lord became actively involved by confronting David with his sin. As Joab had sent a messenger to David (11:18, 19), so the Lord now sent His messenger to David.

  12:1–4 two men…rich…poor. To understand this parable, it is necessary only to recognize that the rich man represented David, the poor man, Uriah, and the ewe lamb, Bathsheba.

  12:5 shall surely die. According to Ex. 22:1, the penalty for stealing and slaughtering an ox or a sheep was not death, but restitution. However, in the parable, the stealing and slaughtering of the lamb represented the adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah by David. According to the Mosaic law, both adultery (Lev. 20:10) and murder (Lev. 24:17) required punishment by death. In pronouncing this judgment on the rich man in the story, David unwittingly condemned himself to death.

  12:6 fourfold. Exodus 22:1 demanded a 4-fold restitution for the stealing of sheep. There is an allusion here to the subsequent death of 4 of David’s sons: Bathsheba’s first son (v. 18), Amnon (13:28, 29), Absalom (16:14, 15), and Adonijah (1 Kin. 2:25).

  12:7 anointed. Earlier, the prophet Samuel’s confrontation with the sinful Saul emphasized the same point (1 Sam. 15:17).

  12:8 your master’s wives. This phraseology means nothing more than that God in His providence had given David, as king, everything that was Saul’s. There is no evidence that he ever married any of Saul’s wives, though the harem of eastern kings passed to their successors. Ahinoam, the wife of David (2:2; 3:2; 1 Sam. 25:43; 27:3; 30:5), is always referred to as the Jezreelitess, whereas Ahinoam, the wife of Saul, is distinguished clearly from her by being called “the daughter of Ahimaaz” (1 Sam. 14:50).

  12:9 despised. To despise the word of the Lord was to break His commands and thus incur punishment (cf. Num. 15:31). In summarizing David’s violations, his guilt is divinely affirmed.

  12:10 the sword shall never depart from your house. David’s tragic punishment was a lingering one. Since Uriah was killed by violence, the house of David would be continually plagued by violence. These words anticipated the violent deaths of Amnon (13:28, 29), Absalom (18:14, 15), and Adonijah (1 Kin. 2:24, 25).

  12:11 adversity…from your own house. David had done evil to another man’s family (11:27). Therefore, he would receive evil in his own family, such as Amnon’s rape of Tamar (13:1–14), Absalom’s murder of Amnon (13:28, 29), and Absalom’s rebellion against David (15:1–12). lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. This prediction was fulfilled by Absalom’s public appropriation of David’s royal concubines during his rebellion (16:21, 22).

  12:13 I ha
ve sinned against the LORD. David did not attempt to rationalize or justify his sin. When confronted with the facts, David’s confession was immediate. The fuller confessions of David are found in Pss. 32 and 51. The LORD also has put away your sin. The Lord graciously forgave David’s sin, but the inevitable temporal consequences of sin were experienced by him. Forgiveness does not always remove the consequences of sin in this life, only in the life to come. you shall not die. Although the sins of David legally demanded his death (see v. 5), the Lord graciously released David from the required death penalty. There are events in the OT record where God required death and others where He showed grace and spared the sinner. This is consistent with justice and grace. Those who perished are illustrations of what all sinners deserve. Those who were spared are proofs and examples of God’s grace.

  12:14 the enemies of the LORD. Because of God’s reputation among those who opposed Him, David’s sin had to be judged. The judgment would begin with the death of Bathsheba’s baby son.

  12:23 I shall go to him. I.e., David would someday join his son after his own death (cf. 1 Sam. 28:19). Here is the confidence that there is a future reunion after death, which includes infants who have died being reunited with saints who die (see note on Matt. 19:14; cf. Mark 10:13–16).

  12:24 Solomon. Either “(God is) peace” or “His replacement.” Both were true of this child.

  12:25 Jedidiah. “Beloved of the LORD” was Nathan’s name for Solomon, who was loved in the sense of being chosen by the Lord to be the successor to David’s throne, a remarkable instance of God’s goodness and grace considering the sinful nature of the marriage.

  12:29–31 See 1 Chr. 20:1–3.

  12:29 David…took it. David completed what Joab had begun by capturing the city of Rabbah.

  12:30 a talent of gold. About 75 lbs.

  12:31 put them to work. The NKJV indicates here and in 1 Chr. 20:3 that David imposed hard labor on the Ammonites. But these verses can also be translated with the sense that the Ammonites were cut with saws, indicating that David imposed cruel death on the captives in accordance with Ammonite ways (cf. 1 Sam. 11:2; Amos 1:13).

  2 Samuel 13

  13:1, 2 Tamar. “Palm tree.” She was David’s daughter by Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur (3:3), Absalom’s (David’s third son) full sister and half-sister of Amnon, David’s first son by Ahinoam (3:2). Amnon’s love for her was not filial, but lustful, as became clear in the story. Unmarried daughters were kept in seclusion from men, so that none could see them alone. Amnon had seen Tamar because of their family relationship and had conceived a violent passion for her. This was forbidden by God (see Lev. 18:11), yet with the example of Abraham (Gen. 20:12) and the common practice among the surrounding nations of marrying half-sisters, he felt justified and wanted his passion fulfilled with Tamar.

  13:3 Jonadab. The son of David’s brother, called Shammah in 1 Sam. 16:9; 17:3 and Shimea in 1 Chr. 2:13. Jonadab was Amnon’s cousin and counselor who gave Amnon the plan by which he was able to rape Tamar.

  13:12, 13 this disgraceful thing. Lit. “a wicked thing.” Tamar appealed to Amnon with 4 reasons that he should not rape her. First, it was an utterly deplored act in Israel because it violated the law of God (see Lev. 18:11) and Tamar knew that such action could bring disharmony and bloodshed to the king’s family, as it did. my shame. Second, as a fornicator, Tamar would be scorned as an object of reproach. Even though resistant to the evil crime perpetuated against her, Tamar would bear the stigma of one defiled. like one of the fools in Israel. Third, Amnon would be regarded by the people as a wicked fool, a God-rejecting man without principles who offended ordinary standards of morality, thereby jeopardizing Amnon’s right to the throne. the king…will not withhold me from you. Fourth, Tamar appealed to Amnon to fulfill his physical desire for her through marriage. She surely knew that such a marriage between half siblings was not allowed by the Mosaic law (Lev. 18:9, 11; 20:17; Deut. 27:22), but in the desperation of the moment, Tamar was seeking to escape the immediate situation.

  13:14 forced. A euphemism for “raped.”

  13:15 hated her. Amnon’s “love” (v. 1) was nothing but sensual desire that, once gratified, turned to hatred. His sudden revulsion was the result of her unwilling resistance, the atrocity of what he had done, feelings of remorse, and dread of exposure and punishment. All of these rendered her intolerably undesirable to him.

  13:15–17 Amnon’s sending Tamar away was a greater wrong than the rape itself because it would inevitably have been supposed that she had been guilty of some shameful conduct, i.e., that the seduction had come from her.

  13:18 robe of many colors. See Gen. 37:33. A garment which identified the wearer’s special position. For Tamar, the robe identified her as a virgin daughter of the king. The tearing of this robe symbolized her loss of this special position (v. 19).

  13:19 put ashes…tore her robe…laid her hand…went away crying bitterly. The ashes were a sign of mourning. The torn robe symbolized the ruin of her life. The hand on the head was emblematic of exile and banishment. The crying showed that she viewed herself as good as dead.

  13:20 do not take this thing to heart. Absalom told his sister not to pay undue attention or worry about the consequences of the rape. Absalom minimized the significance of what had taken place only for the moment, while already beginning to plot his revenge in using this crime as reason to do what he wanted to do anyway—remove Amnon from the line of succession to the throne (note also v. 32, where Jonadab knew of Absalom’s plans). desolate. She remained unmarried and childless. Her full brother was her natural protector and the children of polygamists lived by themselves in different family units.

  13:21 David…was very angry. Fury and indignation were David’s reactions to the report of the rape (Gen. 34:7). Because he did not punish Amnon for his crime, he abdicated his responsibility both as king and as father. The lack of justice in the land would come back to haunt David in a future day (15:4).

  13:22 Absalom hated Amnon. As Amnon hated Tamar (v. 15), Absalom loathed his half-brother, Amnon.

  13:23–27 Baal Hazor. The Benjamite village of Hazor (Neh. 11:33), located about 12 mi. NE of Jerusalem, was the place for a sheep-shearing feast put on by Absalom, to which he invited all his brothers and half-brothers, as well as King David and his royal court (v. 24). David declined, but encouraged Absalom to hold the feast for “the king’s sons” as a means to unity and harmony (vv. 25–27). With David’s denial of the invitation, Absalom requested that Amnon go as his representative. Although David had reservations concerning Absalom’s intent, he allowed all his sons to go.

  13:28, 29 kill him. Absalom murdered Amnon through his servants (cf. 11:15–17), just as David had killed Uriah through others (11:14–17). Though rape was punishable by death, personal vengeance such as this was unacceptable to God. Due course of law was to be carried out.

  13:29 his mule. Mules were ridden by the royal family in David’s kingdom (18:9; 1 Kin. 1:33, 38, 44).

  13:30 all the king’s sons. This exaggeration plunged everyone into grief (v. 31) until it was corrected (v. 32).

  13:32 Jonadab…answered. Jonadab knew of Absalom’s plot to kill Amnon (see v. 20) for the rape of Tamar. Death was prescribed in Lev. 18:11, 29 (“cut off” means to execute). See note on vv. 28, 29.

  13:34, 37 Absalom fled. The law regarding premeditated murder, as most would view Absalom’s act, gave him no hope of returning (see Num 35:21). The cities of refuge would afford him no sanctuary, so he left his father’s kingdom to live in Geshur, E of the Sea of Galilee, under the protection of the king who was the grandfather of both Tamar and Absalom (see note on 13:1, 2).

  13:39 longed to go. David gradually accepted the fact of Amnon’s death and desired to see Absalom again, but took no action to bring him back.

  2 Samuel 14

  14:1 David was strongly attached to Absalom, and, having gotten over the death of Amnon, he desired the fellowship of his exiled son, 3 years absent. But the
fear of public opinion made him hesitant to pardon his son. Joab, perceiving this struggle between parental affection and royal duty, devised a plan involving a wise country woman and a story told to the king.

  14:2 Tekoa. A town about 10 mi. S of Jerusalem (cf. Amos 1:1).

  14:2, 3 Joab put the words in her mouth. Joab used a story, as Nathan had (12:1–12), to show David the error of his ways and to encourage him to call Absalom back to Jerusalem.

  14:7 leave to my husband neither name nor remnant. The story the woman told involved one brother killing another (v. 6). If the death penalty for murder was invoked (cf. Ex. 21:12; Lev. 24:17), there would be no living heir in the family, leaving that family with no future, a situation the law sought to avoid (Deut. 25:5–10). This would extinguish the last “ember” of hope for a future for her line. Cf. 21:17; Ps. 132:17, where the lamp refers to posterity.

  14:9 let the iniquity be on me. The woman was willing to receive whatever blame might arise from the sparing of her guilty son.

  14:11 avenger of blood. This is a specific term identifying the nearest relative of the deceased who would seek to put to death the murderer (Num. 35:6–28; Deut. 19:1–13; Matt. 27:25). not one hair. This is an expression meaning that no harm will come to the son of the widow in the story.

  14:13 against the people of God. The woman asserted that by allowing Absalom to remain in exile, David had jeopardized the future welfare of Israel. If he would be so generous to a son he did not know in a family he did not know, would he not forgive his own son?

  14:14 like water spilled on the ground. I.e., death is irreversible. God does not take away a life. The woman stated that since God acts according to the dictates of mercy, as in David’s own experience (12:13), David was obligated to do likewise.

  14:15, 16 the people…the man who would destroy me. Those who were seeking to kill the son of the woman were like the people David feared who resented what Absalom had done and would have stood against a pardon for him.