2 Samuel 11:1-2

David Commits Adultery with Bathsheba

11:1 In the spring of the year, at the time when kings ¹  normally conduct wars, ²  David sent out Joab with his officers ³  and the entire Israelite army. ⁴  They defeated the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed behind in Jerusalem. ⁵  11:2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. ⁶  From the roof he saw a woman bathing. Now this woman was very attractive. ⁷ 

[11:1]  ¹ tc Codex Leningrad (B19A), on which BHS is based, has here “messengers” (הַמַּלְאכִים, hammal’khim), probably as the result of contamination from the occurrence of that word in v. 4. The present translation follows most Hebrew mss and the ancient versions, which read “kings” (הַמֶּלָאכִים, hammela’kim).

[11:1]  ² tn Heb “go out.”

[11:1]  ³ tn Heb “and his servants with him.”

[11:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “all Israel.”

[11:1]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause contrasts David’s inactivity with the army’s activity.

[11:1]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[11:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “on the roof of the house of the king.” So also in vv. 8, 9.

[11:2]  ⁷ tn The disjunctive clause highlights this observation and builds the tension of the story.