2 Samuel 11 is the eleventh chapter of the Second Book of Samuel in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible or the second part of Books of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish tradition the book was attributed to the prophet Samuel, with additions by the prophets Gad and Nathan, but modern scholars view it as a composition of a number of independent texts of various ages from c. 630–540 BCE. This chapter contains the account of David's reign in Jerusalem. This is within a section comprising 2 Samuel 9–20 and continued to 1 Kings 1–2 which deal with the power struggles among David's sons to succeed David's throne until 'the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon' (1 Kings 2:46).
Text
This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language. It is divided into 27 verses.
Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008). Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls including 4Q51 (4QSam; 100–50 BCE) with extant verses 2–12, 15–20.
Extant ancient manuscripts of a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (originally was made in the last few centuries BCE) include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).
Analysis
Chapters 11 and 12, which pertain to David, Bathsheba, and Uriah, form one episode that is concentrically structured in eleven scenes: A. David sends Joab and the army to attack Rabbah (11:1) B. David sleeps with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah (11:2–5) C. David and Uriah: David arranges Uriah's death (11:6–13) D. David to Joab: Uriah must die (11:14–17) E. Joab to David: Joab's news comes to David (11:18–25) F. David ushers the wife of Uriah into his house. The Lord is displeased (11:26–27) E'. Nathan to David: God's news comes to David (12:1–7a) D'. Nathan to David: the child will die (12:7b–15a) C'. David and the child: God ensures the child's death (12:15b–23) B'. David sleeps with Bathsheba, his wife (12:24–25) A'. Joab and David conquer Rabbah (12:26–31)
The whole episode is framed by the battle against Rabbah, the Ammonite capital, beginning with David dispatching Joab and the army to besiege the city, then concluding by the capitulation of the city to David (A/A'). Both B/B' scenes recount that David slept with Bathsheba, who conceived each time. Scenes C and D recount the plot that got Uriah killed, whereas C' and D' report God's response to David's crime: the child would die. The E/E' sections contrast David's reaction to the death of Uriah to his reaction to the slaughter of a ewe lamb in Nathan's parable. The turning point in the episode (F) states the divine displeasure to these events.
This episode of David's disgrace has a profound effect in the later memory of David's fidelity to the Lord: "David did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (1 Kings 15:5), while it is skipped it completely in the Books of Chronicles (see 1 Chronicles 20:1–2).
David and Bathsheba (11:1–13) Military activities in the Middle East generally started in the spring, after the end of the winter rains, and this was when the Israelite troops under Joab were dispatched in the continuation of the siege to Rabbah (from the last chapter, while David stayed behind (cf. 2 Samuel 10:7–14). This turns to be the setting for David's downfall: providing him with an opportunity to see Bathsheba bathing and then to commit adultery with her. David's misbehavior is reported openly and honestly, without any mitigation nor explanation for his motivation.