2 Samuel 11:3

2Sa 11:3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And [one] said, [Is] not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

Ver. 3. And David sent and inquired after the woman,] viz., Who she was, and whether maid or wife. He should rather have checked himself for looking and lusting after a forbidden beauty - he should have taken an antidote of mortification, before the venom of lust had got to the vitals. But it is hard for him who hath fallen down the ladder of hell a round or two, to stop or step back, till he come to the bottom, without extraordinary help from the hand of Heaven. Can a man commit one sin more, and but one sin more? Unclean creatures went by couples into the ark: so do sins into the soul. Fornication is the devil’s nest-egg, saith one, and causeth many sins to be laid one to and upon another.

Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam?] Or Ammiel, {1Ch 3:5} who was the son of Ahithophel, {2Sa 23:34} who might, for the dishonour done by David to his niece Bathsheba, be the readier to conspire against him, and to take part with Absalom. {a}

The wife of Uriah the Hittite?] Bathsheba therefore was an honourable lady both by parentage and marriage, for both her father and husband were of the number of David’s worthies: the greater was his sin. Uriah might be called the Hittite, as Scipio was called Africanus, for doing some notable exploit against that accursed nation, the worst of the Canaanites. {Eze 16:3}

{a} Hugo, Salianas.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa 11:3. David sent and inquired after the woman — Thus, instead of suppressing that desire which the sight of his eyes had kindled, he seeks rather to feed it; and first inquires who she was; that if she were unmarried he might make her either his wife or his concubine. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba? — This seems to have been an answer given by some one to David’s inquiry. Uriah is called a Hittite, because he was such by nation, but a proselyte to the Jewish religion; and for his valour made one of the king’s guards among the Cherethites and the Pelethites; which was the reason, perhaps, that he had a house so near the king’s.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:3 Bathsheba means “daughter of seven” or “daughter of oath.” Her father Eliam was the son of Ahithophel (see 23:34), an adviser sought by David and then by Absalom (15:12; 16:23). Much to David’s chagrin (15:31), Ahithophel later shifted his allegiance from David to Absalom (17:1-4, 14) and advised Absalom to sleep with David’s concubines on a rooftop, in open view (16:20-22). • Uriah is a Hebrew name (meaning “Yahweh [is] my light”); either he was a foreign mercenary, a convert to Israelite religion, or an Israelite of Hittite heritage. Uriah might also have been a member of the non-Israelite aristocracy in Jerusalem that predated David’s conquest of the city. He was one of the Thirty—David’s mightiest warriors (23:39).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Who was not an Israelite born, but converted to the true religion.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

one said--literally, "he said to himself,"

Is not this Bath-sheba? &c.--She seems to have been a celebrated beauty, whose renown had already reached the ears of David, as happens in the East, from reports carried by the women from harem to harem.

Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam--or Ammiel (Ch1 3:5), one of David's worthies (Sa2 23:34), and son of Ahithophel.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. The daughter of Eliam] Called, 1Ch 3:5, Ammiel; a word of the same meaning, The people of my God, The God of my people. This name expressed the covenant - I will be your God; We will be thy people.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3) Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam.—Her name is spelt in Chronicles Bath-shua, and her father’s name is said to be Ammiel. Ammiel and Eliam are the same name with its component parts transposed, as Scripture names are often varied: God’s people and the people of God.

Wife of Uriah the Hittite.—His name appears (2Sa_23:39) in the list of David’s thirty chief heroes, and the whole story represents him as a brave and noble-minded soldier. David had now given rein to his guilty passion so far that the knowledge of Bath-sheba’s being a married woman, and the wife of one of his chief warriors, does not check him.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam] In 1Ch_3:5 she is called Bath-shua, the daughter of Ammiel. Eliam (= God of the people) and Ammiel (= people of God) are compounded of the same words placed in different order. If this Eliam was the same as Uriah’s brother-officer, mentioned in ch. 2Sa_23:34, Bath-sheba was the grand-daughter of David’s counsellor Ahithophel. This, it has been thought, explains Ahithophel’s adherence to Absalom (ch. 2Sa_15:12) as an act of revenge for the seduction of his grand-daughter and the murder of her husband. The theory has been well worked out with much ingenuity by Prof. Blunt (Undesigned Coincidences, p. 135 ff.), but must be regarded as very doubtful: for (1) the identity of Eliam the son of Ahithophel with Eliam the father of Bath-sheba cannot be proved; (2) even if the relationship is granted, an ambitious and unscrupulous man such as Ahithophel would be more likely to regard the elevation of his granddaughter to the position of the king’s favourite wife as an honour, than to feel aggrieved at the circumstances by which it was effected.

Uriah the Hittite] One of David’s “mighty men” (ch. 2Sa_23:39). His name (= light of Jah) indicates that although he was a Canaanite by race, he had adopted the Jewish religion. Another Hittite in David’s service was Ahimelech (1Sa_26:6). On the ancient Canaanite nation of the Hittites, see note on 1Sa_26:6.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And David sent and inquired after the woman,.... Who she was, what her name, and whether married or unmarried; if the latter, very probably his intention was to marry her, and he might, when he first made the inquiry, design to proceed no further, or to anything that was dishonourable; but it would have been better for him not to have inquired at all, and endeavoured to stifle the motions raised in him at the sight of her:

and one said, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam; who in Ch1 3:5; is called Bathshua, and her father Ammiel, which is the same with Eliam reversed:

the wife of Uriah the Hittite? who either was of that nation originally, and became a proselyte; or had sojourned there for a while, and took the name or had it given him, for some exploit he had performed against that people, as Scipio Africanus, and others among the Romans; this was said by one that David inquired of, or heard him asking about her, and was sufficient to have stopped him from proceeding any further, when he was informed she was another man's wife: some say (h) she was the daughter of Ahithophel's son; see Sa2 23:34.

(h) Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 8. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Eliam - Or Ammiel, 1Ch 3:5, the component words being placed in an inverse order. Bath-sheba was the granddaughter of Ahithophel 2Sa 23:34.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Eliam. By a transposition of letters, he is called Ammiel, in 1 Paralipomenon iii. 5. Both words signify "my people is God’s." This son of Achitophel (chap. xxiii. 34,) was one of David’s valiant men, as well as Urias, who is styled the Hethite, being born at Eth; (St. Jerome; Salien) or on account of his extraction, or because he or his ancestors (Haydock) had performed some great exploit against that nation; as Germanicus, Africanus, &c., received those titles among the Romans, for conquering the Germans, &c. (Calmet) --- Eth was a place near Hebron. (Adrichomius 128.) (Menochius) --- The name of Bethsabee is also different in Paralipomenon; the last b in Hebrew being changed into v. Both-shua, both-al-i-am; instead of Both-shoba, both-am-i-al. (Haydock) (Kennicott) --- The grandfather of Bethsabee is supposed to have revolted against David, to revenge the wrong done to her. (Tirinus; Cornelius a Lapide) "Let the weak tremble at the fall of the strong." (St. Augustine, in Psalm l.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Instead of suppressing that lust which the sight of his eyes had kindled, he seeks rather to feed it; and first inquires who she was; that, if she were unmarried, he might make her either his wife or his concubine.

Bath-sheba, called also Bath-shuah, 1Ch 3:5, where also Eliam is called Ammiel. The Hittite; so called, either,

1. By his original, being born either of that race, but become a zealous proselyte; or, at least. among that people. Or,

2. By his habitation among them. Or,

3. For some notable exploit of his against that people: see 1Sa 26:6, and See Poole "2Sa 8:18".

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. A woman washing herself — For the sake of healthfulness and refreshment after the heats of a summer day. But her washing in such an exposed place was imprudent and immodest, and has justly subjected her to the charge of a desire to be seen.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam. In 2Sa_23:34 Eliam is said to be the son of Ahithophel, and thus Bathsheba would be his granddaughter. Mr. Blunt, in his "Undesigned Coincidences," p. 143, et seq., sees in this the explanation of the adherence to the side of Absalom of a man so high in King David"s service. It was the result of his indignation at David"s profligate treat-meat of so near a relative. In 1Ch_3:5 she is called "Bathshua, the daughter of Ammiel." The latter is a transposition of Eliam, both names being compounded of Am, people, and El, God. Uriah the Hittite. We read in 2Sa_23:39 that he was one of David"s "mighties," and it is remarkable that we should thus find high in rank in David"s army a member of that grand race who had disputed with Egypt and Assyria the empire of the East. Their head now was Toi, King of Hamath.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He inquired - Instead of suppressing that desire which the sight of his eyes had kindled, he seeks rather to feed it; and first inquires who she was; that if she were unmarried, he might make her either his wife or his concubine.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.