2 Samuel 11:5

2Sa 11:5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I [am] with child.

Ver. 5. And sent and told David.] Chrysostom saith, She went to David, and said, O king, I am undone, I am with child, the fruit of my sin buddeth, I carry an accuser within me, my betrayer is in my womb, my husband will slay me, &c. Whereupon that father inferreth, Videte et admiramini fratres, See here and admire, my brethren, what a mischief there is in sweet sins, what a happiness in freedom from foul offences. {a} Hoc curabat ne lapidaretur, saith Vatablus here. Now all her care was, lest she should be stoned to death, according to the law of God.

{a} Chrysost., in Psa 50:1-23.

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 11:5-6. The woman conceived, and sent and told David — She was afraid of infamy, and perhaps of the severity of her husband, who might cause her to be stoned. And therefore she prays David to consult her honour and safety. Send me Uriah the Hittite — It is likely David ordered an account of the state of the war to be sent by him, as a colour for having sent for him home.

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

Fearing lest she should be stoned according to the Law.

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

the woman conceived, and sent and told David--Some immediate measures of concealing their sin were necessary, as well for the king's honor as for her safety, for death was the punishment of an adulteress (Lev 20:10).

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 5. And the woman conceived] A proof of the observation on 2Sa 11:4; as that is the time in which women are most apt to conceive.

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

(5) Sent and told David.—Because her sin must now become known, and by the Law (Lev_20:10) adulterers must both be punished with death.

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

5. sent and told David] That he might devise some plan to shield her from the consequences of her sin; for by the Mosaic law she was liable to be put to death (Lev_20:10). David accordingly sent for Uriah, in the hope that his return to his wife might cover the shame of his own crime.

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 the woman conceived,.... Whereby the sin would be discovered, and shame, and disgrace, or worse, would follow upon it:

and sent and told David, and said, I am with child; this message she sent to David, that he might think of some ways and means to prevent the scandal that would fall both upon him and her, and the danger she was exposed unto; fearing the outcries of the people against her, in acting so unfaithful a part to her husband, so brave a man, who was now fighting for his king and country; and the rage and jealousy of her husband when he should come to the knowledge of it, and the death which by the law she was guilty of, even to be stoned with stones, see Joh 8:5.

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

Consider therefore what to do for thy own honour, and for my safety, whom thou hast brought into a most shameful and dangerous condition.

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

5. Sent and told David — The law required the death of both parties in the crime of adultery, (Lev_20:10,) and so, says Josephus, she admonished the king that he should contrive some way of concealing their guilt. This he at once set himself to do.

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

The woman told David. Her crime was one that made her liable to the penalty of death, (Lev_20:10) and Uriah was a man likely to exact it; consequently she was in great alarm, and the king shared her anxiety. Already was the punishment beginning to be required from both the guilty sharers in the wickedness.

Vers. 5-15. (JERUSALEM, RABBAH.)

Entanglements of sin.

He who once leaves the right path little knows how far he may go astray or how great will be his perplexities and perils. Possibly he may never return; certainly he will not return without overcoming immense difficulties, and finding out by bitter experience his folly and perversity.

The gates of hell are open night and day; Smooth the descent, and easy is the way; But to return and view the cheerful skies, In this the task and mighty labour lies. (Dryden"s "Virgil.")

Sin is commonly attended (as in the case of David) by

I GUILTY FEARS. After his sudden fall he probably felt some measure of compunction; but repressed the reproaches of conscience, and continued, in the view of men, the same as he had ever been. It is evident that, when the message (ver. 5) came to him, he was not truly penitent.

1. It awakened his fears concerning the possible exposure of his sin. Would not the wife of Uriah, on the return of her husband, be constrained. to declare the author of her shame?

2. His fears were intensified by the probable consquences of such exposure. Even if he should be able to save Bathsheba, and himself escape legal punishment, by virtue of his high position as the Lord"s anointed, how could he avert the private vengeance of Uriah, or maintain the confidence, affection, and allegiance of his army and people? What other Eastern monarchs did with impunity, could not be done by him in Israel without incurring the moral indignation of the people, and causing the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.

3. He was impelled by his fears to use his utmost efforts with a view to the concealment of his sin. "And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite" (ver. 6). His endeavour to hide his transgression "as Adam" (Job_31:33) was itself a tacit acknowledgment of its disreputable character. And "he that covereth his sins shall not prosper," etc. (Pro_28:13) Would that men, after their first wrong step, immediately confessed their error, made reparation, and returned to the way of truth and righteousness!

II FRUSTRATED DEVICES.

1. In their attempts at concealment men are wont to employ extraordinary ingenuity, (1Sa_18:17-30) and to hide their base designs under the cover of kindness (vers. 7-9).

2. Their crafty purposes are often defeated by simplicity and sincerity, beyond their calculation. "The ark," etc. (vers. 9-12). "This answer expressed the feelings and the consciousness of duty which ought to animate one who was fighting for the cause of God, in such plain and unmistakable terms, that it was well adapted to prick the king to the heart. But David"s soul was so beclouded by the wish to keep clear of the consequences of his sin in the eyes of the world, that he did not feel the sting, but simply made a still further attempt to attain his purpose with Uriah" (Keil).

3. Although defeated, their attempts are usually repeated (ver. 13), butonly to issue in greater disappointment, perplexity, and anxiety. The devices of sin are like a labyrinth, in which the sinner becomes more and more inextricably involved. They are like the meshes of a net, in which he becomes more and more hopelessly entangled.

III INCREASING CRIMINALITY. (Vers. 14, 15.) "He sent back the unsuspicious warrior to Babbah, to Joab, with a letter, which, under the name of "Uriah"s letter," has become notorious throughout the world. It was written with the same pen with which the sweet psalmist had written his psalms" (Krummacher).

1. The course of sin is downward into ever deeper moral abasement. "It is the nature of sin to multiply itself, and to draw the wretched sinner on to greater and greater enormities." Adultery was followed by

(1) deception,

(2) ingratitude,

(3) injustice,

(4) meanness,

(5) temptation (ver. 13; Hab_2:15)

(6) treachery,

(7) murder.

One sin another doth provoke; Murder"s as near to lust, as flame to smoke.

2. It is so because of its blinding, hardening, and enslaving power (2Pe_2:19; Pro_6:22) its delusive promises of good, its specious pleas of necessity, its urgent impulses to desperate expedients. "Such are the accursed entanglements of sin; such the workings and gradations of it in the distracted, bewildered breast that admits it. Millions have been lost in these Labyrinths of guilt; but none, sure, in any more intricate and perplexing than this!" (Delany).

3. Although it may be followed by apparent and temporary success, it cannot ultimately prosper. "The Lord shall reward," etc. (2 Samuel (Pro_11:21; Isa_5:18) "The means which David took to extricate himself from the complications in which his adultery involved him appeared well chosen; but there was one thing he had not taken into consideration that he could not here, as in former embarassments, confidently expect the assistance of God. It was God"s design that David"s sin should be fully manifested, for only in this way was perfect cure possible, and therefore he suffered the means to fail" (Hengstenberg). D.

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