2 Samuel 11:6-13

Why will Uriah not go home?

Berean Standard Bible

6 At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.
10 And David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” “Haven’t you just arrived from a journey?” David asked Uriah. “Why didn’t you go home?” 11 Uriah answered, “The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers are camped in the open field. How can I go to my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing!” 12 “Stay here one more day,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.

What is the context?

David recalls Uriah from the army, asks about Joab and the campaign, then sends him home with a gift. Uriah instead sleeps at the palace entrance with the king’s servants. David asks why he has not gone to his house.

Uriah answers that the ark and the people are in tents and his commander and fellow soldiers are in the open field. He will not enjoy food, drink and his wife at home while they remain in those conditions. David keeps him another day and gets him drunk, but Uriah still does not go home.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Wesley understands David’s arrangements as an attempt to make the pregnancy appear to be Uriah’s child. Uriah’s answer frustrates the plan. His concern for the people serving away from home contrasts with David’s use of the king’s comforts.

Gill emphasizes Uriah’s solidarity with those exposed to danger. He also discusses whether Uriah suspected David, but the account does not say that he knew about Bathsheba. We can understand his stated reason without inventing a secret accusation.

Henry stresses the seriousness of David making another person drunk as part of his wrongdoing. Uriah is being treated as a means of hiding what the king has done, while the repeated refusal to go home leaves David’s concealment unsuccessful.

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We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

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