Useful Bible Studies > 2 Samuel Commentary > chapter 11
We think that Bathsheba was genuinely sad about the death of her husband, Uriah. David was saying that Uriah’s death was simply another sad incident in the war (11:25). Bathsheba had no reason to think that David had, in fact, arranged Uriah’s death.
David had carefully made sure that no one person knew the full facts about these events. Some palace servants knew about Bathsheba’s and Uriah’s visits to David - but they did not know the contents of David’s letter to Joab, or the fact that Bathsheba was expecting David’s baby. Joab knew about David’s cruel plan to kill Uriah - but he did not know that David had slept with Bathsheba, or about the baby.
Therefore, in David’s opinion, his marriage to Bathsheba seemed to be the end of the matter. He had several wives already, but the law permitted a man to have more than one wife. David had taken responsibility for Bathsheba after her husband’s death, as he previously did for Abigail (1 Samuel chapter 25). David’s actions were right and proper in relation to Abigail - and they now seemed right to him in relation to Bathsheba too. The birth of a son to Bathsheba brought great joy to David. He had satisfied the demands of his own conscience, and he was joyful again.
However, by these evil acts, David had ruined his relationship with God. Once he had such a close relationship with God - now, he was far from God (see Isaiah 59:1-3). God had seen everything that David had done (Psalm 139:1-6). God is completely right and good and perfect in every way. He cannot approve of any evil act. He urges the person who is guilty of evil behaviour to turn back to him (Ezekiel 18:30-32).
Next part: God sends Nathan to David (2 Samuel 12:1)
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© 2023, Keith Simons.