Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 11:3

And David sent and inquired after the woman. And [one] said, [Is] not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

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.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

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.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

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.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

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“.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

3. one saidliterally, “hesaid to himself,”

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

Bath-sheba, the daughter ofEliamor Ammiel (1Ch 3:5),one of David’s worthies (2Sa23:34), and son of Ahithophel.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

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 1Ch 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

2Sa 23:34.

h Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 8. 2.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

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

Wife of Uriah the Hittite.His name appears (2Sa. 23:39) in the list of Davids 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-shebas being a married woman, and the wife of one of his chief warriors, does not check him.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

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.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

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.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Bath-sheba. Called Bath-shua, 1Ch 3:5.

Eliam. Called “Ammiel”, 1Ch 3:5. The son of Ahithophel (2Sa 23:34).

Uriah. One of David’s faithful soldiers (2Sa 23:39. Married the daughter of Eliam (2Sa 11:3), who was the son of Ahithophel (2Sa 23:34). This relationship probably led to Ahithophel’s disloyalty (2Sa 15:12).

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

sent: Jer 5:8, Hos 7:6, Hos 7:7, Jam 1:14, Jam 1:15

Bathsheba: or, Bath-shua

Eliam: or, Ammiel, 1Ch 3:5

Uriah: 2Sa 23:39, 1Ch 11:41

Reciprocal: Gen 10:15 – Heth Lev 18:20 – General 2Sa 12:3 – one little 2Sa 12:4 – took the 2Sa 23:34 – Eliam Psa 101:3 – set Pro 6:29 – he that Pro 7:8 – General Mat 1:6 – her

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

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 Davids 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 kings guards among the Cherethites and the Pelethites; which was the reason, perhaps, that he had a house so near the kings.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

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 {c} Hittite?

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

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes