4<\/strong>. David sent messengers<\/em> ] Bath-sheba cannot be acquitted from blame, for it does not appear that she offered any resistance. Vanity and ambition prevailed over the voice of conscience. “Cupido dominandi cunctis affectibus flagrantior est.” “The lust of power burns more fiercely than any other passion” (Tac. Ann. XV.<\/em> 53).<\/p>\n Verse 4<\/span>. And she came in unto him<\/B><\/I>] We hear nothing of her reluctance, and there is no evidence that she was taken by force.<\/P> <\/p>\n David sent and took her<\/B> from her own house into his palace, not by force, but by persuasion, as desiring to speak with her. <\/P> She came in unto him; <\/B>into his palace and chamber, as he desired. For she was purified, to wit, from her menstruous pollution, according to the law, Lev 18:19<\/span>; which is here noted as the reason, either why David pursued his lustful desire, or why she so easily yielded to it, because she was not under that pollution which might alienate her from it; or rather, why she so readily conceived, that time being observed by Aristotle and others to be the most likely time for conception. <\/P> <\/p>\n 4. David sent messengers, and tookher<\/B>The despotic kings of the East, when they take a fancy fora woman, send an officer to the house were she lives, who announcesit to be the royal pleasure she should remove to the palace. Anapartment is there assigned to her; and if she is made queen, themonarch orders the announcement to be made that he has made choice ofher to be queen. Many instances in modern Oriental history show theease and despatch with which such secondary marriages are contracted,and a new beauty added to the royal seraglio. But David had to make apromise, or rather an express stipulation, to Bath-sheba, before shecomplied with the royal will (1Ki 1:13<\/span>;1Ki 1:15<\/span>; 1Ki 1:17<\/span>;1Ki 1:28<\/span>); for in addition to hertranscendent beauty, she appears to have been a woman of superiortalents and address in obtaining the object of her ambition; in hersecuring that her son should succeed on the throne; in herpromptitude to give notice of her pregnancy; in her activity indefeating Adonijah’s natural expectation of succeeding to the crown;in her dignity as the king’s motherin all this we see very strongindications of the ascendency she gained and maintained over David,who, perhaps, had ample leisure and opportunity to discover thepunishment of this unhappy connection in more ways than one [TAYLOR,Calmet<\/I>].<\/P><\/p>\n And David sent messengers<\/strong>,…. To invite her to his palace:<\/p>\n and took her<\/strong>; not by force, but through persuasion:<\/p>\n and she came in unto him<\/strong>; into the apartment where he was:<\/p>\n and he lay with her<\/strong>; she consenting to it, being prevailed upon, and drawn into it through the greatness and goodness of the man, which might make the sin appear the lesser to her. This is recorded to show what the best of men are, when left to themselves; how strong and prevalent corrupt nature is in regenerate persons, when grace is not in exercise; what need the saints stand in of fresh supplies of grace, to keep them from falling; what caution is necessary to everyone that stands, lest he fall; and that it becomes us to abstain from all appearance of sin, and whatever leads unto it, and to watch and pray that we enter not into temptation; and such a record as this is an argument for the integrity of the Scriptures, that they conceal not the faults of the greatest favourites mentioned in them, as well as it serves to prevent despair in truly penitent backsliders:<\/p>\n for she was purified from her uncleanness<\/strong>; this clause is added in a parenthesis, partly to show the reason of her washing herself, which was not for health and pleasure, and to cool herself in a hot day, but to purify herself from her menstruous pollution, according to the law in Le 15:19<\/span>; the term of her separation being expired; and partly to give a reason why she the more easily consented, and he was the more eager to enjoy her; and in this he sinned, not that he did not lie with an unclean person; but, then, as some observe, he did that which was much worse, he committed adultery; also this may be added to observe, that she was the more apt for conception, as Ben Gersom notes, and to account for the quickness of it, with which the philosopher i agrees:<\/p>\n and she returned unto her house<\/strong>; whether that evening, or next morning, or how long she stayed, is not said.<\/p>\n i Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 7. c. 2.<\/p>\n (4) Sent messengers, and took her.<\/strong>This does not imply the use of violence. Bath-sheba, however beautiful, appears from the narrative of 1Ki. 2:13-22<\/span>, to have been a woman of little discretion, and now yielded to Davids will without resistance, perhaps flattered by the approach of the king.<\/p>\n For she was.<\/strong>Read, and she was. <\/em>Under the Law she was unclean until the evening. She therefore remained in Davids palace until that time, scrupulous in this detail while conscious of a capital crime and a high offence against God. David, nevertheless, was a far greater offender.<\/p>\n 4<\/strong>. <\/strong> David sent messengers <\/strong> So the king’s great sin could not have been altogether secret. These messengers knew of it, and very possibly rumours of it reached Uriah’s ears. <\/p>\n She came in unto him <\/strong> She seems to have yielded herself willingly to his desires. <\/p>\n For she was purified <\/strong> The word for <\/em> is here unauthorized and incorrect. The margin gives the proper rendering: And she purified herself from her uncleanness, and returned, <\/em> etc. This purification was that required by the law after carnal intercourse. Lev 15:18<\/span>. Bathsheba was like many who are scrupulously careful about ceremonies, while they plunge without reserve into darkest crimes.<\/p>\n 2Sa 11:4<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>And she returned unto her house<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> What the state of David’s mind was, when the tumult of passion had subsided, Bath-sheba was departed, and reason had returned, I shall not take upon me to paint. Calm reflection will best suit the horrors of so complicated a guilt, upon the recoil of conscience; when all those passions, whose blandishments but a few moments before deluded, seduced, and overset his reason, now resumed their full deformity, or rushed into their contrary extremes; desire into distraction; the sweets of pleasure into bitterness of soul; love into self-detestation; and hope almost into the horrors of despair. In one word, his condition was now so dreadful, that it was not easy for him to bring himself to the presumption of petitioning for mercy. <\/p>\n 2Sa 11:4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house.<\/p>\n Ver. 4. And David sent messengers, and took her.<\/strong> ] Unbridled lust, like the wild fig, will soon mount over the wall, and break out into unclean practices. It is a law of the members in a double sense, &c. It is, as Reuben, the eldest child of old Adam’s strength. It is the butter which the devil presenteth in so lordly a dish, that the soul spieth not; the hammer and nail in his hand, till he have driven it into the temples. Cavete.<\/em> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And she came in unto him.<\/strong> ] Not so well fortified as she ought against such a temptation: as the window of her house had before been too open, so now the window of her ark was not so well shut, but that the waters of wickedness entered into it. She resisteth not David’s unchaste motion that we read of, no not in word; but too easily consenteth. So did not Susanna, Lucretia, or that other Roman lady, who being taken from the table by Augustus the emperor into a chamber, and afterwards brought back again, her eyes were very red, and her hair all disordered. a<\/em> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And he lay with her.<\/strong> ] Wherein he received a foul foil, saith Mr Bradford, b<\/em> and in this sin lay long asleep, as many do now-a-days: God give them good waking! The best of God’s children, saith another, may not only be drenched in the waves of sin, but lie in them for the time: and perhaps sink twice to the bottom. This and other foul faults in David the Holy Ghost hath recorded, not to encourage any to do the like, but as sea marks, that they may avoid these rocks, against which such a choice vessel dashed, and had surely split and perished, had not God’s grace and Holy Spirit, as a timely gale of wind, blown him off, and reduced him into his right course by unfeigned repentance. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For she was purified from her uncleanness,<\/strong> ] i.e., <\/em> Her monthly flows; and so was the more apt to conceive with child. Or, And when she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned home; that is, from that legal uncleanness contracted by her carnal copulation with David, – yea, though he had been her own husband. See Exo 19:15 Lev 15:18 1Sa 21:4<\/span> . But doth Bathsheba make conscience of ceremonial, and none of moral purity? Or, doth David’s deceitful heart make him think that he may the more safely lie with Bathsheba, because she was purified? <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And she returned unto her house.<\/strong> ] But a far worse woman than when she went out of it, and with a sting in her conscience: for transit voluptas, manet dolor.<\/em> <\/p>\n “ Habet omnis hoc voluptas,<\/p>\n Stimulis agit fruentes, &c.<\/p>\n Laeta venire Venus, tristis abire solet. ” – Boet.<\/em> c<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n a<\/em> Sueton. <\/p>\n b<\/em> Serm. of Rep.<\/em> <\/p>\n c<\/em> Lib. iii. metr. 7.<\/p>\n for = and when. <\/p>\n purified. Compare Lev 15:18. It is possible to be more punctilious about the ceremonial Law than the moral Law. <\/p>\n sent messengers: Gen 39:7, Job 31:9-11, Psa 50:18 <\/p>\n he lay: Psa 51:1, *title Jam 1:14, Jam 1:15 <\/p>\n she was: etc. or, and when she had purified herself, etc. she returned. Pro 30:20 <\/p>\n purified: Lev 12:2-5, Lev 15:19-28, Lev 15:29-33, Lev 18:19 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Exo 20:14 – General Lev 18:20 – General 2Sa 12:4 – took the 2Sa 12:9 – despised 2Sa 12:12 – secretly 1Ki 15:5 – save only 2Ch 16:10 – the same time Job 24:15 – eye Pro 6:29 – he that<\/p>\n 2Sa 11:4. David sent messengers and took her From her own house into his palace, not by force, but by persuasion. And he lay with her See how all the way to sin is down hill! When men begin they cannot soon stop themselves. And she returned unto her house With a guilty conscience, and oppressed with terror, no doubt; for she had committed a sin for which the law condemned her to be stoned. She returned, it is probable, early in the morning, to prevent discovery. But how little did it avail to conceal from man a crime, of the commission of which the holy and sin-avenging God, who is no respecter of persons, had been a witness. Alas for poor Bath-sheba! Her confusion and distress were doubtless unutterable. But, in the mean time who can describe the wretched state of Davids mind, when the tumult of passion was subsided, Bath-sheba departed, and reason and reflection returned! The calm reflections of a spirit truly religious, says Dr. Delaney, will best imagine the horrors of so complicated a guilt on the recoil of conscience; when all those passions whose blandishments, but a few moments before, deluded, seduced, and overset his reason, now resumed their full deformity, or rushed into their contrary extremes; desire, into distraction; the sweets of pleasure, into bitterness of soul; love, into self-detestation; and hope, almost into the horrors of despair. The wife of one of his own worthies, apparently an innocent and a valuable woman, abused, and tainted, and brought to the very brink of ruin and infamy! A brave man basely dishonoured! and a faithful subject irreparably injured! The laws of God trampled under foot, of that God who had so eminently distinguished, exalted, and honoured him! Well might he cry out, in the anguish of this distracted condition, Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. In one word, his condition was now so dreadful that it was not easy to bring himself to the presumption of even petitioning for mercy! And this I take to be the true reason why we find no psalm of David penned upon this occasion. Here we may observe, that any other historian but the sacred would have endeavoured to draw a veil over the conduct of the admired hero of his story, that his reader might not see him falling into such crimes as would shock us even in the most abandoned of men. But the Scriptures are divine. They were written by persons whom divine inspiration had raised above the low thoughts of the mere human mind, and they therefore proceed in another manner. They give us a faithful account of things, without any false colouring, without partiality to any one, without concealing the blemishes or vices of the most favoured characters. For they were intended as well to instruct us by the sins of these persons as by their virtues, and therefore set forth their example in all its parts, that we may as well learn to shun the former as to imitate the latter. We have in this crime of David with Bath- sheba as strong a picture represented to us, as ever was set before the eyes of men, of the true nature and progress of vice, how it insinuates itself into the corrupt minds of men, how easily it overcomes them, if not resisted, and how it proceeds from bad to worse, till, it may be, it plunges them into the greatest depth of iniquity and misery, even, as we see here, into adultery and murder!<\/p>\n And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. 4. David sent messengers ] Bath-sheba cannot be acquitted from blame, for it does not appear that she offered any resistance. Vanity and ambition … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 11:4”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"