2 Samuel 11:14

THE MESSAGE

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In the letter he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front lines where the fighting is the fiercest. Then pull back and leave him exposed so that he's sure to be killed."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

Hebrew Names Version
It happened in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Yo'av, and sent it by the hand of Uriyah.

King James Version
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

Lexham English Bible
And it happened in the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and he sent it by the hand of Uriah.

English Standard Version
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

New Century Version
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah.

New English Translation
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

Amplified Bible
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

New American Standard Bible
So in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And on the morowe Dauid wrote a letter to Ioab, and sent it by the hand of Vriah.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now it happened in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

Contemporary English Version
Early the next morning, David wrote a letter and told Uriah to deliver it to Joab.

Complete Jewish Bible
In the morning David wrote a letter to Yo'av and sent it with Uriyah.

Darby Translation
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by Urijah.

Easy-to-Read Version
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and made Uriah carry the letter.

George Lamsa Translation
And in the morning. David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

Good News Translation
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by Uriah.

Literal Translation
And it happened in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
On the morow wrote Dauid a letter vnto Ioab, & sent it by Vrias.

American Standard Version
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

Bible in Basic English
Now in the morning, David gave Uriah a letter to take to Joab.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
On the morowe Dauid wrote a letter to Ioab, and sent it by the hand of Urias.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

King James Version (1611)
And it came to passe in the morning, that Dauid wrote a letter to Ioab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the morning came, and David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Urias.

English Revised Version
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

Berean Standard Bible
The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor the morewtid was maad, and Dauid wroot epistle to Joab, and sente bi the hond of Vrye,

Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass in the morning, that David writeth a letter unto Joab, and sendeth by the hand of Uriah;

Update Bible Version
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent [it] by the hand of Uriah.

World English Bible
It happened in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

New King James Version
In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

New Living Translation
So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver.

New Life Bible
In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by Uriah.

New Revised Standard
In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And so it was, in the morning, that David wrote a letter unto Joab, - and sent it by the hand of Uriah;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when the morning was come, David wrote a letter to Joab: and sent it by the hand of Urias,

Revised Standard Version
In the morning David wrote a letter to Jo'ab, and sent it by the hand of Uri'ah.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now in the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah.

Contextual Overview

¹⁴In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In the letter he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front lines where the fighting is the fiercest. Then pull back and leave him exposed so that he's sure to be killed." ¹⁶So Joab, holding the city under siege, put Uriah in a place where he knew there were fierce enemy fighters. When the city's defenders came out to fight Joab, some of David's soldiers were killed, including Uriah the Hittite. ¹⁸Joab sent David a full report on the battle. He instructed the messenger, "After you have given to the king a detailed report on the battle, if he flares in anger, say, ‘And by the way, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'" ²²Joab's messenger arrived in Jerusalem and gave the king a full report. He said, "The enemy was too much for us. They advanced on us in the open field, and we pushed them back to the city gate. But then arrows came hot and heavy on us from the city wall, and eighteen of the king's soldiers died." ²⁵ When the messenger completed his report of the battle, David got angry at Joab. He vented it on the messenger: "Why did you get so close to the city? Didn't you know you'd be attacked from the wall? Didn't you remember how Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth got killed? Wasn't it a woman who dropped a millstone on him from the wall and crushed him at Thebez? Why did you go close to the wall!" "By the way," said Joab's messenger, "your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead." Then David told the messenger, "Oh. I see. Tell Joab, ‘Don't trouble yourself over this. War kills—sometimes one, sometimes another—you never know who's next. Redouble your assault on the city and destroy it.' Encourage Joab." ²⁶When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she grieved for her husband. When the time of mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. But God was not at all pleased with what David had done,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

wrote a letter: It was resolved in David's breast that Uriah must die - that innocent, valiant, and gallant man, who was ready to sacrifice his life for the honour of his prince; and, worse than all, by being himself made the bearer of letters to Joab which prescribed the mode by which he was to be murdered. This was the greatest treachery and villany on the part of David; while Joab appears to enter as fully upon the execution of the murder, being perhaps pleased to have this opportunity of further enthralling his king, and thus increasing his own power. 1 Kings 21:8-10, Psalms 19:13, Psalms 52:2, Psalms 62:9, Jeremiah 9:1-4, Jeremiah 17:9, Micah 7:3-5

Reciprocal: Genesis 37:27 - let not 2 Samuel 12:9 - despised 2 Samuel 14:19 - of Joab 1 Kings 21:14 - Naboth is stoned Job 24:14 - murderer

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it came to pass in the morning,.... When David was informed that Uriah did not go to his own house, but slept with his servants, Satan put it into his head and heart to take the following wicked and cruel method:

that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent [it] by the hand of Uriah; to have him cut off by the sword of the enemy. If Uriah suspected David's criminal conversation with his wife, he was so true and trusted a servant to him, that he would not open his letter to Joab, which had he, it would have betrayed the base design. No one that knows the story of Bellerophon can read this without thinking of that, they are so much alike; and indeed that seems to be founded upon this, and taken from it with a little alteration. Bellerophon rejecting the solicitations of Sthenobaea, who was in love with him, she prevailed upon her husband Praetus to send letters by him to Jobates (a name similar to Joab), the general of his army, which contained instructions to take care that he was killed; who sent him upon an expedition for that purpose m.

m Apollodorus de Deorum Orig. l. 2. p. 70.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Samuel 11:14. David wrote a letter — This was the sum of treachery and villany. He made this most noble man the carrier of letters which prescribed the mode in which he was to be murdered. This case some have likened to that of Bellerophon, son of Glaucus, king of Ephyra, who being in the court of Proetus, king of the Argives, his queen Antia, or as others Sthenoboea, fell violently in love with him; but he, refusing to gratify her criminal passions, was in revenge accused by her to Proetus her husband, as having attempted to corrupt her. Proetus not willing to violate the laws of hospitality by slaying him in his own house, wrote letters to Jobates, king of Lycia, the father of Sthenoboea, and sent them by the hand of Bellerophon, stating his crime, and desiring Jobates to put him to death. To meet the wishes of his son-in-law, and keep his own hands innocent of blood, he sent him with a small force against a very warlike people called the Solymi; but, contrary to all expectation, he not only escaped with his life, but gained a complete victory over them. He was afterwards sent upon several equally dangerous and hopeless expeditions, but still came off with success; and to reward him Jobates gave him one of his daughters to wife, and a part of his kingdom. Sthenoboea, hearing this, through rage and despair killed herself.

I have given this history at large, because many have thought it not only to be parallel to that of Uriah, but to be a fabulous formation from the Scripture fact: for my own part, I scarcely see in them any correspondence, but in the simple circumstance that both carried those letters which contained their own condemnation. From the fable of Bellerophon came the proverb, Bellerophontis literas portare, "to carry one's own condemnation."