Study Desk

Hadadezer had fought against Toi in the past, so Toi sent his son Joram to King David. Joram greeted him and blessed him because David had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him. Joram brought gifts of silver, gold, and bronze.

He said to King David, "I am your servant. I will do everything that my lord the king commands." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons.

David said, "Nahash was kind to me, so I will be kind to his son Hanun." So David sent his officers to comfort Hanun about his father's death. David's officers went to the land of the Ammonites.

So Hanun took David's officers and shaved off one half of their beards. He cut off their clothes at the hips. Then he sent them away.

The Ammonites saw that they had become David's enemies, so they hired Arameans from Beth Rehob and Zobah. There were 20,000 Aramean foot soldiers. The Ammonites also hired the king of Maacah with 1000 men and 12,000 men from Tob.

David heard about this, so he sent Joab and the whole army of powerful men.

Joab saw that there were enemies in front of him and behind him. So he chose some of the best Israelite soldiers and lined them up for battle against the Arameans.

The Ammonites saw that the Arameans were running away, so they ran away from Abishai and went back to their city. So Joab came back from the battle with the Ammonites and went back to Jerusalem.

The kings who served Hadadezer saw that the Israelites had defeated them, so they made peace with the Israelites and became their servants. The Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites again.

so David sent for his officers and asked them who she was. An officer answered, "That is Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam. She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite."

David sent a message to Joab. "Send Uriah the Hittite to me." So Joab sent Uriah to David.

Then David said to Uriah, "Go home and relax." So Uriah left the king's palace. The king also sent a gift to Uriah.

Uriah said to David, "The Holy Box and the soldiers of Israel and Judah are staying in tents. My lord Joab and my lord's officers are camping out in the field. So it is not right for me to go home to eat and drink and sleep with my wife. As surely as you live, I will not do this."

Surely he remembers that at Thebez a woman killed Abimelech son of Jerub Besheth when she threw the top part of a grinding stone down from the wall. So why did he go that close to the wall?' If King David says something like that, tell him, ‘Your officer, Uriah the Hittite, also died.'"

Bathsheba heard that her husband Uriah had died, so she mourned for him.

So why did you ignore my command? Why did you do what I say is wrong? You let the Ammonites kill Uriah the Hittite, and you took his wife. It is as if you yourself killed Uriah in war.

So your family will never have peace! When you took Uriah's wife, you showed that you did not respect me.'

You had sexual relations with Bathsheba in secret, but I will punish you so that all the people of Israel can see it.'"

But you did things that made the Lord 's enemies lose their respect for him, so your new baby son will die."

David saw his servants whispering and understood that the baby was dead. So David asked his servants, "Is the baby dead?" The servants answered, "Yes, he is dead."