II Samuel 13, Rape in the Palace

King David's reign, which began so well, is deteriorating. A critical turning point occurred in his adultery with Bathsheba and murderous cover-up. David's firstborn son, heir to the throne, has grown up in a palace full of scandal.

2 Samuel 13:1-4, Lust for a step-sister

In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David. Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.

Now Amnon had an adviser named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man. He asked Amnon, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?”

Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

Amnon has David's attitude about women: if she is beautiful, grab her! Jonadab, a counselor to the prince notices that the prince is unhappy and looks to aid him in a private meeting with Tamar. (Tamar is Amnon's half-sister, brother of Absalom.)

2 Samuel 13:5-9, Rape

“Go to bed and pretend to be ill,” Jonadab said. “When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.’”

So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand.”

David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.” 

So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it. Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat. “Send everyone out of here,” Amnon said. So everyone left him.

Jonadab and Amnon conspire to isolate Amnon with Tamar. David unknowingly aids them. Tamar is completely unaware of the effect of her sympathy for Amnon.

2 Samuel 13:10-14, Rape

Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”

“No, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked thing. What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.” 

But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.

Tamar, as she is about to be raped, argues that Amnon can easily resolve all this formally by getting permission from the king for them to marry. (Whether or not this is true, that tack would slow down Amnon.) But Amnon wants her now and ignores her wise words.  

Amnon's lust, desiring Tamar now, is not discouraged by past palace intrigue. The prince's father, David, got the woman he wanted when he wanted her. Why not this prince?

Robert Alter argues that the Hebrew of the last sentence is rapid, violent. He translates the Hebrew as "and he overpowered her and abused her and bedded her."

2 Samuel 13:15-19, Cast out

Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”

“No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.”

But he refused to listen to her. He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of my sight and bolt the door after her.” So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing an ornate robe, for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore. 

Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornate robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went.

After raping her, Amnon is angry and casts her out. Tamar, once again, suggests a resolution through marriage but Amnon, now that he is sexually satisfied, will not have it. The entire act reveals the rampant misogyny in the Davidic household -- women are not worthy for much but sex and procreation.

The adjective describing Tamar's robe in verses 18 and 19 is pas (פַס.) The NIV translates it here as "ornate" but the meaning of the word is uncertain. It is the same word used three times to describe young Joseph's robe in Genesis 37.

Tamar's grief is public.  She has been raped and abused and runs from Amnon's rooms weeping loudly about the crime. In the culture of the ancient Near East, she has been ruined, no longer eligible for marriage. The Old Testament law (Deut 22:28-29) required, at minimum, that Amnon marry Tamar, provide for her for life, and pay an additional penalty for rape.

2 Samuel 13:20-22, Silent seclusion

Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has that Amnon, your brother, been with you? Be quiet for now, my sister; he is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.

When King David heard all this, he was furious. And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.

Tamar has been raped by her half-brother, the son of a different wife of David. Her full brother, Absalom, attempts to comfort her. (Just as with the children of Jacob, family cliques form around the different mothers.) David is furious but does nothing. His passivity angers Absalom and brings shame to David. Absalom now waits for a chance to revenge the rape of his sister.

2 Samuel 13:23-28, Revenge

Two years later, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons to come there. Absalom went to the king and said, “Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his attendants please join me?”

“No, my son,” the king replied. “All of us should not go; we would only be a burden to you.” 

Although Absalom urged him, he still refused to go but gave him his blessing.

Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon come with us.”

The king asked him, “Why should he go with you?” 

But Absalom urged him, so he sent with him Amnon and the rest of the king’s sons.

Absalom ordered his men, “Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from drinking wine and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I given you this order? Be strong and brave.” So Absalom’s men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons got up, mounted their mules and fled.

As Amnon isolated Tamar and raped her, Absalom isolates Amnon and kills him.

David's well-known adultery with Bathsheba, followed by the murder of Uriah is not something that can be concealed. Amnon thinks he can grab a woman when he wishes and no one seems to do anything about it. David is apathetic and silent, so Absalom takes matters into his own hand and murders Amnon, the heir to the throne. Now justice has been served but Absalom is a refugee.

The prophet Nathan has foretold a calamity of this order. Alter observes that David, who first set the stage for rape and murder, is unknowingly involved in each of these subsequent crimes. It is David who naively sends Tamar to Amnon's room where she is raped; it is David who naively sends Amnon to Absalom's feast where he is murdered. The king cannot avoid the consequences of his own sin.

2 Samuel 13:30-35a, Report to David

While they were on their way, the report came to David: “Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons; not one of them is left.” The king stood up, tore his clothes and lay down on the ground; and all his attendants stood by with their clothes torn.

But Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “My lord should not think that they killed all the princes; only Amnon is dead. This has been Absalom’s express intention ever since the day Amnon raped his sister Tamar. My lord the king should not be concerned about the report that all the king’s sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”

Meanwhile, Absalom had fled.

The first report is that Absalom has arranged the murder of all of David's sons. This is a devastating report for one who hopes to start a dynasty. But David's nephew, Jonadab, corrects the rumor. (Jonadab helped organize the original rape.)  Only Amnon is dead.  (What did Jonadab know that the others did not?)

2 Samuel 13:34b-38, Pain and bitterness

Now the man standing watch looked up and saw many people on the road west of him, coming down the side of the hill. The watchman went and told the king, “I see men in the direction of Horonaim, on the side of the hill.”

Jonadab said to the king, “See, the king’s sons have come; it has happened just as your servant said.” As he finished speaking, the king’s sons came in, wailing loudly. The king, too, and all his attendants wept very bitterly.

Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But King David mourned many days for his son. After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there three years. And King David longed to go to Absalom, for he was consoled concerning Amnon’s death.

The king's sons return home, weeping. Absalom flees to Geshur, the home of his maternal grandfather.  (Absalom is the son of Maakah, daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; see 2 Samuel 3:1-5.) Absalom stays in exile for three years. But the story is not over.

Some Random Thoughts

Note the sad mysogynistic culture of the ANE, including the culture of the Jews of that era. Amnon has "disgraced" Tamar and had not paid the legal penalty. There is little that the woman Tamar can do. The ANE and Jewish culture does not describe how things should be, but how they were.

First published September 11, 2023, updated September 11, 2026

II Samuel 12, A Poor Man with a Pet Lamb

David has gotten Bathsheba pregnant and then had her husband killed. All is presumably resolved now....

2 Samuel 12:1-4, A story

The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

Nathan tells a sad story of an abusive man killing a loved pet lamb. Nathan is about to confront a powerful ruler with the man's crime. Nathan begins by attempting to reach the residual part of David that still believes in justice.

2 Samuel 12:5-12, "You are the man!"

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

David's sin (and his sense of justice) are revealed in a story about a rich man who steals a beloved animal. David responds like the good David of old -- he is angry at injustice. Nathan then points a long bony finger at the powerful king and says, "You are the man!"

God's response is that He gave David pretty much anything he, David, wanted. Indeed, there are many women, including, if desired, the wives of his master, Saul, who have but to put into David's "arms".  The Hebrew word bə·ḥê·qe·ḵā, translated "into your arms" by the NIV is translated "into thy bosom" by the King James Version and "into your lap" by Robert Alter. It is the same word used by Sarah in Genesis 16:5, and, says Alter, in both cases has a sexual meaning. David had lots of choices for women to sleep with. But he chose the wife of an upright but powerless soldier.

David, like Adam long ago in the Garden of Eden, can have almost anything in his garden, but reaches out and grabs what is not his. (Walter Vogel, "David's Greatness in His Sin and Repentance".)

2 Samuel 12:13-14, David repents

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”

Caught off guard by the true meaning of this story, David is ashamed and suddenly aware of his sin. After that confession, Nathan has additional information: David's sin is forgiven by God but there are consequences.  One of them is that the child in the womb will not survive. (There will be other indirect consequences, including continual violence in his home and someone publicly having sex with his wives.)

2 Samuel 12:15-18, A child dies

After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

David fasts and prays for his child. After the child dies, the attendants are worried that in his grief David will harm himself. They are afraid to tell David the news.

2 Samuel 12:19-22, David grieves

David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!” He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

David's grief is moderated a bit because now there is nothing he can do. He makes a statement about being unable to bring the child back and that some day he will join his child. David is now humbled and weak, aware of his own mortality. (David's remarks give us no hint as to whether David simply believes he will join the child in the grave, Sheol, or that he will join the child in some future Paradise.)

2 Samuel 12:24-25 Solomon

Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.

The couple have a second child, Solomon. God has his own name for this child and passes on the name Jedidiah, which means "loved by the Lord." This is surely an important message for David.

2 Samuel 12:26-31, Joab goes back to work

Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”

So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. David took the crown from their king’s head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking.

David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

Joab defeats the Ammonites and then, because of David's procrastination, has to get David to join him so that David gets some of the glory. It is likely that this victory is a continuation of the conflict described two chapters back in 2 Samuel 10. Joab has been faithful to David (to a fault) and here he recognizes that David's inaction will bring David down.

The last two chapters bring to a close a very sad scandal in David's life. Although the Hebrew scriptures routinely praise David, they do not gloss over his violence and lust.

Although David's relationship with YHWH is restored, David's past actions will continue to ripple through the palace, taking down a number of sons, including his firstborn.

First published September 9, 2023, updated September 9, 2026

II Samuel 11, Bathsheba

David is king of all Israel and has consolidated his power. He has recently won a battle against the Ammonites.

2 Samuel 11:1-4, Adultery with Bathsheba

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"

Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.) Then she went back home.

David, having allowed Joab to lead the army against the Ammonites, is bored and restless. He sleeps late into the evening and then is aroused by watching, from a rooftop, a woman bathing. David asks about her and is told that she is the wife of one of his soldiers and the daughter of another. (Bathsheba's father, Eliam, is probably the same soldier that is listed in 2 Samuel 23:34. That list of mighty warriors of David includes Uriah in 2 Samuel 23:39.)

After asking about her, David has the married woman brought to the palace, to his bed where he has sex with her.  

Bathsheba is bathing when David spies on her. The narrator then mentions that Bathsheba had purified herself from her uncleanness. Commentators Alter and Youngblood argue that this is a parenthetical reference to the original rooftop bath where she was purifying herself after the end of her menstrual period. This is especially significant if this is Bathsheba's last period for some time....

On the other hand, the purification described might have been after sex with David. (The NIV footnotes give a possible translation "When she purified herself from her uncleanness, she went back home.") According to the Mosaic law, both sexual intercourse and menstrual periods included ritual baths, see Leviticus 15:18-19. Of course, according to the Mosaic law, adultery is an entirely different activity than ordinary sexual intercourse or menstruation and no simple bathing can wash away that uncleanness!

2 Samuel 11:5-8, A problem

The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant."

So David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent him to David.

When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him.

So far Bathsheba has appeared to be completely passive, saying nothing. Now, in two Hebrew words, she tells David she is pregnant. (This is likely several months after the affair.) David attempts to remove himself from the problem by bringing Uriah home to have sex with his wife, so that Uriah would appear to be the father of the child.

Uriah is repeatedly described as "the Hittite." He is not an Israelite. In this chapter, it is the Hittites who act with integrity while the powerful Israelites abuse and deceive.

At this point, David has sent palace messengers on a variety of tasks. They found out about the woman bathing on the roof top, they brought her to David's bedroom, and later they probably escorted her home. A messenger has later conveyed her message of pregnancy and now David has had the woman's husband brought home and cared for. David is lazy and dissolute, doing little on his own. Surely the palace gossip line is active.

2 Samuel 11:9-11, A soldier with integrity

But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house. When David was told, "Uriah did not go home," he asked him, "Haven't you just come from a distance? Why didn't you go home?"

Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my master Joab and my lord's men are camped in the open fields. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!"

Despite every attempt by David, this foreigner serving in his army refuses to go home to his wife, when his fellow soldiers don't have similar luxuries.

Servants of David are now monitoring Uriah and reporting back to David. After helping Bathsheba in and out of the palace months before, surely the palace staff have suspicions. Robert Alter suggests that Uriah's response may indicate that even he has some suspicions. After all, says Alter, Uriah is sleeping at the entrance to the palace with servants, some of whom are probably also soldiers, and at that gate there may be considerable gossip. Alter believes it is significant that it is Uriah who mentions sleeping with his wife.

2 Samuel 11:12-13, Integrity, even when drunk

Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.

At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home.

David gets Uriah drunk. But still Uriah's integrity is intact.

2 Samuel 11:14-17, A death arranged

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die."

So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David's army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

Uriah unknowingly carries back to Joab the instructions for Uriah's execution. Joab follows David's instructions and Uriah is betrayed by his commander and fellow soldiers.

2 Samuel 11:18-22, Joab's message

Joab sent David a full account of the battle. He instructed the messenger: "When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, the king's anger may flare up, and he may ask you, `Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn't you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? Who killed Abimelech son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn't a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?' 

If he asks you this, then say to him, `Also, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'"

The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say.

Joab communicates back to David the death of Uriah. There is a callousness in Joab's reply -- the messenger is to make sure that David knows Uriah is dead. David has embroiled Joab in his royal scandal and Joab recognizes that.

(The previous death of Abimelech is recorded in Judges 9:50-55.)

2 Samuel 11:23-25, Partners in excuses

The messenger said to David, "The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance to the city gate. Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king's men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead."

David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: `Don't let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.' Say this to encourage Joab."

Uriah is not the only one killed in this sally. But David is content. Uriah is dead. David responds to Joab's report with his own callousness: "The sword devours one as well as another", a version of the modern, "These things happen."

"These things happen." But many of David's followers, including Joab, are aware of David's corrupt acts.  And YHWH is also watching.

2 Samuel 11: 26-27, One more wife

When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. 

But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.

The last sentence suggests the next chapter. David, like almost all who are in power, thinks he can hide his scandals. But David is a special representative of YHWH and so, NO, he will not escape the effects of his sin. Those effects will carry us throughout the rest of this book.

This is one of the saddest chapters in the Old Testament. If I can take any comfort from this story of arrogance and depravity, it is that the broken character that is the subject of this story is the same one said to be "after God's own heart." (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) This is the psalmist, whose painful Psalm 51 recalls this depravity. 

First published September 8, 2023, updated September 8, 2026

II Samuel 10, A New King of the Ammonites

The kingdom of David continues to grow. David has made political alliances with other countries. Some of them change.

2 Samuel 10:1-4, Hanun's obscenity

In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king.

David thought, "I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father. 

When David's men came to the land of the Ammonites, the Ammonite nobles said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think David is honoring your father by sending men to you to express sympathy? Hasn't David sent them to you to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?" So Hanun seized David's men, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their garments in the middle at the buttocks, and sent them away.

David seeks to extend his alliance with the Ammonites, east of the Jordan (in the modern country of Jordan.) But the new king, Hanun, humiliates David's men by shaving half of each man's beard and cutting their robe so as to expose their buttocks. This is an arrogant and insulting statement of power by a new king. The half-shaving of the beard insults the men's manhood; the cutting of their robes mocks their formal standing as ambassadors. This is, in essence, a declaration of war. Hanun has made it clear he views David as an enemy.

2 Samuel 10:5-10, David's response

When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, "Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back."

When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench in David's nostrils, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.

On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men. The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance to their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country. Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites.

The Ammonites "realize that they have become a stench" and so go on the offensive first. Presumably this is all to be expected; Hanun's treatment of David's envoys invited this.

2 Samuel 10:11-14, Arameans flee before Joab

Joab said, "If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to rescue you. Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight."

Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans were fleeing, they fled before Abishai and went inside the city. So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

 

Joab is victorious in his first sally against the Arameans.

2 Samuel 10:15-19, The battle continues

After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped. Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the River; they went to Helam, with Shobach the commander of Hadadezer's army leading them.

When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam. The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him. But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there.

When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

The "River" is the Euphrates. David has won a victory over the Ammonites and Arameans. (We do not hear of the status of Hanun, who began this conflict.) This final triumph over the Ammonites will be told at the end of chapter 12, but before that, David's story turns tragic....

First published September 7, 2023, updated September 7, 2026

A Review of The David Story by Robert Alter

Robert Alter is a Hebrew scholar who has made a name by translating the Hebrew scrolls of the Old Testament, adding commentary to explain the Hebrew terms and possible interpretations.  I first read his work in his exceptional commentary on Genesis, a beautiful and elegant work that brings that ancient book to life and displays the artistry of the writer(s) of that book.

Alter is not a Christian and does not view the Old Testament in the way that many Christian scholars do but he does love the ancient text and has a high regard for its language and internal consistency. He will suggest, in places, that the text has been edited (where some Christian scholars will agree) but opposes the modern scholarly obsession of dividing the texts into multiple threads of authors and editors.

Alter has now translated the entire Old Testament, with copious notes and commentary. His translation of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel is available as a work called The David Story. (For completeness, it also includes the first two chapters of 1 Kings, covering David's death and the start of Solomon's reign.)  I have used the commentary in my blog on the Old Testament and it is exceptional. I typically work through a chapter by first reading Alter's translation and then going back and reading his comments on the translation.  

In this commentary, Alter describes discrepancies in the ancient text (the traditional Masoretic Text of about 1000 AD, the scrolls of Samuel from the Dead Sea scrolls, c. 50 BC and the Septuagint Greek text, c. 250 BC.) He points out Hebrew wordplay in the text and the emotions and meanings carried by Hebrew words and terms. The scroll of Samuel (broken into 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel in modern Bibles) has an inclusio of songs, Hannah's song at the front in 1 Samuel 2:1-10 and David's song at the end in 2 Samuel 22. These praise songs set off the remainder of the book, devoted to telling the story of Israel's great shepherd-king. Both songs announce that YHWH is the "horn of salvation", the one who has given them victory over their enemies.

In some places, the Hebrew words carry emotions that may be missed in modern translations. In 1 Samuel 2:14, Alter has greedy priests thrusting their forks "into the cauldron or the pot of the vat or the kettle", arguing that this flurry of terms, in the Hebrew text, adds to the image of greed and gluttony. In 1 Samuel 20:30, when Saul accuses Jonathan of "the shame of your mother's nakedness" (Alter's literal translation), Alter argues that this is an abusive or violent sexual statement about Jonathan's mother. In other places, Alter insists that the term "son of..." is rude; when Saul calls David "son of Jesse" (1 Samuel 22:7), he is refusing to say David's name and only naming his father. When Saul calls the priest Ahimelech "son of Ahitub" in 1 Samuel 22:12 it is a rudeness that shows Saul's intent to kill the man. This use of the rude "patronymic" occurs in numerous places in the Old Testament.

In 1 Samuel 9:12-13, Alter suggests that the long rambling answers of the women around Saul might be a response to Saul's passivity in seeking out Samuel. He explains the proverb "Is Saul among the prophets?" (1 Samuel 10 and 1 Samuel 19:23-24) as first being a statement of amazement at the signs given by Samuel but then later a mockery of Saul's attempts to stop David.

As Alter elaborates on the Hebrew language in 1 Samuel, we gain insight into Saul's character and his slow dissent into insanity, culminating in his visit to the woman of Endor the night before his death.

In numerous places, Alter suggests an explanation or interpretation of the ancient Hebrew names and points out wordplay, in which the ancient author has deliberately used homonyms, words that sound the same or very similar. For example, in 1 Samuel 13:7, the text says "the Hebrews had crossed the Jordan..."  The uncommon description of the people as "Hebrews" is explained by the wordplay ivrim avru, Hebrew words translated "Hebrews had crossed". In 1 Samuel 16:23, Saul's finding relief from the evil spirit, involves the same base word; ruah is spirit and rawah is relief. There are numerous places where this wordplay is hidden by English translations and only pulled out by Alter's notes.

Alter's translation of David's story is a beautiful study of the great shepherd-king of Israel and an artful argument for the power and majesty of the Old Testament writings.

Other reviews of Alter's commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel are: 

• A short review by Patrick Reardon is here.
• A review by the New York Times is here; it includes a link to the first chapter of the book, in case one wants to see the style of the translation and commentary.
• A review by the Los Angeles Times is here.

I have enjoyed slowly working through this book and marking up the pages!

First published September 3, 2023; updated September 6, 2026

II Samuel 9, Mephibosheth

David has defeated the house of Saul, but he remembers his love for Jonathan.

2 Samuel 9:1-5, Ziba remembers

David asked, "Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?"

Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba. They called him to appear before David, and the king said to him, "Are you Ziba?" 

"Your servant," he replied. 

The king asked, "Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness?" 

Ziba answered the king, "There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in both feet."

"Where is he?" the king asked. Ziba answered, "He is at the house of Makir son of Ammiel in Lo Debar." 

So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.

David finds Mephibosheth, crippled at age five when his father died, and David plans to protect him.  There is some risk in this -- supporters of Saul could later attempt to put one of his descendants on the throne.

2 Samuel 9:6-10, Mephibosheth honored

When Mephibosheth son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, "Mephibosheth!" 

"Your servant," he replied.

"Don't be afraid," David said to him, "for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table." 

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, "What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?"

Then the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, "I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops, so that your master's grandson may be provided for. And Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table." (Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.)

Mephibosheth and Saul's servant, Ziba, are provided for and given land to farm.

2 Samuel 9:11-13, Mephiboseth and family eat at the king's table

Then Ziba said to the king, "Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do." So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons.

Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king's table, and he was crippled in both feet.

Mephiboseth and his family now have the king's support. They even eat at the king's table, with David and his many sons.

First published September 6, 2023, updated September 5, 2026

II Samuel 8, Victory Wherever He Goes

David has settled in as king of all Israel.  But there are still enemies....

2 Samuel 8:1-4, Philistines, Moabites and Zobahites defeated

In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines. David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought tribute.

Moreover, David fought Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his control along the Euphrates River. David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.

This passage reports, without apology, the violence of ancient Near East warfare, including the massacre of prisoners and maming of horses.

(NIV footnotes: In verse 4, there are discrepancies in the ancient texts. The Masoretic Text says that David captured seventeen hundred charioteers, not seven thousand.)

2 Samuel 8:5-8, Arameans defeated

When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them. He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought tribute. The LORD gave David victory wherever he went.

David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. From Tebah and Berothai, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.

 

David defeats the Arameans to the northeast and puts up garrisons. Wherever David goes, he is given victory, collects tribute and brings it to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 8:9-12, Prince Joram congratulates David

When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer, he sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Joram brought with him articles of silver and gold and bronze.

King David dedicated these articles to the LORD, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued: Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

King Tou offers David tribute and David devotes it to YHWH, presumably through a treasury of some type.  David also dedicates plunder from other victories.

2 Samuel 8:13-18, Garrisons built, officers appointed

And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The LORD gave David victory wherever he went.

David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people. Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder; Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelech son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was secretary; Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David's sons were royal advisers.

The theme of this chapter is in verse 14: "The LORD gave David victory wherever he went,"

(NIV footnotes; In verse 13 there are discrepancies in ancient texts; most Hebrew texts have Arameans in place of Edomites.)

First published September 5, 2023, updated September 4, 2026