Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The fall of David into adultery with Bathsheba, and the murder of Uriah.
Vulgate Text: 2 Kings 11:1-27
1. Now it came to pass, at the turn of the year, at the time when kings go forth to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they laid waste the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah; but David remained in Jerusalem. 2. While these things were happening, it came to pass that David arose from his bed after midday, and walked upon the terrace of the royal house; and he saw a woman washing herself, opposite him upon her terrace; and the woman was exceedingly beautiful. 3. The king therefore sent and inquired who the woman was. And it was reported to him that she was Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. 4. David therefore sent messengers and took her; and when she had come in to him, he slept with her: and immediately she was sanctified from her uncleanness, 5. and she returned to her house, having conceived. And she sent word and told David, saying: I have conceived. 6. And David sent to Joab, saying: Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7. And Uriah came to David. And David asked how Joab was doing and the people, and how the war was being conducted, 8. and David said to Uriah: Go to your house, and wash your feet. And Uriah went out from the king's house, and the king's food followed him. 9. But Uriah slept before the gate of the royal house with the other servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10. And it was reported to David by those saying: Uriah did not go to his house. And David said to Uriah: Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house? 11. And Uriah said to David: The ark of God and Israel and Judah dwell in tents, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord remain upon the face of the earth; and shall I go into my house, to eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By your life, and by the life of your soul, I will not do this thing. 12. David therefore said to Uriah: Remain here also today, and tomorrow I will dismiss you. Uriah remained in Jerusalem on that day and the next; 13. and David called him to eat before him and drink, and he made him drunk: who going out in the evening, slept on his bed with the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 14. It came to pass therefore in the morning, and David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah, 15. writing in the letter: Place Uriah in the front of battle, where the fighting is fiercest, and abandon him, that being struck he may perish. 16. Therefore when Joab was besieging the city, he placed Uriah in the place where he knew the strongest men were. 17. And the men going out from the city, fought against Joab, and some of the people of David's servants fell, and Uriah the Hittite also died. 18. Joab therefore sent and reported to David all the events of the battle. 19. And he commanded the messenger, saying: When you have finished telling all the events of the battle to the king, 20. if you see him become angry, and he says: Why did you approach the wall to fight? Did you not know that many weapons are cast from above the wall? 21. Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal? Did not a woman cast a piece of millstone upon him from the wall and kill him in Thebes? Why did you go near the wall? You shall say: Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead. 22. So the messenger departed and came and told David all that Joab had commanded him. 23. And the messenger said to David: The men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; but we made an assault and pursued them to the gate of the city. 24. And the archers shot their arrows at your servants from the wall above; and some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead. 25. And David said to the messenger: Thus shall you say to Joab: Let not this thing discourage you, for the sword consumes one as well as another; strengthen your warriors against the city, that you may destroy it, and encourage them. 26. Now the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, and she mourned for him. 27. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her into his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son; and this thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
Verse 1: The Siege of Rabbah
1. NOW IT CAME TO PASS, AT THE TURN OF THE YEAR, AT THE TIME WHEN KINGS GO FORTH TO BATTLE -- namely when winter had passed, in the spring of the following year, that is in March, when Mars is wont to reign, and kings go forth to war.
DAVID SENT JOAB, etc. -- David however remained at home, and therefore fell into adultery and murder; whence Theodoret, Question XXV: "David," he says, "when he was in the field and exercised his mind in the care of war, governed his life according to the divine laws; but having obtained a brief respite, he suffered a fall." See here how much warfare or business excels idleness: business made David chaste, idleness made him an adulterer.
THEY BESIEGED RABBAH. -- This was a powerful city, the royal capital and metropolis of the Ammonites, so called from its size: for "Rabba" or "Rabbath" in Hebrew means the same as many, that is great. The same city was also called "Ammon" or "Amman," and "city of waters," chapter XII, verse 27, because the torrent Jabbok flows around it. Finally, subjugated by Ptolemy Philadelphus, the second king of Egypt, who arranged for the Bible to be translated from Hebrew into Greek by the Seventy Interpreters, it was called Philadelphia, a name it retains to this day.
Verse 2: David Sees Bathsheba
2. IT CAME TO PASS THAT DAVID AROSE FROM HIS BED AFTER MIDDAY -- fed and stuffed with sleep and food, and therefore inclined to lust: for the stimulants of this are royal delicacies, idleness, and sleep. Those therefore who study chastity should not snore until broad daylight, but should rise in the morning, indeed should anticipate the dawn by praising God with the nightingales: and when about to go to bed, should seriously commend themselves to the Blessed Virgin and their Guardian Angel, that they may prevent the nocturnal temptations of the flesh and the illusions of the devil.
AND HE SAW A WOMAN WASHING HERSELF OPPOSITE -- for the house of Uriah was near and opposite the palace of David, as Adrichomius notes in his Geographic Tables. She was washing herself either in the house, as Vatablus holds, or in the garden at a fountain, which is still pointed out, says Adrichomius. This was the new cause of David's fall, namely the sight of a half-naked woman: for the eyes are the leaders in love; and therefore it is impossible to banish a lustful thought from the mind, unless the lustful sight of a woman is banished from the eyes. Whence Job chapter XXXI, 1: "I made," he says, "a covenant with my eyes, that I would not so much as think upon a virgin."
Hear Clement of Alexandria, book III of the Pedagogue, chapter XI: "Lustful gazes, and to look with rolling and seemingly winking eyes, is nothing other than to commit adultery with the eyes, since through them desire enters upon the preludes of the first battle." St. Chrysostom on Psalm 50: "He opened his eyes in vain, and received the wound of an arrow; let the curious hear, who contemplate the beauty of others." And St. Augustine, homily 21, among the 50: "Let the fall of the great be the trembling of the lesser. If the incautious familiarity of women, and pernicious blandishments conquered such holy men, what do those think about themselves who neither fear nor blush to not only associate with strange women, but to dwell in the same house?" St. Augustine adds that excessive prosperity and abundance were the cause of David's ruin: "Therefore one must watch more sharply against prosperity."
Bathsheba Daughter of Eliam
BATHSHEBA DAUGHTER OF ELIAM. -- The Hebrews relate, as cited by St. Jerome, that this Eliam was the son of Ahithophel, and therefore Ahithophel later conspired with Absalom against David, in order to avenge the wrong done to his granddaughter by David. Salianus, following Hugo, considers this probable. For Ahithophel the grandfather could have been 60 years old, Eliam the father 40, and Bathsheba the daughter 18. Finally, Bathsheba (who is corruptly called Bersabee by the Greeks and many Latins) is called in Hebrew Bath Sheba, that is daughter of fullness, or Bat Shua, that is daughter of riches or salvation, and she became such, after having become the penitent wife of David, she led a holy life with him, indeed she became a prophetess, and educated her son Solomon in all piety.
Uriah the Hittite
THE WIFE OF URIAH THE HITTITE. -- Adrichomius in the Description of the tribe of Judah says: Eth, or Heth is a place in the region of Hebron, which the Hittites, descended from Hethaeus the son of Canaan, inhabited: from whom Abraham purchased the double cave. From this place also Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, was a native. And Heth in Hebrew means the same as fear, terror, crushing: whence Hittite means the same as one who strikes fear, terrible, crushing, such as Uriah was, a most valiant man. So think St. Jerome, Adrichomius, Salianus, and others. Josephus says: "Uriah was a citizen of Jerusalem, of great renown for his courage both with the king and with his fellow citizens."
Verse 4: The Adultery
4. HE SLEPT WITH HER. -- He committed adultery with her. Wonderful and profound was this fall of the holy king, psalmist, and prophet David, which teaches us to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. For St. Basil teaches that the cause of the fall and denial of St. Peter was the presumption by which he said: "Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You." So also the cause of David's fall into murder and adultery was the same presumption, namely that once visited by a singular grace, he had said that in Psalm XXIX, verse 7: "I said in my abundance: I shall never be moved." Hence St. Francis gave his followers this instruction: "When you have received grace from God, say: Lord, guard Your treasure in me, because I am its thief."
AND IMMEDIATELY SHE WAS SANCTIFIED FROM HER UNCLEANNESS -- that is to say, she washed her body with lustral water, according to the rite of the old law, and thus cleansed herself from the legal irregularity; but she did not wash away the sin, that is, the guilt of adultery; for this must be washed away not by water, but by repentance and tears.
Verse 5: Bathsheba's Message
5. AND SENDING, SHE TOLD DAVID, AND SAID: I HAVE CONCEIVED. -- St. Chrysostom says on Psalm 50: "O king, I am ruined. And he says: What ails you? I am pregnant, she says. The fruit of my sin sprouts forth, I have an accuser within me, in my womb I carry a betrayer." Whence Chrysostom morally infers: "See and marvel, Brothers, how great an evil it is to become subject to faults and sins. The king fears his soldier, and dreads his subject."
Verse 6: David Summons Uriah
6. SEND ME URIAH THE HITTITE. -- The reason was, says Abulensis, that David might free himself from the disgrace of adultery, and Bathsheba from death: he therefore called Uriah, so that he would be thought to have had relations with Bathsheba his wife, and thus the child whom Bathsheba had secretly conceived from David would be thought to be the son of Uriah her husband, not of David the adulterer. So Chrysostom on Psalm 50.
Verse 11: Uriah's Noble Refusal
11. AND URIAH SAID TO DAVID: THE ARK OF GOD AND ISRAEL AND JUDAH DWELL IN TENTS, AND MY LORD JOAB, AND THE SERVANTS OF MY LORD REMAIN UPON THE FACE OF THE EARTH; AND SHALL I GO INTO MY HOUSE, TO EAT AND DRINK AND SLEEP WITH MY WIFE? BY YOUR LIFE AND BY THE LIFE OF YOUR SOUL, I WILL NOT DO THIS THING. -- O valiant and holy soldier, who nevertheless received from David a reward unworthy of his faithfulness and courage, being destined by him for death. Thus the pious are oppressed here, that in the future judgment of Christ they may be exalted, blessed, and glorified before all the Angels and men. Whence Uriah in Hebrew means the same as my light is God, or my fire is God.
Verse 13: David Makes Uriah Drunk
13. AND HE MADE HIM DRUNK -- so that being drunk he would return home and sleep with his wife. See here how one sin draws another. David, in order to cover up his adultery, arranges to attribute his child to Uriah; which was a crime of injustice. Again, David, to arrange this substitution of his child, makes Uriah drunk, which was his third sin. For, as St. Augustine says, sermon 231 On the Times: "He who compels another to get drunk by drinking more than necessary; it would be less evil for him if he wounded his flesh, than if he harmed his soul through drunkenness."
Verse 14: The Letter of Death
14. DAVID WROTE A LETTER TO JOAB, AND SENT IT BY THE HAND OF URIAH -- because he was writing to Joab to arrange for Uriah to be killed by the Ammonites. Whence the letters of Uriah, like those of Bellerophon in Lucian, have passed into a proverb, and are spoken of those who carry letters that are the cause of their own ruin or death. This was the fourth and gravest sin of David, by which, in order to conceal his adultery and to enjoy his adulteress safely, he arranged for the death of Uriah, a most valiant soldier and most faithful to him.
Moreover, the murder was greatly aggravated by this manner in which he killed him, which was fraudulent and treacherous: "Thus from one vice another vice is born, says Isidore, just as David did not avoid adultery, he also committed murder."
Verse 16: Uriah Placed in Danger
16. HE PLACED URIAH IN THE PLACE WHERE HE KNEW THE STRONGEST MEN WERE. -- Josephus adds that Joab commended to Uriah faithfulness and zeal, that he should fight to the death for David and Israel, and secretly warned Uriah's companions to desert him in battle, and to allow him to be surrounded and cut down by the enemy. What more treacherous or wicked than this can be said or imagined? Moreover, St. Jerome asserts that David was prohibited by God from building the temple on account of the murder of Uriah.
Verse 17: The Death of Uriah
17. AND URIAH ALSO DIED. -- Behold here the consummated murder of the ungrateful David. Moreover, God permitted David to fall so gravely: First, to humble him, that he might know that, although by grace he was a holy Prophet and Psalmist, nevertheless by nature he was a fragile man and prone to sins. Second, that in his fall and rising God might show His justice equally with His mercy. Third, for the example of others, that all might learn from the fallen David to beware of occasions of falling, and especially incautious gazes upon women. Fourth, that if it happens that we fall, we should not despair, but rising again with David through repentance. Whence St. Augustine: "Many wish to fall with David, and do not wish to rise with David. Let those who have not fallen hear, lest they fall: let those who have fallen hear, that they may rise."
Verse 26: Bathsheba's Mourning
26. SHE MOURNED FOR HIM -- Uriah her husband. This mourning among the Hebrews was of seven days. The Romans however, and later the Christian Emperors, such as Gratian and Theodosius, established a year for a wife to mourn the death of her husband. But neither David nor the Hebrews waited a year, so he married Bathsheba immediately after the death of Uriah.
Verse 27: David's Fifth Sin
27. SHE BECAME HIS WIFE, AND BORE HIM A SON. -- This son was conceived in adultery, but born in wedlock. In which matter David sinned, namely that the one with whom he had committed adultery, having killed her husband, he immediately took as his wife, tacitly approving the previous adultery and murder.
AND THIS THING THAT DAVID HAD DONE DISPLEASED THE LORD. -- This was the fifth sin of David: for it was forbidden to the Jews to marry one whom they had polluted by adultery. Nathan rebukes David, not only for killing Uriah, but also for marrying the wife of the slain man: for he says in verse 9: "You struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and took his wife as your wife."
Mystical Interpretation
Mystically (which is new and wonderful), most of the Fathers interpret David's adultery as referring to Christ betrothing to Himself the Church of the Gentiles. Whence St. Ambrose, book III on Luke: "Mystery in the figure, sin in the history; guilt through the man, the Sacrament through the Word." St. Augustine, book XXII Against Faustus: "This David sinned gravely and wickedly; nevertheless He who is desirable to all nations loved the Church washing herself upon the roof, that is, cleansing herself from the filth of the world." But these allegories are not proper and of the first class, but of the second and improper, because they are looser. For what David did with sin, Christ did from holiness and mercy.