11:1
We now come to the most infamous of David’s sins and the start of his downfall. Joab was out with the army, but David remained in Jerusalem. There is a common opinion that David should have been out with the army instead of remaining in Jerusalem, and it was his staying in Jerusalem which gave him the opportunity to sin, “the devil finds work for idle hands” scenario. The commentary casts doubt on this assessment, saying that the army was involved in a long siege, and David staying at home was not necessarily a sin. However, the text does draw attention to the fact that it was “the time when kings go off to war”, so it would seem to imply that David should have been with the army.
11:2
One evening David was walking around the roof of the palace. This would have been a flat roof! The palace would have been higher than the other buildings, so it gave him a good view of the surrounding area. Included in this view was Bathsheba, who is described as being very beautiful. A few years ago I heard someone on Premier’s Unbelievable arguing that the Bible portrays Bathsheba as being guilty, or culpable, tempting David. I have to say that in all my years of reading the Bible (45 years) I had never even thought of such a view. Having heard the suggestion I still can see no evidence for it at all. The Bible quite clearly presents David as being guilty, and seriously so.
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