2 Samuel 11:2

And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(2) In an eveningtide.—Late in the afternoon, when David had taken the siesta customary in Oriental countries, he rose from his couch and walked on the roof of his palace, which in the cool of the day was the pleasantest part of an eastern house. This palace was on the height of Mount Zion, and looked down upon the open courts of the houses in the lower city. In one of these he saw a beautiful woman bathing. In the courts of the houses it was common to have a basin of water, and the place was probably entirely concealed from every other point of observation than the roof of the palace, from which no harm was suspected.

David’s grievous fall was consequent upon his long course of uninterrupted prosperity and power, which had somewhat intoxicated him and thrown him off his guard. It is no part of the plan of Scripture to cover up or excuse the sins of even its greatest heroes and saints. This sin was followed by the deepest repentance and by the Divine forgiveness; nevertheless its punishment overclouded all the remaining years of David’s life. His fall, as St. Augustine has said, should put upon their guard those who have not fallen, and save from despair those who have.

Benson Commentary

2 Samuel 11:2. David arose from off his bed — Where he had lain down to sleep in the heat of the day, as the manner was in those countries; and where he had probably slept for some time. The bed of sloth often proves the bed of lust. And walked upon the roof of his house — To take the fresh air, for the roofs of the houses in that country were flat for this purpose. He saw a woman washing herself — In a bath, which was in her garden; probably from some ceremonial pollution.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:1-5 Observe the occasions of David's sin; what led to it. 1. Neglect of his business. He tarried at Jerusalem. When we are out of the way of our duty, we are in temptation. 2. Love of ease: idleness gives great advantage to the tempter. 3. A wandering eye. He had not, like Job, made a covenant with his eyes, or, at this time, he had forgotten it. And observe the steps of the sin. See how the way of sin is down-hill; when men begin to do evil, they cannot soon stop. Observe the aggravations of the sin. How could David rebuke or punish that in others, of which he was conscious that he himself was guilty?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

An eveningtide - The evening began at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2Sa 11:2-12. David Commits Adultery with Bath-sheba.

2. it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed—The Hebrews, like other Orientals, rose at daybreak, and always took a nap during the heat of the day. Afterwards they lounged in the cool of the evening on their flat-roofed terraces. It is probable that David had ascended to enjoy the open-air refreshment earlier than usual.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

From off his bed; where he had lain and slept for some time; being possibly disposed to sleep after dinner, by reason of some excess committed in eating or drinking; and indulging himself in his lazy humour, which may seem very improper for so great a prince and captain, who had so many and great burdens upon his shoulders, especially in a time of war; and therefore such practices have been condemned by heathens; and Homer will not allow a general and great counsellor to sleep all the night, much less to take any part of the day for it. And therefore this is thought to be David’s first error, and the occasion of his following fall. Walked upon the roof; which was plain, after the manner, Deu 22:8.

Washing herself, to wit, in a bath, which possibly was in her garden, or in some room near to the king s palace, where she might wash herself divers ways, and for different ends; either for health, or coolness, or to cleanse herself from some kind of legal impurity; where also, the windows being open, and she careless, David might espy her.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And it came to pass in an eveningtide,.... Some time in the afternoon, when the sun began to decline; not in the dusk of the evening, for then the object he saw could not have been seen so distinctly by him:

that David arose from off his bed; having taken a nap in the heat of the day after dinner; indulging himself more than he used to do to sloth and luxury, which prepared him, and led him on the more eagerly to the lust of uncleanness:

and walked upon the roof of the king's house; to refresh himself after his sleep, it being the cool of the day, and the roof of the house being flat and fit to walk upon, as the houses of Judea were; see Deuteronomy 22:8,

and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; in a bath in her garden, or in an apartment in her house, the window being open:

and the woman was very beautiful to look upon; of a fine shape and good complexion, and comely countenance; all which were incentives to lust, at which his eye was attracted to, and his heart was ensnared with her.

Geneva Study Bible

And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his {b} bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

(b) Upon which he used to rest in the afternoon, as was read of Ishbosheth in 2Sa 4:7.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. arose from off his bed] In the cool of the afternoon, after his midday siesta. Cp. ch. 2 Samuel 4:5.

walked upon the roof] The flat roofs of Oriental houses “afford a most delightful promenade.… During a large part of the year the roof is the most agreeable place about the establishment, especially in the morning and the evening.” Thomson’s The Land and the Book, p. 39. David’s palace on Mount Zion (ch. 2 Samuel 5:9) commanded a view of Uriah’s house, which was in the Lower City (2 Samuel 11:8, go down).

2–5. David’s adultery with Bath-sheba

It is one object of Holy Scripture to paint sin in its true colours. No friendly flattery, no false modesty, draws a veil over this dark scene in David’s life. It is recorded as a warning (1 Corinthians 10:11-12), that even holy men may yield to temptation and fall into gross sin; that one sin almost inevitably leads to others; that sin, even when repented of, brings punishment in its train.

With stern simplicity the inspired prophet-historian describes how “the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin: and the sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15). The king who but a few years before had sung of “clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:4), and vowed to exclude from his palace all workers of deceit (Psalm 101:7) is dragged by his passion into meanness, ingratitude, dissimulation, treachery, murder. “These things were written for our admonition … Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:11-12).

But if the history is a stern record of the enthralling power and the inevitable consequences of sin, it is no less a testimony to the liberating power of repentance. “Sicut lapsus David cautos facit eos qui non ceciderunt, sic desperatos esse non vult qui ceciderunt” (Augustine on Psalms 51): or in the words of Bishop Hall: “How can we presume of not sinning, or despair for sinning, when we find so great a saint thus fallen, thus risen.”

It is the necessary key to the history of the rest of David’s reign. It explains the sudden overclouding of his life; the change from triumph and prosperity to sorrow and failure. See further in the Introduction, ch. VI. § 10, p. 36, and § 16, p. 41.

This narrative is altogether omitted in the Book of Chronicles, for reasons which are explained in the Introduction, ch. III. p. 22.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - David arose from off his bed. It was usual in Palestine, and remains so in all hot countries, to take a siesta in the heat of the day (2 Samuel 4:5); and, on awaking, David walked backward and forward on the fiat roof of his house (1 Samuel 9:25), to enjoy the cool breezes of the evening. In so doing he was probably following his usual habits; but temptation came upon him, as so often is the case, unexpectedly. We are told that it is regarded in the East as improper for one neighbour to look over the battlement of his house into the inner court of the next dwelling (Philippson). Considering the jealousy with which Orientals guard the female members of their family from intrusion, it was a wrong act on the king's part to spy into what was going on in the recesses of the adjoining house. But he did so, and suffered for it years of disgrace and misery. For he saw a beautiful woman, the wife of one of his high officers, bathing, probably to purify herself from some legal uncleanness, such as those mentioned in Leviticus 15. No blame, so far, must be attached to her. The place was regarded as perfectly secluded, and probably neither she nor Uriah had ever suspected that what went on there could be observed from the roof of the king's palace. 2 Samuel 11:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

David's Adultery. - David's deep fall forms a turning-point not only in the inner life of the great king, but also in the history of his reign. Hitherto David had kept free from the grosser sins, and had only exhibited such infirmities and failings as simulation, prevarication, etc., which clung to all the saints of the Old Covenant, and were hardly regarded as sins in the existing stage of religious culture at that time, although God never left them unpunished, but invariably visited them upon His servants with humiliations and chastisements of various kinds. Among the unacknowledged sins which God tolerated because of the hardness of Israel's heart was polygamy, which encouraged licentiousness and the tendency to sensual excesses, and to which but a weak barrier had been presented by the warning that had been given for the Israelitish kings against taking many wives (Deuteronomy 17:17), opposed as such a warning was to the notion so prevalent in the East both in ancient and modern times, that a well-filled harem is essential to the splendour of a princely court. The custom to which this notion gave rise opened a dangerous precipice in David's way, and led to a most grievous fall, that can only be explained, as O. v. Gerlach has said, from the intoxication consequent upon undisturbed prosperity and power, which grew with every year of his reign, and occasioned a long series of most severe humiliations and divine chastisements that marred the splendour of his reign, notwithstanding the fact that the great sin was followed by deep and sincere repentance.

2 Samuel 11:2-5

Towards evening David walked upon the roof of his palace, after rising from his couch, i.e., after taking his mid-day rest, and saw from the roof a woman bathing, namely in the uncovered court of a neighbouring house, where there was a spring with a pool of water, such as you still frequently meet with in the East. "The woman was beautiful to look upon." Her outward charms excited sensual desires.