2 Samuel 11:2-4

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 2 Samuel 11:2 tn Heb “on the roof of the house of the king.” So also in vv. 8, 9.
2. 2 Samuel 11:2 tn The disjunctive clause highlights this observation and builds the tension of the story.
3. 2 Samuel 11:3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the messenger) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4. 2 Samuel 11:4 tn Heb “and David sent messengers and he took her.”
5. 2 Samuel 11:4 tn The expression בּוֹא אֶל (boʾ ʾel) means “come to” or “approach,” but is also used as a euphemism for sexual relations, the implied purpose for approaching someone. Here it refers only to the stage of approaching while the next verb describes the result. That she is the subject of this verb (while David is the subject of the next verb) probably indicates that the act was consensual.
6. 2 Samuel 11:4 tn Heb “he lay down with her.” The verb שָׁכַב (shakav) “to lie down” can be a euphemism for going to bed for sexual relations.
7. 2 Samuel 11:4 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause further heightens the tension by letting the reader know that Bathsheba, having just completed her menstrual cycle, is ripe for conception. See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 286. Since she just had her period, it will also be obvious to those close to the scene that Uriah, who has been away fighting, cannot be the father of the child.