2 Samuel 11:1

And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
year	הַשָּׁנָ֜ה ha.sha.Nah	H8141	a year (as a revolution of time) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
expired	לִתְשׁוּבַ֨ת lit.shu.Vat	H8666	a recurrence (of time or place) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
time	לְעֵ֣ת le.'Et	H6256	time · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
kings	מֶלֶךְ melek	H4428	a king
forth	צֵ֣את tzet	H3318	to go (causatively · verb, qal infinitive construct
David	דָּוִ֡ד da.Vid	H1732	David · proper noun, a man's name
sent	וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח vai.yish.Lach	H7971	to send away · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Joab	יוֹאָב֩ yo.'Av	H3097	Joab · proper noun, a man's name
servants	עֲבָדָ֨יו 'a.va.Dav	H5650	a servant · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
destroyed	וַיַּשְׁחִ֙תוּ֙ vai.yash.Chi.tu	H7843	to decay · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
children	בְּנֵ֣י be.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Ammon	עַמּ֔וֹן a.Mon	H5983	Ammon · proper noun, a man's name
besieged	וַיָּצֻ֖רוּ vai.ya.Tzu.ru	H6696	to cramp · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Rabbah	רַבָּ֑ה ra.Bah	H7237	Rabbah · proper noun, a place name
David	וְדָוִ֖ד ve.da.Vid	H1732	David · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
still	יוֹשֵׁ֥ב yo.Shev	H3427	properly · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
Jerusalem	בִּירוּשָׁלִָֽם bi.ru.sha.Lim	H3389	Jerushalaim or Jerushalem · preposition + proper noun, a place name

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Chronicles 20:1 And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and was…
1 Kings 20:26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
1 Kings 20:22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return…
2 Chronicles 36:10 And when the year was expired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of the LORD, and m…
Ecclesiastes 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Deuteronomy 3:11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the child…
Ezekiel 21:20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
2 Samuel 12:26-28 And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 11:1-5

Here is, I. David's glory, in pursuing the war against the Ammonites, Sa2 11:1. We cannot take that pleasure in viewing this great action which hitherto we have taken in observing David's achievements, because the beauty of it was stained and sullied by sin; otherwise we might take notice of David's wisdom and bravery in following his blow. Having routed the army of the Ammonites in the field, as soon as ever the season of the year permitted he sent more forces to waste the country and further to avenge the quarrel of his ambassadors. Rabbah, their metropolis, made a stand, and held out a great while. To this city Joab laid close siege, and it was at the time of this siege that David fell in…

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Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 11:1

When kings go forth - This was about a year after the war with the Syrians spoken of before, and about the spring of the year, as the most proper season for military operations. Calmet thinks they made two campaigns, one in autumn and the other in spring; the winter being in many respects inconvenient, and the summer too hot.

John Gill on 2 Samuel 11:1

And it came to pass, that after the year was expired,.... Or at the end of the year, as the Targum, which concluded with the month Adar or February, the spring of the year: at the time when kings go forth to battle; in the month Nisan, as the Targum on 1 Chronicles 20:1; adds, the same with Abib, which was the first month of the year, Exodus 12:2, a fit time to go out to war; when, as the Jewish commentators observe, the rains were over, and there were grass in the fields, and fruit on the trees, and corn ripe, and so food for horse and men. This month was called Nisan, as some think (d), from the military banners then erected; so by the Romans it is called Martius, and by us March, from M…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 11:1-27

David’s affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah show that David was capable of great failure and cast a dark shadow over David’s life and career. These failures came during a time of great military success against the Ammonites (10:1–11:1; 12:26-31). 11:1 In the spring of the year, the land began to dry out after the heavy winter rains. Kings avoided war during the rainy season. • David stayed behind either because he was irresponsible in carrying out his royal duties or because he trusted Joab to efficiently handle the Ammonite problem (cp. 10:7). This is the first mention of a leader of Israel staying off the battlefield in a time of war.

Dictionary and topics

Chronicles, Books of — The two books were originally one. They bore the title in the Massoretic Hebrew Dibre hayyamim, i.e., “Acts of the Days.” This title was rendered by Jerome in his Latin version “Chronicon,” and hence…
Joab — Jehovah is his father. (1.) One of the three sons of Zeruiah, David’s sister, and “captain of the host” during the whole of David’s reign (2 Sam. 2:13; 10:7; 11:1; 1 Kings 11:15). His father’s name…
Rabbah — Or Rab’bath, great. (1.) “Rabbath of the children of Ammon,” the chief city of the Ammonites, among the eastern hills, some 20 miles east of the Jordan, on the southern of the two streams which…
Ammonites · General references — General references
Armies · Began their campaigns in the spring — Began their campaigns in the spring
Joab · . — .
Rabbah · . — .
Siege · .Rabbah — .Rabbah
Sieges · Mentioned in scripture: Rabbah — Mentioned in scripture: Rabbah

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 11:1-5

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 11:1

John Gill on 2 Samuel 11:1

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 11:1-27

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 11:1-5

Adam Clarke on 2 Samuel 11:1

John Gill on 2 Samuel 11:1

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Samuel 11:1-27

Dictionary and topics

Rashi on 2 Samuel 11:1