2 Samuel 11:10
ESV
When they told David, "Uriah did not go down to his house," David said to Uriah, "Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?"
NIV
David was told, "Uriah did not go home." So he asked Uriah, "Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?"
NASB
Now when they informed David, saying, 'Uriah did not go down to his house,' David said to Uriah, 'Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?'
CSB
When it was reported to David, "Uriah didn’t go home," David questioned Uriah, "Haven’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?"
NLT
When David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked, 'What’s the matter? Why didn’t you go home last night after being away for so long?'
KJV
And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house?
NKJV
So when they told David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Did you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”
What does 2 Samuel 11:10 mean?
David may have gone to bed thinking that he had cleverly solved his problem. He created a crisis when he impulsively slept with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, and made her pregnant (2 Samuel 11:1–5). If the truth comes out, all three of them will suffer terribly. If he and Bathsheba can convince Uriah that he is the child's father, they will carry the secret, but the political disaster crisis will be averted.Uriah has been fighting against the Ammonites with the Israelite army. David called him back to Jerusalem to give a report of the battle. It's unusual for the king to request a general instead of a messenger, but Uriah comes. Once Uriah gives his report, David sends him home.
David wakes up to learn that the problem remains. Uriah's loyalty and integrity are unshakeable. Instead of going home to his wife, Uriah slept in the barracks with David's servants. Uriah did not have sex with Bathsheba, and David can't pretend the baby is Uriah's.
David calls to see Uriah again and asks him why he didn't go home. Uriah's answer will show that he has more integrity than the king himself has demonstrated. Since David's service to King Saul, he has made it a point to refrain from sex while on a mission. He mentioned this to the priest Ahimelech that he and his men keep their "vessels holy" when on an expedition (1 Samuel 21:1–5). His genealogies seem to affirm this. In the time he was married to Michal, she never gave birth. And although he was married to Ahinoam and Abigail when he was running from Saul, they didn't have children until they were all settled in Hebron when David became king of Judah (1 Samuel 25:42–43; 2 Samuel 2:30:2–5).
As one of David's mightiest warriors, it's not surprising Uriah keeps this tradition, although it is inconvenient for David.
