2 Samuel 11:25
ESV
David said to the messenger, "Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him."
NIV
David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab."
NASB
Then David said to the messenger, 'This is what you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another; fight with determination against the city and overthrow it’; and thereby encourage him.'
CSB
David told the messenger, "Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him."
NLT
Well, tell Joab not to be discouraged,' David said. 'The sword devours this one today and that one tomorrow! Fight harder next time, and conquer the city!'
KJV
Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another: make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it: and encourage thou him.
NKJV
Then David said to the messenger, “Thus you shall say to Joab: ‘Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.’ So encourage him.”
What does 2 Samuel 11:25 mean?
The Israelite army has besieged Rabbah, a fortified city of the Ammonite kingdom. During the battle, Joab received a message from David that Uriah, one of the thirty fiercest warriors, was to go home to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 11:6). When Uriah returned to the battle, he carried a sealed letter. In the letter, David instructed Joab to place Uriah against the Ammonites' "valiant men," withdraw his backup, and let him die. Joab follows orders, and the Ammonites kill Uriah, as well as other Israelite soldiers (2 Samuel 11:14–17).Joab has sent a messenger to give David an update on the battle. He's done what he can to prepare the messenger for David's angry outburst for losing so many men in a tactically horrible maneuver, but when David hears that Uriah is dead, he speaks kindly. David casually, almost coldly, points out that death in battle is often random. Joab is to continue the campaign.
David's hypocrisy is thick. He wanted Uriah dead because while the general was fighting, David slept with his wife and made her pregnant. Uriah must die so that David can hide his sin (2 Samuel 11:2–5).
But David wants the Ammonites destroyed for a far lesser crime. When the old Ammonite king died, David sent messengers with condolences. The new king feared they were spies, reconnoitering for an invasion. He had his men cut off half the messengers' beards and half their cloaks. David told the men to stay in Jericho until their beards came in. Then he sent Joab to take care of the Ammonites (2 Samuel 10:1–7).
The Ammonite king and his advisors disrespected David's messengers, so David commands the destruction of an entire city. David sins against his general's wife, so David murders his general. He thinks he's gotten away with it, too. He forgets that God is watching (2 Samuel 12).
