2 Samuel 11:26
ESV
When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband.
NIV
When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.
NASB
Now when Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for her husband.
CSB
When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah had died, she mourned for him.
NLT
When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.
KJV
And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
NKJV
When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.
What does 2 Samuel 11:26 mean?
Bathsheba was a young wife of Uriah, one of Israel's mightiest warriors. Seven days after she finished menstruating, she took ceremonial bath. Soon after, she received a message from David, inviting her to his house. She went, and he slept with her. Not long after, she sent him a message: she is pregnant (2 Samuel 11:2–5).The Bible gives no mention of Bathsheba's feelings or intentions. We're not told if she gladly slept with David, or if he coerced or intimidated her. But when Nathan later tells a parable about the events, he portrays her as an innocent lamb who was greatly loved by a poor man who treated her like a daughter (2 Samuel 12:3). David is compared to a rich man who steals her as dinner for a traveler (2 Samuel 12:4). We recognize Nathan's example and consider her effectively innocent in the whole situation.
We can't know the depth of her suffering. She was betrayed by her king. She has lost her husband. Soon, she will lose her son. In judgment for David's sin, God declares that the child will die. David fasts and mourns for seven days while the child is sick. Finally, the boy dies. David takes comfort that he will see him in the afterlife (2 Samuel 12:14–23).
