2 Samuel 11:21

21 say, 'And by the way, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'"

2 Samuel 11:21 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 11:21

Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth?
&c.] The same with Jerubbaal, who was Gideon, ( Judges 6:32 ) ; Baal, one part of his name, was the name of an idol, and sometimes called Bosheth or Besheth, which signifies shame, being a shameful idol; Gideon had a son called Abimelech, who was smitten, and it is here asked, by whom?

did not a woman cast a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died
in Thebez?
which should have been a warning not to go too near the wall of an enemy; the history is recorded in ( Judges 9:52 Judges 9:53 ) ;

why went ye nigh the wall?
exposing your lives to so much danger, and by which so many lives were lost:

then say thou, thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also;
the whole has not been told, the worst of all is, as the messenger was to represent it, that brave gallant soldier Uriah is dead; this Joab ordered to be told last, as knowing very well it would pacify the king's wrath, and was the agreeable news he wanted to hear.

2 Samuel 11:21 In-Context

19 He instructed the messenger, "After you have given to the king a detailed report on the battle,

20 if he flares in anger,

21 say, 'And by the way, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.'"

22 Joab's messenger arrived in Jerusalem and gave the king a full report.

23 He said, "The enemy was too much for us. They advanced on us in the open field, and we pushed them back to the city gate.