Limitless Word
Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.
2 Samuel 11:6 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB David sent to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” Joab sent Uriah to David.
  • KJV And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David.
  • BSB At this, David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent him to David.
  • NKJV Then David sent to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David.
  • NASB Then David sent word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

David orders Joab to send Uriah back from the front. He begins scheming to conceal his sin.

Overview

Rather than repenting, David devises a plan to make Uriah appear to be the child's father. He bends his military command structure to serve his cover-up. The verse shows sin's downward pull, as the attempt to hide wrongdoing draws David into deeper deception.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Prov 28:13He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
  • Gen 38:18–23He said, “What pledge will I give you?” She said, “Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand.” He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him.
  • Matt 26:70But he denied it before them all, saying, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
  • 1 Sam 15:30Then he said, “I have sinned; yet please honor me now before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God.”
  • Gen 4:7If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.”
  • Matt 26:72Again he denied it with an oath, “I don’t know the man.”
  • Matt 26:74Then he began to curse and to swear, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately the rooster crowed.
  • Job 20:12–14“Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue,
  • Isa 29:13The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 2 Samuel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 2 Samuel 11:6YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 2 SamuelMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.

How 2 Samuel 11:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.