11:4 David sent some messengers to get her. 1 She came to him and he had sexual relations with her. 2 (Now at that time she was in the process of purifying herself from her menstrual uncleanness.) 3 Then she returned to her home.
11:16 So as Joab kept watch on the city, he stationed Uriah at the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers 4 were. 11:17 When the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, some of David’s soldiers 5 fell in battle. Uriah the Hittite also died.
1 tn Heb “and David sent messengers and he took her.”
2 tn Heb “he lay with her” (so NASB, NRSV); TEV “he made love to her”; NIV, CEV, NLT “he slept with her.”
3 tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause further heightens the tension by letting the reader know that Bathsheba, having just completed her menstrual cycle, is ripe for conception. See P. K. McCarter, II Samuel (AB), 286. Since she just had her period, it will also be obvious to those close to the scene that Uriah, who has been away fighting, cannot be the father of the child.
4 tn Heb “the valiant men.” This refers in context to the strongest or most valiant defenders of the city Joab and the Israelite army were besieging, so the present translation uses “the best enemy soldiers” for clarity.
5 tn Heb “some of the people from the servants of David.”