Verse Lens · Concise explanation
2 Samuel 11:20 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 20. 20And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence: “And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “David Uses Uriah to Carry His Own Death Order.”
Read It With
- 2 Samuel 11:14–21
Read 2 Samuel 11:20 with 11:14–21. The wording “And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so…” supplies one step in the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: David writes Joab a lethal battlefield instruction, Uriah carries it, Joab places him near danger, and soldiers die with him.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “David Uses Uriah to Carry His Own Death Order,” 2 Samuel 11:20 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 2 Samuel 11:6–13 establishes this prior movement: David recalls Uriah and repeatedly tries to send him to his house, but Uriah refuses comfort while the ark and army remain exposed. 2 Samuel 11:14–21 brings the preceding movement toward a consequence or close; that demonstrated relationship, rather than sequence alone, explains its placement.
What Remains True
Truthful grief may honor real love and loss without denying harm, forcing praise, or converting sorrow into a political claim. In this unit, that truth is tested by the concrete movement: David writes Joab a lethal battlefield instruction, Uriah carries it, Joab places him near danger, and soldiers die with him. In 2 Samuel 11:20, the concrete line “And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “And if so be that the king’s wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so….” Treat indirect orders, delegated violence, and manipulated risk as accountable decisions: preserve the instruction, protect witnesses, and examine both the authorizing and executing officials. This response follows from the unit's own pattern—David writes Joab a lethal battlefield instruction, Uriah carries it, Joab places him near danger, and soldiers die with him.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Samuel 11:14–21 — David Uses Uriah to Carry His Own Death OrderSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 2 Samuel 11:14-21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Samuel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, repeated verbs, names, syntax, and the base text behind translation and textual discussion.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Sam.xml, 11:14-21
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 2 Samuel with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Unit-bounded wording, older-English clarification, textual witnesses, syntax, names, numbers, and major historical or literary notes actually printed for these verses.
Exact location: NET Bible 2 Samuel PDF, printed pp. 557–558, translation and all translator notes attached to 11:14-21
Open source ↗