Verse Lens · Concise explanation
2 Samuel 11:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?
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 David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “David Sends, Takes Bathsheba, and Receives Her Message.”
Read It With
- 2 Samuel 11:1–5
Read 2 Samuel 11:3 with 11:1–5. The wording “And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of…” 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: While armies besiege Rabbah, David sees Bathsheba, sends inquiries and messengers, takes her, lies with her, and receives her pregnancy notice.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “David Sends, Takes Bathsheba, and Receives Her Message,” 2 Samuel 11:3 advances the thought unit through its next reported action, speech, or consequence through the wording “And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 2 Samuel 10:15–19 establishes this prior movement: Hadadezer gathers forces beyond the River, David crosses Jordan, defeats them, and their client kings seek peace and fear further aid to Ammon. 2 Samuel 11:1–5 continues the narrative consequence; that demonstrated relationship, rather than sequence alone, explains its placement.
What Remains True
Power remains accountable for the people it exposes, takes, silences, injures, or kills; truthful memory keeps their bodies, testimony, agency, and cost visible. In this unit, that truth is tested by the concrete movement: While armies besiege Rabbah, David sees Bathsheba, sends inquiries and messengers, takes her, lies with her, and receives her pregnancy notice. In 2 Samuel 11:3, the concrete line “And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
How It Can Shape Life
- The evidence to keep visible in this verse is “And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bath-sheba, the daughter of….” Respond to sexual coercion or assault by protecting the person harmed, preserving their choices and testimony, involving qualified independent support, and holding the person who used power accountable. This response follows from the unit's own pattern—While armies besiege Rabbah, David sees Bathsheba, sends inquiries and messengers, takes her, lies with her, and receives her pregnancy notice.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Samuel 11:1–5 — David Sends, Takes Bathsheba, and Receives Her MessageSources 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 11:1-5, 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, 11:1-5
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 11:1-5
Open source ↗