Uriah the Hittite

Life and work

Uriah, identified as a Hittite (likely referring to descent rather than active Hittite nationality, since he served in David's army and bore a Yahwistic name meaning 'the Lord is my light'), was one of David's 'mighty men,' an elite group of roughly thirty distinguished warriors (2 Samuel 23:39; 1 Chronicles 11:41). He was married to Bathsheba and lived in Jerusalem, near enough to the palace that David could see her bathing from the roof (2 Samuel 11:2-3).

While Uriah was away with the army besieging the Ammonite city of Rabbah, David slept with Bathsheba, and she became pregnant. David recalled Uriah from the front, ostensibly to report on the battle, and urged him to go home to his wife — hoping Uriah would sleep with her and the pregnancy could be attributed to him. But Uriah refused, sleeping instead at the entrance of the palace with the king's servants, explaining that he could not enjoy his home and his wife while the ark of the covenant and the armies of Israel and Judah were camped in the open field; even after David got him drunk, Uriah still would not go down to his house (2 Samuel 11:6-13).

Frustrated, David sent Uriah back to the battle carrying his own death warrant: a letter to the commander Joab instructing that Uriah be placed in the fiercest fighting and then abandoned, so that he would be struck down. Joab complied, positioning Uriah near the city wall where the defenders were strongest; Uriah was killed along with several other soldiers (2 Samuel 11:14-17). David then took Bathsheba as his wife after a period of mourning, but the prophet Nathan confronted David over the killing, and the episode is presented in Scripture as a grave sin bringing lasting consequences on David's household (2 Samuel 11:26-12:14). Uriah's loyalty to his comrades in the field, in implicit contrast to David's conduct, is a deliberate note in the narrative's portrayal of the affair.

Extra-biblical evidence

No extra-biblical source attests to Uriah; he is known only from the books of Samuel and Chronicles.

Scripture references

• 2 Samuel 11:1-13 — Refuses to go home to Bathsheba while the army is in the field
• 2 Samuel 11:14-17 — Killed at David's arrangement in battle at Rabbah
• 2 Samuel 23:39 — Listed among David's mighty men
• Matthew 1:6 — Referenced as Bathsheba's husband in Jesus's genealogy