2 Kingdoms (2 Samuel) 11:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

David had an abundance of spiritual wealth, yet he was ravaged by the allure of pleasure because he failed to secure the entrance to his soul and did not protect it with the gates of temperance. How did he disregard this moderation? By allowing the body excessive repose. The account in the book of Kings states, ‘One day towards evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house.’ Here he rose from his slumber and took a stroll in the evening light; his late rising and subsequent wandering reveal a man who had succumbed to immorality, wide open to intemperance. The consequence of this indulgence? ‘And he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and that woman was very beautiful.’ He summoned her and brought dishonor upon her. There was no wrongdoing in what caught his eye; no one would condemn the eyes for observing the visible. Yet, this seemingly innocent moment became a conduit for sin, for when he beheld the woman’s form, instead of swiftly averting his gaze, he remained fixated on her beauty, as if captivated. What harm can stem from a single glance if we do not rein it in? We have the capacity to govern our appetites, just as David could have controlled his sight. However, the temptation to sin carries weight even for the unintentional. What is the solution? Let the body find satisfaction in moderation: ‘worthy is the labourer for his sustenance’ (Matthew 10:10).

This man, so extraordinarily gifted and filled with the Spirit, who in his youth displayed the wisdom of an elder, who touched the heavens and received divine gifts, who ended conflicts and triumphed over countless evils, after leading a life of chastity, humility, and integrity— when he had established his kingdom and vanquished foes, then, amid widespread peace, he faltered, revealing the profound lessons sorrow can teach us and the perils that accompany complacency. When did he stumble? In broad daylight! After a meal, he arose and strolled, and there he beheld a beautiful woman bathing. Beauty is not to be condemned; it is a divine endowment. He saw a woman, a warrior's wife, elegant and appealing. As he gazed, desire stirred within him. Let those who indulge their curiosity and gawk at others' beauty take heed. Are they listening to those who argue that mere observation brings no harm? David suffered for his gaze; does it harm you not? He was vanquished, and do you presume to be immune? Even he, graced with the Spirit, was wounded— you who view the nakedness of the unashamed remain untouched? He saw not a harlot, but a virtuous woman in her own home, while you are amidst a theater, a place that corrupts the soul, where you not only observe but also listen to obscene words, enveloped in an atmosphere of vice and sinister melodies. Your very spirit is besieged from all sides: your sight by what you see, your hearing by what you hear, and your sense of smell by what you breathe in. Such devastation, such a chasm— how can I trust that you will not become a victim of temptation? You are not stone or iron; you are human, sharing in the common frailty of our kind. Do you hold fire and expect not to be burned? What sense does that make? Place a lamp on hay, and can you assert it will not ignite? As the hay is, so too is our nature.

He stumbled in his perception upon seeing the woman bathing: while she was purifying herself, he found himself immersed in moral filth; she embraced cleanliness, but he was defiling his very being; she used water for physical purity, yet he became inflamed within. This situation deserves reproach rather than praise.

David's intense desire for physical pleasure was evident, as evidenced by his many marriages, a tendency that arose from his own nature. At that time, there was no law against polygamy, although divine law explicitly condemned adultery. When David ‘saw the woman of usury,' he did not turn away out of caution; rather, he succumbed to the allure of her beauty and ultimately indulged in sinful desire.

What is the significance of David taking Bathsheba for himself, except for being intimately joined with the law of the letter, which is tied to the fleshly man? Bathsheba represents the seventh well, indicating that through the comprehension of the law, empowered by the grace of the Spirit, we receive complete knowledge. And who does Uriah symbolize, if not the Jewish nation, whose name means “My light from God”? Thus, when the Jewish people are uplifted by the understanding of the law they have received, it is akin to them boasting of divine illumination. Yet David seized the wife of Uriah and bound himself to her, wherein the might of the Strong One is evident, reflecting the meaning of the name David: our Savior revealed Himself in the flesh, declaring that the law had signified Him in spirit. Therefore, as these events unfolded according to the written word, it showed that he had derived it from the Jewish people and united himself with it, given that he was also expressed in the letter. Furthermore, when David asks Uriah to return home and wash his feet, it symbolizes how the Lord, in human form, implored the Jewish people to awaken and cleanse away the filth of their actions through tears, to grasp the commandments of the law in a spiritual manner and, after enduring the trials of the commandments, to reach the waters of baptism.