Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

URIAH

(Heb. ʾûrîyâ, ʾûrîyāhû)

1. Uriah the Hittite, husband of Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11:1-26) and one of David’s elite 30 warriors (23:39; 1 Chr. 11:41). The Hittites of Palestine were an ethnic group of uncertain relatonship to the Neo-Hittite states to the north. Ethnic Hittites could be assimilated into Israelite society, as shown by Uriah’s Yahwistic name and high rank in David’s army (cf. Ahimelech the Hittite, 1 Sam. 26:6). If Eliam the father of Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11:3) was Eliam the son of Ahitophel the Gilonite (23:34), then Uriah also made a good marriage. His father-in-law was both an elite warrior and the son of David’s esteemed counselor (2 Sam. 15:12; 16:23). Uriah’s marriage may explain the proximity of his house to the palace (2 Sam. 11:2-3).

The story of David and Bathsheba condemns David for adultery and murder (2 Sam. 11:1–12:25). Having impregnated Bathsheba, David brings Uriah home from the front, assuming that a visit with his wife will make it look as though he is the father (2 Sam. 11:1-8). However, Uriah does not go home, but instead spends the night with the royal servants (2 Sam. 11:9). When David questions him, he professes solidarity with his fellow soldiers, whose engagement in holy war requires sexual abstinence (2 Sam. 11:10-11; cf. 1 Sam. 21:5[MT 6]). Also, Uriah may have learned of the adultery from David’s servants, who had fetched Bathsheba for David (cf. 2 Sam. 11:4). Knowledgeably or innocently, Uriah still refuses to visit his wife, even when made drunk by David (2 Sam. 11:12-13). Foiled by his subordinate, David then directs Joab to have Uriah killed in battle so that he can marry Bathsheba and the baby will appear legitimate (2 Sam. 11:14-27). The contrast between Uriah’s staunch loyalty to the most stringent of Yahwistic demands, though a foreigner, and the king’s shameless transgression of its most basic commandments is starkly drawn.

2. High priest under Ahaz (735-715), who built a Syrian altar for the king and performed Yahweh’s sacrifices and offerings on it (2 Kgs. 16:10-16). He also was called by Isaiah to witness to the name Maher-shalal-hash-baz (“Pillage hastens, looting speeds”), signifying the imminent Assyrian despoliation of Damascus and Samaria (Isa. 8:2).

3. Prophet at the time of Jeremiah, killed by Jehoiakim for prophesying against Jerusalem and Judah (Jer. 26:20-23).

4. Father of Meremoth the priest, at the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezra 8:33; Neh. 3:4, 21).

5. One who stood with Ezra at the reading of the Torah (Neh. 8:4), possibly the same as 4.

Bibliography. P. K. McCarter, Jr., II Samuel. AB 9 (Garden City, 1984); M. Garsiel, “The Story of David and Bathsheba,” CBQ 55 (1993): 244-62.

Marsha White

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

URIAH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)