Uriah the Hittite אוּרִיָּה הַחִתִּי
David's warrior, killed by the letter he himself carried
While the army lay before Rabbah, David sent for his wife. Uriah was summoned from the field so that what had happened might be hidden—and he would not go home. His answer: "The Ark, and Israel, and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camped in the open; shall I then go to my house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, I will not do this thing" (II Samuel 11:11).
Then he was sent back with a letter to Joab, and in the letter it was written to set him where the fighting was hardest and to draw back from him. So it was done.
The prophet Nathan came to David with the parable of the poor man and his one ewe lamb, and ended plainly: "Uriah the Hittite you struck down with the sword" (12:9). The king answered in two words: "I have sinned against the Lord."
In the roll of David's mighty men that closes the book his name stands last of the thirty-seven (23:39)—and because of that the whole roll reads differently.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Tanakh
- Shmuel II 11 — the summons from the field, the answer about the Ark in booths, and the letter to Joab
- Shmuel II 12:1–13 — Nathan's parable and the king's answer
- Shmuel II 23:39 — his name last in the roll of David's mighty men
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.