Sent and inquired: this two-verb construction conveys the idea of David’s giving an order that resulted in an inquiry about the identity of the woman he had just seen taking her bath. While the verb sent has no object in Hebrew, one will have to be supplied in most languages. It may be best in many cases to say “sent a servant to inquire” or “sent someone to find out” (New International Version).

One said: literally “he said.” This may be a reference to some unnamed person whose identity was either hidden or unknown to the writer or considered unimportant to the story. Or it may be a reference to the implied object of the verb “send.” New International Version translates “the man said,” indicating that the person revealing this information was in fact the same person that David had sent to ask questions about Bathsheba. Many other modern versions do something similar. Good News Translation deals with the problem by saying only that David “learned.” Revised English Bible avoids the problem of stating the subject by using the passive form “was told.”

The answer is given in the form of a question, which may indicate some doubt on the part of the speaker. But questions are also used in contexts like this to establish a fact. In addition to Good News Translation, the following versions and commentaries make this a simple statement of fact rather than a question: New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Revised Standard Version, Anchor Bible, and Anderson. And Revised English Bible translates “it must be Bathsheba daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite.”

Daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite: it is unusual to identify a woman by the name of her father and of her husband at the same time. Some commentators speculate that this shows that it is important who her father was, but no reasons are given as to why this should be so. The Eliam referred to is probably not the same as the person with the same name mentioned later in 23.34. Bathsheba’s husband is further identified as the Hittite, showing that he was one of the non-Israelites who were taken into David’s army. However, his name, which means “the LORD is light,” may be an indication that Uriah or his father had embraced the Israelite religion.

At the end of this verse, a manuscript from Qumran adds the words “the armor bearer of Joab.” New American Bible includes these words within brackets; but most translations follow the Masoretic Text here, to which Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives an {A} rating.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .