Uriah the Hittite Uriah the Hittite Uriah the Hittite ( "’Ūrîyāh ha-Ḥittî") was a soldier in King David’s army mentioned in the biblical Second Book of Samuel. He was the husband of Bathsheba and was sent to the front lines of battle by order of King David. Uriah's wife had become pregnant by King David in Uriah's absence. Although the king had ordered him to return home and see his wife, Uriah repeatedly refused to leave his post or leave the King's presence to see her. Contact between the couple would have hidden the source of her pregnancy. Eventually, David had Uriah killed.
Uriah the Hittite status as one of David's mighty men, British rabbi Jonathan Magonet observes that Uriah refers to Joab, not David, as 'my lord (or commander)' (2 Samuel 11:11). Joab is, Magonet notes, a kingmaker who dispatches ruthlessly his own military rivals, Abner and Amasa. He is sufficiently powerful that David, on his deathbed, advises Solomon to arrange his death (1 Kings 2:5–6). This prompts Magonet to speculate that David saw some deeper political threat from Joab through his entanglement with Uriah's wife. The prophet Nathan soon after confronted David about this murder, by first telling him a story of a rich