Who Was Uriah the Hittite?

Uriah the Hittite is portrayed as a man of extraordinary integrity and loyalty whose life was tragically cut short by the treachery of King David. Despite being an ethnic Hittite, he was one of David's 'mighty men' and a devoted servant of Israel. The story of his death begins when David committed adultery with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba. When she became pregnant, David attempted to hide his sin by calling Uriah home from the battlefield, hoping he would sleep with his wife. However, Uriah's devotion to his fellow soldiers was such that he refused to enjoy the comforts of home while the army was at war. He told David in 2 Samuel 11:11, 'The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents... shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife?' Failing to manipulate him, David sent Uriah back to the front lines with a letter to Joab, the commander, instructing him to place Uriah in the most dangerous position and then withdraw support. Uriah was killed in battle, an act the Bible calls murder. When the prophet Nathan confronted David, he used a parable of a rich man stealing a poor man's ewe lamb to illustrate David's cruelty toward Uriah. Though he died in an act of betrayal, Uriah is honored in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1:6, where Bathsheba is referred to as 'her that had been the wife of Urias,' preserving the memory of his righteousness and David's fall.