Greek word · G3774
Οὐρίας
ourias
Uriah
"Out of the [one] of Uriah." Greek can express "X's wife" with a feminine article followed by the husband's name, and leave out the word "wife".
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
"Out of the [one] of Uriah." Greek can express "X's wife" with a feminine article followed by the husband's name, and leave out the word "wife".
- Against the English
KJV has "of her [that had been the wife] of Urias", WEB "by her who had been Uriah's wife", BSB "by Uriah's wife" and YLT "of her [who had been] Uriah's". Some versions add Bathsheba's name. The words "had been" and the name "Bathsheba" are both supplied by translators and are not in the Greek.
- How it drifted
Translators add the name to help readers. That makes the verse clear but loses Matthew's pointed choice to name the man rather than the woman.
- Used elsewhere in the period
2 Samuel 11:3 introduces her as "Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite". In the Septuagint her name is Bersabee. Uriah appears among David's "Thirty" mighty men (2 Sam 23:39). Nathan's rebuke places the guilt on David (2 Sam 12:1–14). 1 Chronicles 3:5 calls Solomon's mother "Bath-shua daughter of Ammiel".
Where it appears
Matthew · 1
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Matthew 1:6 Οὐρίου· of Uriah;
and Jesse the father of David the king. Next: David was the father of Solomon by Uriah’s wife,
Here: "Of Uriah". This is Uriah the Hittite, one of David's elite warriors, whose wife David took and whom David had killed (2 Sam 11; 23:39). Matthew names the wronged husband rather than the mother, and so calls the whole affair to mind.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.