What Chance Did Uriah Have?
He had the proverbial, Buckley's Chance, or Buckley's and none, or zero chance of survival. Modern images of the ancient world highlight King David's treachery.
William Buckley was a famous runaway convict in Australia’s colonial days. He fled the first penal settlement in Victoria in 1803, believing he could walk to China. Given up for dead, he lived with Aborigines for 32 years before re-entering colonial society. His unlikely survival, eluding authorities for that long, has entered Australian folklore, and the phrase Buckley’s Chance is somewhat analogous to, “one in a million,” or “fat chance.” The ancient Israelite warrior, Uriah the Hittite, had even less chance of survival than Buckley, once King David had put his hand to the matter.
Uriah’s fate is recounted in 2 Samuel 11, within the context of King David's sin. Uriah was a loyal soldier in David's army and the husband of Bathsheba. After David had an affair with Bathsheba and she became pregnant, David attempted to cover up the affair by summoning Uriah home from the battlefield, hoping he would spend time with his wife. However, Uriah's sense of duty and loyalty to his fellow soldiers prevented him from going home while the army was in battle, so he stayed at the king's palace with the other servants.
When David's initial plan failed, he resorted to a darker scheme. He wrote a letter to Joab, the commander of his army, instructing him to place Uriah at the forefront of the fiercest fighting and then withdraw the troops so that Uriah would be left exposed to the enemy. David sealed this letter and had Uriah deliver it himself, unaware it contained his death sentence.
Uriah was placed in the heat of battle near the walls of Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites. Following David's orders, the army withdrew, and Uriah was struck down and killed. His death allowed David to take Bathsheba as his wife, but the act displeased God, leading to severe consequences for David and his household.
This story underscores themes of betrayal, moral failure, and the abuse of power, as well as God's ultimate judgment and justice.
The ancient city of Rabbah, also known as Rabbath-Ammon, is located in modern-day Amman, the capital of Jordan. Situated along the banks of the Amman River (Wadi Amman), this area was a significant urban center in the ancient Near East.
In biblical times, Rabbah was the capital of the Ammonites, a neighboring people of Israel. Its strategic location and abundant water supply made it a key city for trade and military operations. Today, traces of its ancient past can still be found in Amman, including ruins such as the Amman Citadel and the Roman Theater (pictured above), which reflect its continuous occupation and historical significance.
While there isn’t a specific site in modern Amman that can definitively be identified as the exact location of Uriah’s death, the Bible describes the event as taking place during a siege near the walls of Rabbah. In modern Amman, the Amman Citadel (Jabal al-Qal'a) is often considered the most historically significant part of the ancient city and corresponds to the likely heart of Rabbah.
The Citadel, perched on one of the city’s highest hills, includes remnants of fortifications and walls from various periods, including the Ammonite era. This area would have been a focal point of defense during ancient sieges, making it a plausible location for the type of military action described in 2 Samuel 11:24, where Uriah was killed by enemy archers near the city wall.
Although no archaeological evidence directly ties the Citadel or any specific site in Amman to Uriah's death, the description aligns with siege warfare practices of the time, which often occurred near city walls like those that once surrounded ancient Rabbah.
In any event, as the image shows, the height of the wall, the steepness of the terrain, and a man left alone to the swords, spears, arrows, and stones of an enemy ensconced in the high places, gave Uriah one in a million, or no chance, or Buckley’s Chance. Buckley miraculously survived. King David’s scheming made Uriah’s odds insurmountable.
Postscript: Uriah died in battle for his country, faithful to his king, his soldiers, and his wife. Though his end may have been painful it was relatively quick. David on the other hand had decades of guilt and penance. He had been stung by the prophet Nathan’s rebuke, delivered in the form of a parable. Many of the psalms David wrote or commissioned were the subjects of that long, arduous, and spiritually painful process.
