Observed the city. — The word means watched, or blockaded. In the operations of the siege Joab so arranged some of his forces as to invite a sally from the city under circumstances in which it would be successful. It appears from 2 Samuel 11:24 that Uriah’s party had been sent so near as to come within reach of the archers on the wall.
Related Commentaries of 2 Samuel 11:16
2 Samuel 11:16
16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were.