1And Jehovah sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor. 2The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds. 3But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought and nourished; and it grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food and drank from his own cup and lay in his bosom; and it was like a daughter to him. 4And a traveler came to the rich man, who spared to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. 5And David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, As Jehovah lives, the man who has done this is a son of death! 6And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he has done this thing and because he had no pity. 7And Nathan said to David, You are the man! Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you this and that! 9Why have you despised the Word of Jehovah, to do evil in His eyes? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. 11Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the eyes of the sun. 12For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun. 13And David said to Nathan, I have sinned against Jehovah. And Nathan said to David, Jehovah also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14However, because of this matter in which you have caused contempt, for Jehovah to be spurned by His enemies, the child also who is born to you shall die the death. 15And Nathan departed to his house. And Jehovah struck the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David, and it became sick. 16David therefore besought God for the child, and David fasted and went in and lay all night on the ground. 17And the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the ground. But he would not, nor did he eat food with them. 18And on the seventh day it came to pass that the child died. And the servants of David were afraid to tell him that the child had died. For they said, Behold, while the child was alive, we spoke to him, and he would not heed our voice. How can we tell him that the child has died? He may do some harm! 19But when David saw that his servants were whispering, David perceived that the child had died. Therefore David said to his servants, Has the child died? And they said, He has died. 20So David rose up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of Jehovah and prostrated himself. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. 21Then his servants said to him, What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child had died, you arose and ate food. 22And he said, While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, Who knows whether Jehovah will be gracious to me, that the child may live? 23But now he has died; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. 24And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her and lay with her. And she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Now Jehovah loved him, 25and He sent word by the hand of Nathan the prophet: So he called his name Jedidiah, because of Jehovah. 26Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and captured the royal city. 27And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, I have fought against Rabbah, and I have captured the city of waters. 28Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and lay siege against the city and take it, lest I capture the city and it be called after my name. 29So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and captured it. 30And he took their king's crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David's head. Also he brought out the spoils of the city in great abundance. 31And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them under saws, iron picks and iron axes, and made them cross over into the brick kiln. Thus he did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 NATHAN'S PARABLE. (
2Sam 12:1-6)
the Lord sent Nathan unto David--The use of parables is a favorite style of speaking among Oriental people, especially in the conveyance of unwelcome truth. This exquisitely pathetic parable was founded on a common custom of pastoral people who have pet lambs, which they bring up with their children, and which they address in terms of endearment. The atrocity of the real, however, far exceeded that of the fictitious offense.
5 the man that hath done this thing shall surely die--This punishment was more severe than the case deserved, or than was warranted by the divine statute (
Exod 22:1). The sympathies of the king had been deeply enlisted, his indignation aroused, but his conscience was still asleep; and at the time when he was most fatally indulgent to his own sins, he was most ready to condemn the delinquencies and errors of others.
7 HE APPLIES IT TO DAVID, WHO CONFESSES HIS SIN, AND IS PARDONED. (
2Sam 12:7-23)
Nathan said to David, Thou art the man--These awful words pierced his heart, aroused his conscience, and brought him to his knees. The sincerity and depth of his penitent sorrow are evinced by the Psalms he composed (
Ps 32:1-
Ps 32:11; Psa. 51:1-19; Psa. 103:1-22). He was pardoned, so far as related to the restoration of the divine favor. But as from his high character for piety, and his eminent rank in society, his deplorable fall was calculated to do great injury to the cause of religion, it was necessary that God should testify His abhorrence of sin by leaving even His own servant to reap the bitter temporal fruits. David was not himself doomed, according to his own view of what justice demanded (
2Sam 12:5); but he had to suffer a quadruple expiation in the successive deaths of four sons, besides a lengthened train of other evils.
8 I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives--The phraseology means nothing more than that God in His providence had given David, as king of Israel, everything that was Saul's. The history furnishes conclusive evidence that he never actually married any of the wives of Saul. But the harem of the preceding king belongs, according to Oriental notions, as a part of the regalia to his successor.
11 I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, &c.--The prophet speaks of God threatening to do what He only permitted to be done. The fact is, that David's loss of character by the discovery of his crimes, tended, in the natural course of things, to diminish the respect of his family, to weaken the authority of his government, and to encourage the prevalence of many disorders throughout his kingdom.
15 the Lord struck the child . . . and it was very sick--The first visible chastisement inflicted on David appeared on the person of that child which was the evidence and monument of his guilt. His domestics were surprised at his conduct, and in explanation of its singularity, it is necessary to remark that the custom in the East is to leave the nearest relative of a deceased person to the full and undisturbed indulgence of his grief, till on the third or fourth day at farthest (
John 11:17). Then the other relatives and friends visit him, invite him to eat, lead him to a bath, and bring him a change of dress, which is necessary from his having sat or lain on the ground. The surprise of David's servants, then, who had seen his bitter anguish while the child was sick, arose apparently from this, that when he found it was dead, he who had so deeply lamented arose of himself from the earth, without waiting for their coming to him, immediately bathed and anointed himself, instead of appearing as a mourner, and after worshiping God with solemnity, returned to his wonted repast, without any interposition of others.
24 SOLOMON IS BORN. (
2Sam 12:24-25)
Bath-sheba . . . bare a son, and he called his name Solomon--that is, "peaceable." But Nathan gave him the name of Jedediah, by command of God, or perhaps only as an expression of God's love. This love and the noble gifts with which he was endowed, considering the criminality of the marriage from which he sprang, is a remarkable instance of divine goodness and grace.
26 RABBAH IS TAKEN. (
2Sam 12:26-31)
Joab fought against Rabbah--The time during which this siege lasted, since the intercourse with Bath-sheba, and the birth of at least one child, if not two, occurred during the progress of it, probably extended over two years.
27 the city of waters--Rabbah, like Aroer, was divided into two parts--one the lower town, insulated by the winding course of the Jabbok, which flowed almost round it, and the upper and stronger town, called the royal city. "The first was taken by Joab, but the honor of capturing so strongly a fortified place as the other was an honor reserved for the king himself."
28 encamp against the city, and take it--It has always been characteristic of Oriental despots to monopolize military honors; and as the ancient world knew nothing of the modern refinement of kings gaining victories by their generals, so Joab sent for David to command the final assault in person. A large force was levied for the purpose. David without much difficulty captured the royal city and obtained possession of its immense wealth.
lest I take the city, and it be called after my name--The circumstance of a city receiving a new name after some great person, as Alexandria, Constantinople, Hyderabad, is of frequent occurrence in the ancient and modern history of the East.
30 he took their king's crown from off his head--While the treasures of the city were given as plunder to his soldiers, David reserved to himself the crown, which was of rarest value. Its great weight makes it probable that it was like many ancient crowns, not worn, but suspended over the head, or fixed on a canopy on the top of the throne.
the precious stones--Hebrew, "stone"; was a round ball composed of pearls and other jewels, which was in the crown, and probably taken out of it to be inserted in David's own crown.
31 he brought forth the people . . . and put them under saws, &c.--This excessive severity and employment of tortures, which the Hebrews on no other occasion are recorded to have practised, was an act of retributive justice on a people who were infamous for their cruelties (
1Sam 11:2;
Amos 1:13).
