1 And Jehovah sendeth Nathan unto David, and he cometh unto him, and saith to him: `Two men have been in one city; One rich and one poor;
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour by the word of Jehovah, `Smite me, I pray thee;' and the man refuseth to smite him, and he saith to him, `Because that thou hast not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, lo, thou art going from me, and the lion hath smitten thee;' and he goeth from him, and the lion findeth him, and smiteth him. And he findeth another man, and saith, `Smite me, I pray thee;' and the man smiteth him, smiting and wounding, and the prophet goeth and standeth for the king on the way, and disguiseth himself with ashes on his eyes. And it cometh to pass -- the king is passing by -- that he hath cried unto the king, and saith, `Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle, and lo, a man hath turned aside and bringeth in unto me a man, and saith, Keep this man; if he be at all missing, then hath thy life been for his life, or a talent of silver thou dost weigh out; and it cometh to pass, thy servant is working hither and thither, and he is not!' and the king of Israel saith unto him, Right `is' thy judgment; thou hast determined `it'.' And he hasteth and turneth aside the ashes from off his eyes, and the king of Israel discerneth him, that he `is' of the prophets,
And he said, `A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to the father, Father, give me the portion of the substance falling to `me', and he divided to them the living. `And not many days after, having gathered all together, the younger son went abroad to a far country, and there he scattered his substance, living riotously; and he having spent all, there came a mighty famine on that country, and himself began to be in want; and having gone on, he joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him to the fields to feed swine, and he was desirous to fill his belly from the husks that the swine were eating, and no one was giving to him. `And having come to himself, he said, How many hirelings of my father have a superabundance of bread, and I here with hunger am perishing! having risen, I will go on unto my father, and will say to him, Father, I did sin -- to the heaven, and before thee, and no more am I worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hirelings. `And having risen, he went unto his own father, and he being yet far distant, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and having ran he fell upon his neck and kissed him; and the son said to him, Father, I did sin -- to the heaven, and before thee, and no more am I worthy to be called thy son. `And the father said unto his servants, Bring forth the first robe, and clothe him, and give a ring for his hand, and sandals for the feet; and having brought the fatted calf, kill `it', and having eaten, we may be merry, because this my son was dead, and did live again, and he was lost, and was found; and they began to be merry. `And his elder son was in a field, and as, coming, he drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing, and having called near one of the young men, he was inquiring what these things might be, and he said to him -- Thy brother is arrived, and thy father did kill the fatted calf, because in health he did receive him back. `And he was angry, and would not go in, therefore his father, having come forth, was entreating him; and he answering said to the father, Lo, so many years I do serve thee, and never thy command did I transgress, and to me thou didst never give a kid, that with my friends I might make merry; but when thy son -- this one who did devour thy living with harlots -- came, thou didst kill to him the fatted calf. `And he said to him, Child, thou art always with me, and all my things are thine; but to be merry, and to be glad, it was needful, because this thy brother was dead, and did live again, he was lost, and was found.'
`Hear ye another simile: There was a certain man, a householder, who planted a vineyard, and did put a hedge round it, and digged in it a wine-press, and built a tower, and gave it out to husbandmen, and went abroad. `And when the season of the fruits came nigh, he sent his servants unto the husbandmen, to receive the fruits of it, and the husbandmen having taken his servants, one they scourged, and one they killed, and one they stoned. `Again he sent other servants more than the first, and they did to them in the same manner. `And at last he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son; and the husbandmen having seen the son, said among themselves, This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and may possess his inheritance; and having taken him, they cast `him' out of the vineyard, and killed him; whenever therefore the lord of the vineyard may come, what will he do to these husbandmen?' They say to him, `Evil men -- he will evilly destroy them, and the vineyard will give out to other husbandmen, who will give back to him the fruits in their seasons.' Jesus saith to them, `Did ye never read in the Writings, A stone that the builders disallowed, it became head of a corner; from the Lord hath this come to pass, and it is wonderful in our eyes. `Because of this I say to you, that the reign of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth its fruit; and he who is falling on this stone shall be broken, and on whomsoever it may fall it will crush him to pieces.' And the chief priests and the Pharisees having heard his similes, knew that of them he speaketh,
For the iniquity of his dishonest gain, I have been wroth, and I smite him, Hiding -- and am wroth, And he goeth on turning back in the way of his heart. His ways I have seen, and I heal him, yea, I lead him, And recompense comforts to him and to his mourning ones.
Let me sing, I pray you, for my beloved, A song of my beloved as to his vineyard: My beloved hath a vineyard in a fruitful hill, And he fenceth it, and casteth out its stones, And planteth it `with' a choice vine, And buildeth a tower in its midst, And also a wine press hath hewn out in it, And he waiteth for the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones! And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of Judah, Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. What -- to do still to my vineyard, That I have not done in it! Wherefore, I waited to the yielding of grapes, And it yieldeth bad ones! And now, pray, let me cause you to know, That which I am doing to my vineyard, To turn aside its hedge, And it hath been for consumption, To break down its wall, And it hath been for a treading-place. And I make it a waste, It is not pruned, nor arranged, And gone up have brier and thorn, And on the thick clouds I lay a charge, From raining upon it rain. Because the vineyard of Jehovah of Hosts `Is' the house of Israel, And the man of Judah His pleasant plant, And He waiteth for judgment, and lo, oppression, For righteousness, and lo, a cry.
To the Overseer. -- A Psalm of David, in the coming inn unto him of Nathan the prophet, when he hath gone in unto Bath-Sheba. Favour me, O God, according to Thy kindness, According to the abundance of Thy mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Thoroughly wash me from mine iniquity, And from my sin cleanse me, For my transgressions I do know, And my sin `is' before me continually. Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done the evil thing in Thine eyes, So that Thou art righteous in Thy words, Thou art pure in Thy judging. Lo, in iniquity I have been brought forth, And in sin doth my mother conceive me. Lo, truth Thou hast desired in the inward parts, And in the hidden part Wisdom Thou causest me to know. Thou cleansest me with hyssop and I am clean, Washest me, and than snow I am whiter. Thou causest me to hear joy and gladness, Thou makest joyful bones Thou hast bruised. Hide Thy face from my sin. And all mine iniquities blot out. A clean heart prepare for me, O God, And a right spirit renew within me. Cast me not forth from Thy presence, And Thy Holy Spirit take not from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, And a willing spirit doth sustain me. I teach transgressors Thy ways, And sinners unto Thee do return. Deliver me from blood, O God, God of my salvation, My tongue singeth of Thy righteousness. O Lord, my lips thou dost open, And my mouth declareth Thy praise. For Thou desirest not sacrifice, or I give `it', Burnt-offering Thou acceptest not. The sacrifices of God `are' a broken spirit, A heart broken and bruised, O God, Thou dost not despise. Do good in Thy good pleasure with Zion, Thou dost build the walls of Jerusalem. Then Thou desirest sacrifices of righteousness, Burnt-offering, and whole burnt-offering, Then they offer bullocks on thine altar!
And David riseth in the morning, and the word of Jehovah hath been unto Gad the prophet, seer of David, saying, `Go, and thou hast spoken unto David, Thus said Jehovah: Three -- I am lifting up for thee, choose thee one of them, and I do `it' to thee.' And Gad cometh in unto David, and declareth to him, and saith to him, `Do seven years of famine come in to thee in thy land? or three months art thou fleeing before thine adversary -- and he pursuing thee? or are three days' pestilence in thy land? now, know and see what word I take back to Him sending me.'
And the king saith to her, `What -- to thee?' and she saith, `Truly a widow woman `am' I, and my husband dieth, and thy maid-servant hath two sons; and they strive both of them in a field, and there is no deliverer between them, and the one smiteth the other, and putteth him to death; and lo, the whole family hath risen against thy maid-servant, and say, Give up him who smiteth his brother, and we put him to death for the life of his brother whom he hath slain, and we destroy also the heir; and they have quenched my coal which is left -- so as not to set to my husband a name and remnant on the face of the ground.' And the king saith unto the woman, `Go to thine house, and I give charge concerning thee.' And the woman of Tekoah saith unto the king, `On me, my lord, O king, `is' the iniquity, and on the house of my father; and the king and his throne `are' innocent.' And the king saith, `He who speaketh `aught' unto thee, and thou hast brought him unto me, then he doth not add any more to come against thee.' And she saith, `Let, I pray thee, the king remember by Jehovah thy God, that the redeemer of blood add not to destroy, and they destroy not my son;' and he saith, `Jehovah liveth; if there doth fall of the hair of thy son to the earth.'
And they declare to David, saying, `Uriah hath not gone down unto his house;' and David saith unto Uriah, `Hast thou not come from a journey? wherefore hast thou not gone down unto thy house?' And Uriah saith unto David, `The ark, and Israel, and Judah, are abiding in booths, and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, on the face of the field are encamping; and I -- I go in unto my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife! -- thy life, and the life of thy soul -- if I do this thing.' And David saith unto Uriah, `Abide in this `place' also to-day, and to-morrow I send thee away;' and Uriah abideth in Jerusalem, on that day, and on the morrow, and David calleth for him, and he eateth before him, and drinketh, and he causeth him to drink, and he goeth out in the evening to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, and unto his house he hath not gone down. And it cometh to pass in the morning, that David writeth a letter unto Joab, and sendeth by the hand of Uriah; and he writeth in the letter, saying, `Place ye Uriah over-against the front of the severest battle, and ye have turned back from after him, and he hath been smitten, and hath died.' And it cometh to pass in Joab's watching of the city, that he appointeth Uriah unto the place where he knew that valiant men `are'; and the men of the city go out and fight with Joab, and there fall `some' of the people, of the servants of David; and there dieth also Uriah the Hittite.
And it cometh to pass, when the king sat in his house, and Jehovah hath given rest to him round about, from all his enemies, that the king saith unto Nathan the prophet, `See, I pray thee, I am dwelling in a house of cedars, and the ark of God is dwelling in the midst of the curtain.' And Nathan saith unto the king, `All that `is' in thine heart -- go, do, for Jehovah `is' with thee.' And it cometh to pass in that night, that the word of Jehovah is unto Nathan, saying, `Go, and thou hast said unto My servant, unto David, Thus said Jehovah, Dost thou build for Me a house for My dwelling in?
and they declare `it' to Jotham, and he goeth and standeth on the top of mount Gerizim, and lifteth up his voice, and calleth, and saith to them, `Hearken unto me, O masters of Shechem, and God doth hearken unto you: `The trees have diligently gone to anoint over them a king, and they say to the olive, Reign thou over us. And the olive saith to them, Have I ceased from my fatness, by which they honour gods and men, that I have gone to stagger over the trees? And the trees say to the fig, Come thou, reign over us. And the fig saith to them, Have I ceased from my sweetness, and my good increase, that I have gone to stagger over the trees? `And the trees say to the vine, Come thou, reign over us. And the vine saith to them, Have I ceased from my new wine, which is rejoicing gods and men, that I have gone to stagger over the trees? And all the trees say unto the bramble, Come thou, reign over us. And the bramble saith unto the trees, If in truth ye are anointing me for king over you, come, take refuge in my shadow; and if not -- fire cometh out from the bramble, and devoureth the cedars of Lebanon.
`And -- a certain man was rich, and was clothed in purple and fine linen, making merry sumptuously every day, and there was a certain poor man, by name Lazarus, who was laid at his porch, full of sores, and desiring to be filled from the crumbs that are falling from the table of the rich man; yea, also the dogs, coming, were licking his sores. `And it came to pass, that the poor man died, and that he was carried away by the messengers to the bosom of Abraham -- and the rich man also died, and was buried; and in the hades having lifted up his eyes, being in torments, he doth see Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, and having cried, he said, Father Abraham, deal kindly with me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and may cool my tongue, because I am distressed in this flame. `And Abraham said, Child, remember that thou did receive -- thou -- thy good things in thy life, and Lazarus in like manner the evil things, and now he is comforted, and thou art distressed; and besides all these things, between us and you a great chasm is fixed, so that they who are willing to go over from hence unto you are not able, nor do they from thence to us pass through. `And he said, I pray thee, then, father, that thou mayest send him to the house of my father, for I have five brothers, so that he may thoroughly testify to them, that they also may not come to this place of torment. `Abraham saith to him, They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them; and he said, No, father Abraham, but if any one from the dead may go unto them, they will reform. And he said to him, If Moses and the prophets they do not hear, neither if one may rise out of the dead will they be persuaded.'
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Commentary on 2 Samuel 12 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 12
2Sa 12:1-6. Nathan's Parable.
1. 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 (Ex 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.
2Sa 12:7-23. He Applies It to David, Who Confesses His Sin, and Is Pardoned.
7. 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 32:1-11; 51:1-19; 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 (2Sa 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.
15-23. 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 (Joh 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.
2Sa 12:24, 25. Solomon Is Born.
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.
2Sa 12:26-31. Rabbah Is Taken.
26. 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 (1Sa 11:2; Am 1:13).