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| 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; |
Sent Nathan – It required courage, but whoever has a message from the Lord must needs have the courage to deliver it wisely and faithfully. R5681:3, R2017:1
The prophet was sent directly to the king. PD43/53; R4271:5
There were two men – The prophet made a parable showing the injustice and asked what would be a just decision. PD43/53; R5681:3, R4271:5
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| 2 The rich hath flocks and herds very many; |
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| 3 And the poor one hath nothing, Except one little ewe-lamb, Which he hath bought, and keepeth alive, And it groweth up with him, And with his sons together; Of his morsel it eateth, And from his cup it drinketh, And in his bosom it lieth, And it is to him as a daughter; |
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| 4 And there cometh a traveller to the rich man, And he spareth to take Of his own flock, and of his own herd, To prepare for the traveller Who hath come to him, And he taketh the ewe-lamb of the poor man, And prepareth it for the man Who hath come unto him.' |
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| 5 And the anger of David burneth against the man exceedingly, and he saith unto Nathan, 'Jehovah liveth, surely a son of death [is] the man who is doing this, |
Anger was greatly kindled – King David asked the name of the unjust man that he might be punished. PD43/53; R5681:3, R4271:5
Shall surely die – David unconsciously condemned himself to death. R2017:3
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| 6 and the ewe-lamb he doth repay fourfold, because that he hath done this thing, and because that he had no pity.' |
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| 7 And Nathan saith unto David, 'Thou [art] the man! Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, I anointed thee for king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; |
Thou art the man – It was a critical moment for David. Would he proudly resist the power of the truth, claiming that the customs of the world, instead of the Law of God, were to him the standard of privilege? R2017:2,3
Blessed is he who is not condemned by his own declarations in respect to the affairs of others. R3255:6
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| 8 and I give to thee the house of thy lord, and the wives of thy lord, into thy bosom, and I give to thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if little, then I add to thee such and such [things]. |
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| 9 'Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah, to do the evil thing in His eyes Uriah the Hittite thou hast smitten by the sword, and his wife thou hast taken to thee for a wife, and him thou hast slain by the sword of the Bene-Ammon. |
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| 10 'And now, the sword doth not turn aside from thy house unto the age, because thou hast despised Me, and dost take the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be to thee for a wife; |
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| 11 thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am raising up against thee evil, out of thy house, and have taken thy wives before thine eyes, and given to thy neighbour, and he hath lain with thy wives before the eyes of this sun; |
Of thine own house – Absalom's rebellion was the means employed for this punishment. R1397:2
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| 12 for thou hast done [it] in secret, and I do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.' |
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| 13 And David saith unto Nathan, 'I have sinned against Jehovah.' And Nathan saith unto David, 'Also Jehovah hath caused thy sin to pass away; thou dost not die; |
I have sinned – The king saw the horrible mistake and humbly confessed the sin to the Lord. PD43/53; R5681:3, R4271:5
David saw his own conduct, not from the standpoint of other kings and what they did, but from the standpoint of the divine law of righteousness. R5681:3, R1396:6
The 51st Psalm is generally recognized as his expression of contrition for the sin. R3254:2
Put away thy sin – Justice would have been required in respect to the sins; but to the repentant soul the Lord's favor would, nevertheless, still be granted. R5681:4
God showed mercy on David (as to all Jews under the Law's typical sacrifices) in that he made allowance for his fallen condition. R1397:2
Realizing the Lord's forgiveness for the penitent moves one toward repentance. R3254:2
For the Christian, involuntary sins are cancelled; but wilfulness has a penalty attached. R1397:4
Sinful Christians find great consolation in the Lord's compassion if they are exercised as was David by their sins. R3254:2
Thou shalt not die – Because he had confessed and repented. R5681:3, R2017:5
The penalty of David's sin was death, under two indictments: Lev. 20:10 and Lev. 24:17. In view ofng only such pu R2017:4, R5681:3
If sin is fallen into, God does everything to encourage the acceptance of forgiveness and reformation, though the sinner is obliged to bear some severe penalty. R5681:4; Q281:3
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| 14 only, because thou hast caused the enemies of Jehovah greatly to despise by this thing, also the son who is born to thee doth surely die.' |
To blaspheme – While David's sin has given occasion to blasphemers, his repentance and forgiveness have given hope and encouragment to many who have been overtaken in a fault. R3260:6
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| 15 And Nathan goeth unto his house, and Jehovah smiteth the lad, whom the wife of Uriah hath born to David, and it is incurable; |
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| 16 and David seeketh God for the youth, and David keepeth a fast, and hath gone in and lodged, and lain on the earth. |
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| 17 And the elders of his house rise against him, to raise him up from the earth, and he hath not been willing, nor hath he eaten with them bread; |
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| 18 and it cometh to pass on the seventh day, that the lad dieth, and the servants of David fear to declare to him that the lad is dead, for they said, 'Lo, in the lad being alive we spake unto him, and he did not hearken to our voice; and how do we say unto him, The lad is dead then he hath done evil.' |
The child died – Though the Lord indicated his forgiveness, yet there must be a punishment. R5106:4, R3255:5
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| 19 And David seeth that his servants are whispering, and David understandeth that the lad is dead, and David saith unto his servants, 'Is the lad dead ' and they say, 'Dead.' |
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| 20 And David riseth from the earth, and doth bathe and anoint [himself], and changeth his raiment, and cometh in to the house of Jehovah, and boweth himself, and cometh unto his house, and asketh and they place for him bread, and he eateth. |
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| 21 And his servants say unto him, 'What [is] this thing thou hast done because of the living lad thou hast fasted and dost weep, and when the lad is dead thou hast risen and dost eat bread.' |
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| 22 And he saith, 'While the lad is alive I have fasted, and weep, for I said, Who knoweth Jehovah doth pity me, and the lad hath lived; |
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| 23 and now, he hath died, why [is] this I fast am I able to bring him back again I am going unto him, and he doth not turn back unto me.'
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| 24 And David comforteth Bath-Sheba his wife, and goeth in unto her, and lieth with her, and she beareth a son, and he calleth his name Solomon; and Jehovah hath loved him, |
Solomon – His name signifies "the peaceful," thus commemorating God's promise concerning him. R2045:3
The LORD loved him – God accepted David's penitence and restored him to his favor. PD43/53
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| 25 and sendeth by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and calleth his name Jedidiah, because of Jehovah. |
His name Jedidiah – Meaning "Beloved of Jehovah"; indicating David's forgiveness and restoration to divine favor. R2045:3
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| 26 And Joab fighteth against Rabbah of the Bene-Ammon, and captureth the royal city, |
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| 27 and Joab sendeth messengers unto David, and saith, 'I have fought against Rabbah also I have captured the city of waters; |
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| 28 and now, gather the rest of the people, and encamp against the city, and capture it, lest I capture the city, and my name hath been called upon it.' |
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| 29 And David gathereth all the people, and goeth to Rabbah, and fighteth against it, and captureth it; |
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| 30 and he taketh the crown of their king from off his head, and its weight [is] a talent of gold, and precious stones, and it is on the head of David; and the spoil of the city he hath brought out, very much; |
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| 31 and the people who [are] in it he hath brought out, and setteth to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes of iron, and hath caused them to pass over into the brick-kiln; and so he doth to all the cities of the Bene-Ammon; and David turneth back, and all the people, to Jerusalem. |
Put them under saws – While we mark with pleasure the noble traits in David's character, we must deplore the steps of his decline leading to unnecessary cruelty, not only conquering, but triumphing ignobly over his foes. R2016:3
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